Nikon Fieldscope III vs Fieldscope III ED?

[Xringer07]

Hey guys I'm getting ready to purchase a spotting scope and have been looking at the Nikon Fieldscopes. My question is whether the ED glass is worth the extra $400 in the 60mm models. I've heard great things about the ED glass but was curious if anyone had experience and recommendations.

Thanks!
Justin

 

[Bitterroot Bulls]

The ED glass reduces chromatic aberration (CA), or "color fringing." CA is visible on high-contrast subjects. Lower CA means images that appear to be sharper and have higher contrast. Low CA is especially important when digiscoping, as CA shows up easily in photos and video.

People are different in how much they notice CA. It doesn't bother some people. CA is easily noticeable, and bothersome, to me, so I prefer ED (or HD, APO, or whatever that manufacturer wants to label it) glass.

 

[BigSurArcher]

I tested out a Fieldscope III ED the other day and it was nice, but not $1600 nice (according to MY eyes). If I were looking through it without knowing the real price I would have guessed it to be about a $900 setup based on performance.

 

[Xringer07]

Thanks for the help guys, I guess the best way to find out is to just try them both side by side. The only challenge is finding a retailer that has them both in stock. But thanks for your input and I'll keep an update as to which direction I decide to go.