Heads up - cheap Nikon Spotting Scope Eps

[haitch]

I guess it must be a common size that comes as part of the standard package so they can't shift them. Not even sure if they can be adapted or owt to 1.25" or 2" or whether they are suited to astronomical scopes but for Nikon glass I thought they looked a bargain ...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270899763022

[E621Keith]

Nikon has 3 spotting scope series, Prostaff Spotting scope, Fieldscope and EDG.

This eyepiece is for the basic Prostaff series and the current model retail for about £80. This ebay one may be an older discontinued model. It has a AFOV of 51deg, 17.6mm ER, I don't know it's focal length.

There used to be 1.25" adapters for the more expensive Nikon Fieldscope series and the Fieldscope MC wide are said to be equivalent to XW but have shorter ER. The Fieldscope astro adapter is really hard to find because no one make them any more. Borg used to make one, but it was discontinued when Nikon started selling 1.25" astro eyepiece based on modified MC wide. Other Fieldscope eyepiece adapters tends to be custom made.

It took me several months to locate an 1.25" adapter for my Nikon Fieldscope zoom. If you factor in the cost of a second adapter for converting the Prostaff bayonet to fieldscope mount, then you can be looking at over £50 worth of adapters.

The Prostaffs eyepieces are probably made in China anyway, so I wouldn't recommend this unless you have the necessary adapters already.

[AndyH]

If you ever see a Nikon MC Wide for below or around £100, grab it. I have the 10mm FL(number 5 in the following link). A superb eyepiece. Really is. A friendly machinist could turn you up an adapter for a good price.

Numbers 3, 4, 5 and 6 have the following focal lengths. 3=17mm // 4=14mm // 5=10mm // 6=7mm

http://www.nikon.com...es/mc/index.htm

They don't come up that often and are usually expensive, even 2nd hand.

Andy.

edit ps: They have a 72degree aFOV, generous eyerelief, twist up eyecups. Stonking good.

[AndyH]

The recent-ish, über expensive Nikon NAV SW astro eyepieces have a spookily similar focal lengthed range to the spotting scope 'pieces............

http://www.kkohki.com/English/kkohkiparts.html

(scroll about half way down the page).

[Mr Bond]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I often wondered what EPs could be converted to 1.25".

It follows that a 2" converter should be easier as it'll allow for a bigger bayonet or similar.

Anyone know of any maker?

[AndyH]

Regarding the MC Wides - A 2" adapter would probably be easier, but a 1.25" is perfectly do-able. If you notice, on the pics, the eyepiece has a thread, which lets it screw into the spotter scope. This threads o/d is very, very close to 31.75mm. I have a note of what I estimated it to be with a caliper somewhere.

Again, somewhere in my pile of scribblings, I made a drawing of an adapter that looks for all the world like a 0.965"/1.25" one, except the top is machined out to fit.

The bayonet ones look a bit more complex to adapt, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Andy.

[haitch]

Thanks for all the clarifications and input.I might order one to have a play with anyhow - still cheaper than a 2nd hand no brand plossl. Looking round the retail price was originally around £70

http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-nikon-20x-25x-ler-eyepiece.htm

[E621Keith]

The recent-ish, über expensive Nikon NAV SW astro eyepieces have a spookily similar focal lengthed range to the spotting scope 'pieces............

http://www.kkohki.co...kohkiparts.html

(scroll about half way down the page).

Here is a cloudy night thread comparing the two.

http://www.cloudynig...53/Main/3890183

http://www.cloudynig...Nikon EPs 1.JPG

Basically the 7 and 14 appears identical. The 10mm has a larger eye lens. 17.5 NAV is significantly bigger and have much longer ER than its MC wide cousin. Finally 5mm is new.

The street price of NAV SW in Japan is about the same as Pentax XW. Kokusai Kohki is over priced, even more so if you have it shipped here where the tax man and post office will add another 25% to that price. They are a good buy if you happened to visit Japan.

Nikon Fieldscope eyepiece barrel is smaller than 1.25", so it can be adapted for 1.25" barrel. The thread's major diameter is a bit bigger, but I could still push into my friction fit Borg turret and secure them using electrical tape, (it won't go into anything else though).

[haitch]

Well as the missus won't let me spend any "real" money on equipment at the minute I went ahead and bought one of these from a few quid I had in stashed in Paypal. I popped it into a cheap nasty 60mm zoom spotter that I picked up in Aldi to have a play with a while back having ripped out the rubbish zoom ep it came with. I need to do something to make it stay put but it does actually centre and sit in place quite well.

I have to say it has transformed the scope from an unusable monster to quite a nice little spotter. It's refreshing to see the clear field stop and sharp views across the field. I was worried the huge ER would cause me problems as I've previously sold LER Eps as I couldn't keep my head in the right position but I have to say the twist up cup is plenty long enough and makes it a doddle to keep my eye positioned.

For £12.99 well worth it it seems.

[E621Keith]

Congratulation, Nice to hear you new Nikon eyepiece work well. I'd be quite interested to see how you adapted the eyepiece to your scope.