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Leica APO Televid Scope

We waited a a long, long time for this spotting scope.

And here it is!

Leica APO Televid Scope
Copyright 2009 Michael and Diane Porter

This is a beautiful-looking scope.

As we have come to expect from Leica, the optical quality is extraordinary, with virtually no chromatic aberration. With Leica's new wide-angle 25-50x zoom eyepiece, you get an eye-filling sensation of total immersion in the scene. The eye relief of 19mm holds not only at low power but also at maximum power, a great boon to glasses wearers.

The scope focuses down to 12.5 feet—simply wonderful for observing hummingbirds up close. We don't know of any other spotting scope that focuses that close.

The optics are superb, and the overall image quality is unexcelled.

Price info

Description

The scope comes with a 25-50x zoom eyepiece, with a bayonet style attachment. It locks into the body of the scope with a satisfying click when you turn it 45 degrees. A valuable safety feature is the lens release button on the back of the scope below the eyepiece. This eyepiece won't turn on you and drop out of the scope while you're climbing up a scree slope looking for black rosy-finches.

House Wren Evaluates LeicaLeica's dual focus system gives you one knob for gross focusing and another for fine focusing. The slow/fine focus knob is beautifully smooth, but it has a small degree of slack when force is initially applied to turn the knob. This does not interfere with the precision of the focus.

The focus knobs are sheltered by the body of the scope, so they won't catch on anything and are protected from being banged.

The body coating is excellent—grippy, semi soft, and pleasant to the touch. The scope looks like it would withstand a lot of knocking about without showing scratches--which is good for birders, who may carry their scopes through thickets of branches and load it in and out of a car many times on a birding trip.

Good design in that it's easy to pick it up by gripping around the waist. The dual focus knobs are recessed, so nothing impedes a comfortable grip on the scope.

Blind spot?

One small oversight is that the sunshade does not turn. And the sighting mechanism is a pair of raised lines on the shade. In the angled version of the scope, you can't see the sight because the eyepiece is in the way. We can't hold it too hard against the scope, however, as the overall ergonomics are splendid, and we did not find it difficult to sight in.

What Leica says about the scope:

Compared to the previous models, apochromatically corrected optics combined with the new FL lenses and an 82 mm diameter objective increase the light yield by more than 6 %, and the imaging performance is clearly visible when viewing the finest, natural details and structures in the highest possible resolution. For that little bit extra in terms of experiencing nature, especially in poor lighting conditions.

LEICA APO-TELEVID 82
Leica scope

Top-of-the-range spotting scope delivering professional standards for all users. An innovative 4-part fluoride lens objective for maximum colour fidelity and richness of contrast. Optically neutral front lens glass to protect the APO optic, and Leica AquaDuraTM coating. Particularly short close focus distance of 3.9 meters. Rubber-protected magnesium housing, waterproofed up to 5 meters. Comes with the new variable wideangle eyepiece 25 - 50 x WW ASPH.

The LEICA APO-TELEVID 82 is the perfect tool for experiencing nature at very close range. High-quality images can be captured with a camera using photo or digital adapters.

Leica AquaDuraTM ensures greater visibility in wind and rain
Leica AquaDuraIt is a cold morning and the lens fogs up - that is not much fun. Fingerprints, dust and rain are also annoying when viewing. The innovative Leica AquaDuraTM coating considerably reduces these disturbing factors. As with the lotus plant, this new water and dirt-resistant protective layer on the outer glass surfaces ensures that dirt and moisture are barely able to take hold on the specially adapted surface structure of the optic. The benefit for you: reduced cleaning required - which leaves more time for viewing.

Available colors, materials, sizes, and styles
Fully rubber-armored diecast magnesium housing. It will eventually be available in 65mm as well. For now it's just straight or angled 85mm.

Price info

 

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Birdwatching Dot Com

Please call us toll free 800-779-7256 for advice on choosing binoculars or other birding products.
FAX 641-472-7256
Email: dporter@lisco.com
Birdwatching Dot Com Store
2197 236th Blvd.
Fairfield, IA 52556

Text about the Leica scope except where designated as from Leica is copyright 2009 Michael and Diane Porter.