Zeiss dialyt spotter

[Lawnboi]

Anybody try this one out yet?

I already have my mind set on a new set of binos this year, and got myself thinking that i may have enough for a spotter as well.

I though i saw a pic of Aron with it somewhere but i could be wrong.

I wont have the big money to get one of the top of the line spotters, but 1400 seems pretty managable.

Im a big fan of zeiss optics, im hoping to hear some good stuff about this one.

 

[luke moffat]

I have looked through a couple good little spotters but the eye relief was horrid, much worse than any other spotter over 1K I have used. You can get a non-Hd Swarovski 65mm for that price and it's only like 5-10% heavier and a much better scope.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Yeah, not the lightest spotter, but pretty compact. The image is good, other than chromatic aberration.

You can get a Razor HD at that price, with a fantastic image, but it is heavy.

The non-HD swaro is a good option, but also shows CA.

The little Nikon ED50 is a great option with a very clean, well corrected image, but eye relief is on the short side, if you wear glasses.

 

[Lawnboi]

This spotter will be used for backpacking in. I wouldn't even consider this a compact spotter, I just thought of it as an option because its made by zeiss and the price isn't too out of this world.

I wear glasses, so its a no go on the ed50. I would like a 65mm as well.

Chromatic aberration? I'm not the most knowledgeable on optics, care to enlighten me?

 

[Matt Cashell]

Chromatic Abberation is usually seen as "color fringing" at high contrast edges in the image. Think a black moose on a snowy background. At the edge you will see a shine of color, usually purple or yellow. It is the result of white light "dispersing" (splitting) into the primary colors when it passes through the objective lens. the result is the CA lowers contrast and apparent resolution.

Although it can't be fully corrected, there are a few ways optics designers deal with this issue. The most common is the inclusion of flourite in the glass composition of the objective. Glass with flourite (or other similarly performing substances - like lananthum) disperses light a whole lot less. Companies market this kind of glass using whatever term they want like ED (extra-low dispersion), HD (High Density), APO (apochromatic), FL (flourite) or others but they all refer to the same thing in sports optics.

Kowa went so far as to use a pure flourite crystal lens in the objective assembly of their awesome 88mm Prominar spotter. When I have looked through this spotter in a number of situations, I have never been able to detect a hint of CA.

The Zeiss Dialyt and non-HD Swaros use standard optical glass, and although their images are still really good, they do show noticeable CA. the ED50 corrects for CA very well, which is one of the reasons why it provides such a great image in such a small spotter.

Now CA bothers some, and doesn't bother others. I see it easily and find it annoying. The human brain can ignore CA pretty well, and look through it to see detail. People that don't see CA much are usually happy with non-HD/ED/FL glass. The camera always sees it, however, so if your digiscoping HD/ED/FL becomes more important.

Hope that helps.

 

[Aron Snyder]

BB knows his chit....what he said!

I like the Zeiss batter than the Nikon, but I'm partial to Zeiss glass. You do get CA with the Dialyt, but it's the most durable spotter on the market today IMO.

 

[Lawnboi]

Thanks BB!

To give you an idea of what im coming up from, i used a leupold 65mm 300 dollar scope last year. And i didnt have a problem with that scope, besides that it didnt work the best at really high power, and the low light capability of it was pretty much junk.

One day i will get a big HD high dollar scope, be it swaro or zeiss. But that wont be this year, and i NEED a spotter for this year, for all my hunts and scouting. Good to hear its durable as well as i want something bulletproof, since this thing will most likly be strapped to the pack most of the time.

So i turned to this one, i dont want anything smaller than 65mm, cause i couldnt see the sense in packing that around. Just looking for a good middle of the road spotter.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Lawnboi,

I just checked my notes when I looked at the Dialyt. I noted the eye relief was very short. I can't seem to find a spec on it, but it was short for me, and I don't wear glasses. The eyecup is a rubber type that I think collapses for eyeglass wearers, but not a twist-up model. Also it focuses by using the objective lens, which is a little unusual. You might want to look through one in person before you purchase. I think with a little looking on the used market, you might be able to find a Diascope 65tFL in your price range. the Zeiss zoom eyepieces for Diascopes have adequate eye relief for eyeglass wearers. I used to have a Diascope 65tFL, and I really liked it. I have found my Vortex Razor 85HD has a superior image, although it also has a weight penalty.

