Small Scopes

Reference eyepiece: Pentax XF Zoom

Pentax 65mm scopes are often bundled with the XF Zoom eyepiece. This eyepiece is therefore something of the intended reference standard, so I purchased it with my own scope body. The XF Zoom goes from 6.5mm (60x) to 19.5mm (20x), and its eye relief ranges from 11 to 15mm. The street price is about $250.

I will post comparisons of this eyepiece with others in the future, but have a few comments about it at this time.

First, a zoom is a zoom. Some love them and some hate them. The brightness decreases and eye relief shrinks as magnification increases.

The image is bright and clear. In my (hazy coastal) area it often surpasses the atmospheric conditions. When city lights twinkle with the naked eye you can bet they'll be even worse with magnification... There's slight distortion on the perimeter, but I've got to look for it to notice it. I've noticed minor internal reflections or flare when there's an intensely bright linear object in the middle of the lens with dim objects nearby.

Overall, the XF Zoom has excellent build quality and decent performance. Is it worth the price? I aim to find out.

posted by Tako John @ 6:38 PM