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To ED or not to ED, that is the question.

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lucznik View Drop Down
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    Posted: February/06/2007 at 14:37

I posted this question on another forum dedicated to bird watchers and now I'm curious as to what y'all will say to this dilema.

 

I'm wondering just how much of a difference ED glass makes in the image.  It's definately all the rage right now but, how dramatic is the comparison really? 

 

I am looking to buy a new spotting scope and I do want something that can be used for some (casual) digiscoping.  I have narrowed my choices down to a the following scopes that (more or less) fit into my budget constraints:

 

 Regular Glass   ED Glass 
 
Bushnell Elite 15-45x60  $         350.00  
Bushnell Elite 20-60x70  $         475.00  
Bushnell Elite 20-60x80 ED $655.00
Bushnell Legend 20-60x60  $         250.00  
Bushnell Legend 20-60x80  $         330.00  
Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x60  $         800.00 $1,100.00
Leupold Gold Ring 15-30x50  $         400.00  
Nikon Fieldscope 13-30x50 ED         $700.00
Pentax PF 63 20-50x63
What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?
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lucznik View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lucznik Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/06/2007 at 14:48

Oops, I forgot one:

 

Pentax PF-65 ED 20-60x     $700.00
    



Edited by lucznik
What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?
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Chris in NorCal View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris in NorCal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/06/2007 at 16:20

Have your considered Kowa?

http://www.kowa-usa.com/frontend/prodcat.asp?co=10000308

 

I've got my eye on the 601

http://www.kowa-usa.com/frontend/proddetail.asp?pn=TSN-601&a mp;co=10000329

 

And it can be had with the ED lense.

 

 

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lucznik View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lucznik Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/06/2007 at 16:28

I had not so; thank you for bringing them to my attention.

 

Unfortunately, I'm still left with the question as to the necessity of ED glass.

What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?
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silver View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote silver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/06/2007 at 17:12

 

 

ED!!  Better colors and resolution. After you use it you will not go back!!!!!!!

 

Bushnell or Nikon   Nikon invented the ED glass.

"If we weren't all crazy we, We would go insane."   Jimmie Buffet

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Chris in NorCal View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris in NorCal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/06/2007 at 17:23

 

If money is not an issue (or if you haven't been spoiled by superior optics) get the ED lense in which ever unit you choose.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote anweis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/07/2007 at 09:19

Leica or Zeiss  invented ED glass, a very long time ago, and put it in camera lenses decades ago.

If you use the scope for photography, yes.

If you use the scope to see tiny details at high magnification, yes

If you spot large game with a 20x or 30x 65mm or 80mm scope, no, you don't need ED, but you still need a high quality scope.

If you put Swarovski 80mm side by side, HD vs no-HD, at 20x on a cloudy day you see no difference. At 40x on a sunny day, you see color fringing through the non-HD model. They are both great for finding deer or such, but the HD is better for observing some tiny feather detail on a distant bird.

There is no difference in brightness, just in how detailed and well resolved the image appears at high magnification on sunny days.  

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Trinidad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/09/2007 at 18:15
I ED and I highly recomend it, it is a hard habit to break.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/10/2007 at 15:21
I think you will see the difference, lucznik.  I went through this whole exercise a little while back and I ended up with a Pentax PF65 ED with a XF 20-60x eyepiece (and soon an XW eyepiece).

When I was comparing scope I could clearly see the difference.  Could I live without ED? Absolutely.  Is it worth the extra money? Most definitely.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 1stscope Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/11/2007 at 13:30

"Leica or Zeiss  invented ED glass, a very long time ago, and put it in camera lenses decades ago."

 

Evidently Schott (speling ?) developed 'low dispersion' glass for use in optics around the turn of the century. The forerunner to Nikon had developed nice military optics, and the German military optics were so well regarded that the allies made a point to secure as much of the German optical industry as possible. Nikon didn't get into cameras until after WWII, but they did so in a big way when Duncan and a few others working for Life magazine dumped their German lenses for Nikon lenses as their 'trade secret'  during the Korean war. This is what enabled Nikon to be accepted early on, as few remember when 'Made in Japan' largely meant junk.          

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote FrankD Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/13/2007 at 11:22
Quote

If you use the scope for photography, yes.

If you use the scope to see tiny details at high magnification, yes

 

That, in a nutshell, is what I would say. After having owned a few non-ED scopes and now owning an ED model I would say that if you are going to regularly, or even sporadically, use it for one of the above situations then buying a scope with ED glass is a given.

 

Hope I helped with the pm. Keep in mind though if you buy a scope with an ED/FL objective then you are semi-defeating the purpose by introducing a non-ED eyepiece to the system. It will work perfectly well in terms of overall image quality but color fringing will still be noticeable.



Edited by FrankD
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