Small Scopes

A new scope, new needs

I recently purchased the Pentax PF-65ED-A spotting scope. Better View Desired raved about its performance, and at roughly $500 for the body, it is far more reasonably priced than Leica, Zeiss, and Swarovski products. It's not so expensive that I would worry when throwing into luggage or actually taking it outdoors.

The Pentax was more appealing to me than similarly priced Kowa scopes because it uses standard 1.25" telescope eyepieces. From what I've found on the web, this is both its greatest strength and its Achilles heel. Most 1.25" eyepieces are designed for astronomical telescopes--which have longer focal lengths and different needs. Pentax released a series of compact eyepieces designed for this scope, the XF series, that are matched to the size of the scope. Unfortunately, Pentax eyepieces retail for $150 to $300 each, so each one represents a pretty big commitment. Furthermore, the vast number of 1.25" eyepieces on the market calls out for experimentation! Got to try cheap, expensive, short, long, special purpose, and conventional eyepieces...

I've found a range of contradictory opinions about using non-XF eyepieces in this scope, but none of the explanations (pro or con) were backed up with specific details. I want to know!

And so began SmallScopes.

posted by Tako John @ 6:03 PM