I do see the sense in packing a 50mm spotter, as I have mentioned before, I really like the ED50. One evening last fall I was glassing with the ED50 in good atmospheric conditions, and I was able to make out the shirt color (blue) on a guy walking his black lab up a hill across the valley from my house. The distance was about 8 miles on google Earth. Although eye relief is limited at 13mm to 14mm, many eyeglass users report being able to get a full comfortable image.

Do you have access to a place where you can try out some spotters yourself?

 

[Lawnboi]

Unfortuatly around here there are not many places were I can try them out. There's just no need for them around here. I'm also not so fond of buying used, especially on a high dollar item like that, but if that's the only way to really go then so be it.

Glasses complicate everything.

Other than cabelas there are really no places I can put my hands on them, so I'm trying to read as much as I can on here.

I appreciate the info bb

 

[slim23]

check e bay. they have had some zeiss 15-45x60 green spotters for $1300 latley. It has killed me not to be able to buy one. you can also buy swaro's for less than $1500. that is used prices but seems like a great deal to me

 

[hodgeman]

I have one of these. Eye relief is a little short but I've adapted to it. Probably not the glass a birdwatcher would pick due to slight CA but it's really targeted at hunters for whom it's not really a problem. I've took a few pics with a handheld P&S camera held up to the eyepiece and they look surprisingly good for such crude technique- a Tines Up adapter should be coming out for them.

I've taken 3 animals using mine and evaluated a couple hundred more. Good hunting scope IMHO and quite rugged with the rubber armor. The low end power is low enough that I left my binos in the truck on my last sheep hunt. I had no problem picking up white sheep with my naked eye and scanning on 15x is easy with a ball head- just picking apart drainages.

I paid way less than $1400 for mine...more like $1K as a demo.

 

[Lawnboi]

Can anyone comment on the eyepiece, does it indeed fold back for eyeglass wearers.

 

[luke moffat]

Honestly if you wear eye glasses that spotter isn't for you. I think you would be better served with a 65mm diascope, keep an eye out at places like cameraland demos, and you can get great glass at a fraction of the price.

 

[Lawnboi]

Looks like im just going to have to buck up the money for a nice scope to begin with, its probably better that way though. Thanks for the info guys. I may come to you guys in the future when i really start looking!

 

[hodgeman]

Can anyone comment on the eyepiece, does it indeed fold back for eyeglass wearers.

I've never tried it...I generally wear contacts when I hunt so my glasses aren't an issue otherwise I just take my glasses off and focus to fit my vision. If I were a dedicated full time glasses wearer, I would probably look at something different.

 

[dotman]

Maybe think about this http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/swarovski.pl?page=swarovski49704-49708

This way you can break up your cost, get the scope now and in a few months get an eye piece or find a used eye piece and upgrade that later.

 

[Lawnboi]

^ dotman thats an good thought and price, but i cant afford it just yet. I plan on getting binos first (already have those picked out), and i really dont know exactly when i will be able to afford a spotter, i just know if i cant afford top of the line by july, ill start searching for something i can afford. Im hoping it dosnt come down to that.

Just thinking ahead. I dont really need too much for optics till july really.

 

[dotman]

Here is my plan, instead of forking out $500-800 on a spotter i'm going to pickup a minox md50 and then depending on how i like that save up for a quality spotter.

 

[Lawnboi]

See I did the same thing last year. Except I only spent 300. I just sold that spotted as well. It worked ok, but I would like something better. Especially considering I'm an eye glass wearer when I hunt. Now its time to buy some big boy glass!

 

[bearguide]

i love my zeiss spotter 65