Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Nikon Fieldmaster ED......WOW

I have a good buddy who is quite well off. He buys the best stuff on the market, until something better comes up and then he buys that too. He's got a Swarovski, and a new Leupold Goldring Spotter. I have had the use of them for a while now, whenever I want/need them actually. Now that I've moved away they are also 5 hours away, so I had to buy one of my own. Another fella I met on a trip had this Nikon Fieldmaster ED. After a long time of use with the Swaro and leupy that one evening of playing with the Nikon left me very impressed.

The Swarovski is simply out of the realistic price range for my use. I just cannot see spending several thousand bucks for for a spotter. My day in day out field glasses are a far higher priority.

However after using the Nikon with the ED glass, I was beginning to wonder why this was such a secret. There is no question that the Swarovski is the apex of spotting scopes in the world today. But the next level down has to include the Nikon with the ED glass. It's easily as good as the Leupold, and after using both head to head I chose the Nikon, tough choice but I did it.

Today I had the Swarovski, Leupold, and the Nikon all on tripods, right next to each other. Both my buddy and I looked through them all at various targets, animals, and a sheet of news print. The weak link of the scopes was the tripods. The Leupold brand tripod was the best, most steady which made a huge difference in the focus. The other tripods had a bit too much wiggle and made fine focus adjustment miserable.

By swapping around the tripods and playing with them a while we were both convinced that the difference between the Swaro and the Nikon although noted was so minimal that at times the Nikon was better when on the better tripod. The Leupold is a great scope, but it's not in the same clarity league as the Nikon or the Swaro. I found myself trying to focus it constantly uncertain if it was as good as it could be. The Swarovski and the Nikon once focused were sharp and you were certain that it was perfect. The Leupold has a much more forgiving eye relief though.

The Leupold and the Nikon are about the same price level,(1300ish) the swarovski cost twice as much (2300 plus).

The difference in what you actually get for that 1000 bucks, I'm uncertain of. I was looking at the moon with all three tonight. Just kinda screwing around. The 60power of the Nikon really made the view of the moon spectacular.

Anyway, if there is a better spotter for 1000-1300 bucks I've not found it in my search. You have to spend at least double to have a very minimal improvement with the Swarovski, yep it's a bit better, but it's something you have to really examine carefully to see any difference.

Spend the money you saved on a decent tripod; that is, not one that comes in a kit or is rebadged for "outdoor" use. You've got 1300 bucks riding on your tripod. I once saw one of my cameras slow- motion tumble to a concrete floor because my cheap tripod was unstable. I bought a Gitzo that day and haven't looked back.

Good advice above and very nice review/comparison. I have never looked through one of the Swaros though I have looked through just about all of the other high and middle-priced spotters. I think your conclusion is correct. The Nikons hang very well with the Swaros and at a significantly less expensive price.

I just bought the Fieldscope III 60mm (non-ED) from Eagle Optics for $399 shipped with the 20-60 zoom eyepiece. Amazing scope for the money.

-Dan

JJ, was the Leupold an HD version or the standard 12-40X60 ? E

It was the HD, Leupys high end model. The owner does nothing 1/2 way! He drives a custom military hummer, not the civilian model as an example.

The Leupold is a great scope, smaller package, and works like a champ. The only major difference was the focusability. The Nikon was just easier to focus to a sharp perfect picture for me. The design of the Nikon focus being in the body of the scope is a better design, then having the focus and the power rings right next to each other like so many other scopes.

I could probably look this up (too lazy), but what are the overall length's of the Leupy and Nikon that wer tested(with eye pieces)?

I also was impressed with the nikon ED glass when I compared it to the swaros.

I also thought Nikon's ED glass was sharp and clear edge to edge. My impressions are from a Nikon Fieldscope ED 82 with a 25-75x zoom eyepiece. Only complaint was the very narrow field of view through that eyepiece. Felt like I was looking through a restricted tube as the magnification went up.

Optically, it compared very favorably with the Swaro for a lot less money... if you can live with the short eye relief and FOV handicaps.