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Anonymous
Unregistered
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How would you rate the difference in optical quality with these two units? The Oberwerks have a 14" Focal Length
compared to the Pentax much shorter length.
Ray A. 
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12601
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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I have both.
I would say the Pentax are no match for the 20x80 Standards. The Standards don't have the right diopter issues associated with the 20x80 deluxe or the 15x70s. the level of quality of the coatings on the 20x80 Standards, in my opinion, exceeds the Pentax 16x60. the coatings come closer to rivaling that of the Fujinon.
The 16x60 have a Tfov that is stated and actually measures 2.8°. The 20x80 Standards have a Tfov that ios stated as 3.5°, but actually nmeasures 3.2°.
Because of the shape of the binocular, I can never look over the top of the 16x60s and point them at a target and be on it. With the 20x80s, I can point them at anything and be right on it. Aimed over the binoc at the Christmas Tree the other night, looked, and there it was.
I measured the focal lenght of both. The Pentax 16x60s are f4.4. the Oberwerk 20x80 Standards are f5.1.
I'd go for the 20x80 Standards over the Pentax.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Regarding the Oberwerk 20x80 lightweight at 3.6lb. and the hefty 4.5lb. standard, do you think that if I bought the lightweight version that the 3" shorter focal length would give me a worse edge performance thats really noticable? What about resolution and contrast? I believe it's 11' versus 14".
Thank You Ed,
Ray A.
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I meant 11" ( lightweight and Standard)versus 14" Oberwerks
20x80',
Ed, You are the man I wanted to talk with!
Bye the way, Kevin at Oberwerks said you just bought a Standard 20x80! Where is the review? What do you think so far? Can you make out Saturn and it's rings, ETC.
Thank You Ed!,
Ray A.
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Erik D
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/03
Posts: 2573
Loc: Central New Jersey, USA
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Hi Ed,
Thanks for the comparsion. You must have just received the 20X80 Standard recently. I am a bit surprised by your report of superior coating on the Oberwerk 80s. I figure the Pentax will have better built quality but the Oberwerk 20X80 S will win because of higer power, wider FOV and 77% more light collecting area. It's good to know the new Oberwerks perform so well. Look forward to a detailed comparion of the Obe 20X80S vs your favorite Fuji 16X70s.
Ray,
I have the 20X80 LW(Burgess label). I don't have the 20X80S for side-by-side comparsion but I can say you don't have to worry about poor edge performance (if mine is a typical sample). Edge sharpness of my LW is good to about 80%....much better than my $399 Orion 20X80. Center sharpness is as good or better than my $900 ProOptics 25X100.
When I purchased the LWs last year the 20X80 S was not available. It would be a tough choice if I were shopping today. The wt difference of 14 oz is not a big deal if you are mounting them but the extra few inchs in length does increase the BULK substantialy if you are packing them for travel. I also use my 80 LW for terrestrial observation in lieu of a spotting scope. The light weight, trim profile of the LW is a pleasure. I love been able to spot high flying raptors and UFOs invisible to the naked eye. Once you get used to using twin 80mm spotting scopes you may never want to go back.
Erik D
PS. Eye Relief of the 20X80 Standard is listed as 18mm, the LW 13mm. This could be a factor for those who need visual aids while observing. Eye relief of my LW seem slightly more than the listed 13mm. Kevin B told me at NEAF 2003 he like the standard model best. It would be good if you could check out both at a local scope show(WSP?)before you decide.
Edited by Erik D (02/14/04 04:52 AM)
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Garfield
sage
Reged: 02/02/04
Posts: 210
Loc: South-Western ON Canada
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Hi Ray;
I received a pair of 20x80 Standards two weeks ago but had to send them back because of an optical defect. Kevin emailed me yesterday to say that he just shipped some replacements after star testing them.
So I can't comment on their optical performance, yet. But my first impressions were quite positive. Although the standards were quite long (17"!), I hardly noticed the weight. When mounted on my Bogen 075B w/501 head they were very light to pick up and easy to move around. (I wouldn't even think of hand holding them.) I don't think the extra 1 lb weight savings of the LW's would mean much to me. But I really liked the 18mm eye relief even though I don't wear glasses. I'm a heavy user of Nager Type 6 eyepieces w/binoviewer on my telescope (12mm eye relief max) and found the longer 18mm to be quite a bit more comfortable.
Keep in mind, though, that I have never seen or used the LW's.
I will post my impressions in more detail when the replacements arrive in a week and I get a chance to give them a spin.
Gary in Ontario
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AT66ED
Pentax Papilio 6.5x21 ●
Edited by Garfield (02/13/04 10:39 PM)
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12601
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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Hi Ray,
yes, I have been using the 20x80 Standards for a bit now. Haven't had them long enough to write a review. I've been discussing them with Kevin. Here are some of my comments to Kevin;
"The resolution and sharpness are impressive. The right diopter is dead center. The collimation is near perfect. I can still see a 14 arcsec double (100 Herc) perfectly at 50-60% out from center and still see that it is a double at 70% out. At 80% it is somewhat bloated, but I can still tell it's a double. A wider double (62" nu Draco) can be seen as double right at the very edge of the field stop. that is impressive performance."
"The coatings on this 20x80 binocular seem to reflect so little light, they appear better than the 15x70/'03s and maybe on par with the Fujinons."
I will tell you, in addition to the remarks made above, we are having discussions to identify a lens abberation. It seems this particular sample and another recent sample both had an unusual lens abberation. Not something you would normally see in a binocular. So I'm in the process of testing this lens and then will exchange mine for a pair that Kevin tested free of any anomoly. Then Kevin will test this lens. We are comparing notes.
Prior to these 20x80s, I was using the old model 20x80 Deluxe. These are so far superior to the old 20x80 deluxe it's like night and day.
I have not used the 20x80 LW, so I cannot compare to that.
The 20x80s see a fraction deeper in magnitude than the Fujinon 16x70s. See my Lim Mag results posted below. Tonight the 20x80s went 0.2 mag deeper than before.
I can make out Saturn's rings with all my binoculars down to 15x70s.
I haven't done any comparisons on faint extended objects. It will be a while before I get to do this.
I've had mine mounted on a virgo Skymount pgram and also on a 3130 Bogen head. Both setups handled this binocular with ease.
edz
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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