The ED50 is uniquely portable, the only scope that I feel comfortable carrying on a sling, sans tripod, for hand held scans and views. It is light enough to be relatively unobtrusive, yet the 27xDS provides the detail often impossible to get with even a 10x glass. Nikon Fieldscope ED50 with used 13-40 EP (I appreciate that a lot of people like the 27mm EP, but I could get that later). I'm shopping for a lightweight but satisfactory scope, my first. I have read everything I could find here and am near to pulling the trigger. The ones I have in mind are the ones everyone talks about I think. many thanks to bill for helping me through the process and a shoutout to mayomayo for the very nice idea.

Spotting scopes are an undeniable boon in a wide range of birding situations. Whether you’re scanning waders on extensive mudflats, watching passing seabirds from your favourite headland perch, or simply looking for more “reach” than your binoculars can deliver, a scope can be an indispensable birding tool. The zoom lens is not ideal, as it will probably require the camera to be zoomed in to clear the vignette, but the results should be pretty good. The ideal eyepiece is one of the DS series as these do not require the extra FSA adapters. The ED60 has definitely been discontinued and replaced with the Monarch with different eyepieces as has been discussed on another thread. I'm not keen on the modular idea for a scope so would prefer the older Fieldscopes over that design for sure.

Product Reviews

Any notion that this scope is a toy evaporate the moment you look through it. The view is bright, crisp and clear — far better than I was expecting given the scope’s diminutive stature. The minimum focus distance of 8' is fantastic. perfect to bring detail in..I consider this scope the ultimate digiscoping mini-beast..really, Adding the 5.3 oz eyepiece put my total spotter weight at 21.9 ozs, around half to one-third the weight of many of the leading spotters. The Scout and the Hunts The ED50 scope is offered as straight or angled viewing design. Most users will prefer angled scopes because they are both simple to use for birds perched high above the viewer as well as easily simultaneously shared amongst users of differing heights. But some will prefer the straight viewing models, for these are much easier to use when hunting down the object of interest in the first place.

Distant viewing: Nikon view overall is slightly less contrasty, with a very slightly warmer sepia cast to the image (but I must stress-this is only noticeable in direct comparison, and otherwise I wouldn’t have noticed it at all). An important factor for me though is that the Opticron's eye relief is also better. I looked at the same targets this afternoon (unfortunately just bare tree branches and a few oak leaves) through both, and even as a novice found it very easy to get my eye on the eyepiece and see the whole image with the Opticron. With the Kowa it was harder to find the 'sweet spot' where the image was clear and I was seeing the whole thing. This applied with or without glasses. I'm going to be sharing this scope with my non-birder wife in Costa Rica in a month, so the less difficulty 'finding the image' with the scope, the better. I bought the MM4 60 to see if the extra brightness from a 60mm objective at the end of the day and in dull conditions during the day were worth the extra weight and bulk. I bought the SDL v3 zoom to see if the bigger view compared to the Nikon MC2 zoom was worth having. FCA Disclaimer: Bristol Cameras Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, register number 711452 and act as a credit broker and not a lender. Finance is provided through the Deko platform by a number of lenders. You will be offered the best rate available based on your credit history and the lenders' credit decision policies.You’ll need to give yourself some time to get used to the smaller FOV, and the angled body if that is what you choose. Also remember that just because you focus it at 13x, doesn’t mean you won’t have to add some fine focus at the 30x. This is something I’ve noticed in other variable power scopes.

An alternative is to use the SRB Griturn swing away adapter with one of the other 'cameras of the moment', such as the Fuji F50 or Sony W series. See photo #3: 1.25” barrel in lathe being threaded .75 mm pitch on outside – note some anodizing left between thread cuts because threads are not full depth The eyepiece body and .60 mm pitch threaded extension section are made of plastic, so the ocular is very light weight, but still works well. The metal threaded lower 1.25” barrel must be unscrewed and set aside, just like the previous eyepiece adaptations. IMO on a sunny day the 15+ year old ED50 and its even older eyepieces will at least hold their own against many other scopes including the MM4 60 in optical quality terms. However, it’s inevitable that the ED50 starts to go dark earlier than larger scopes at the higher zoom magnifications in dull conditions and towards the end of the day. The Bogen 3126 is an OK head.With other scopes can feel so-so,BUT with the ED50 is an amazing platform!!!SUPER stable,,,and although I have a smaller tripod( and intend to buy an,even lighter ,one)I use my massive SLIK700DX..huge,and quite heavy,but totally stable ..Hi Baron Birder. You might be interested in this thread which I started some time ago, although I have just noticed that you have already contributed to it. My own combination involves a bit of customisation so it might not be ideal for your friend. What I'm wondering is whether I'd be more happy with a 20x or 27x WF eyepiece... So far I'm using the zooming for two purposes: to locate the bird at low mag and then zoom in, and to view at lower mag to get a nicer and more stable picture. From what I can tell, the 20x WF has a wider FoV than the zoom at 13x, and the 27x's FoV is only a tad smaller. So I assume the first reason kind'a falls away. Discussed in 400 posts with quite a bit of enthusiasm, these are worth a look for use with spotters. While the 23 mm aspheric may be useful for spotting scopes that use 1.25” barrel diameter eyepieces, the 4 mm provides far too much magnification for most spotting scopes and has lenses in its lower barrel. The 10 mm, giving 28x, is the only one of the three adaptable to the Nikon ED50 scope using the same threaded ring described in the first post of this thread. In CN posts, it is claimed that these Chinese made 3 element eyepieces have one aspheric plastic lens inside, where it is not subject to abrasion.