Pentax PF-65ED II Zoom, 65Mm ED II Straight Body With 20-60X Xf-Series Zoom Spotting Scope

This Product Has Been Discontinued And Is No Longer For Sale.  This Product Is Listed For Informational Purposes Only.

This Pentax 65mm aperture straight-through viewing 20-60x zoom ED spotting scope puts premium Pentax image quality into a compact, comfortable to use, and very portable body . . .The Pentax PF-65ED II Zoom is a lightweight and compact armored straight-through viewing 65mm spotting scope equipped with a Pentax XF-series 20x to 60x zoom eyepiece. The scope is designed to give you Pentax-quality optical performance, but from a lighter and more manageable body than the 80mm and 100mm Pentax scopes. It is O-ring sealed and nitrogen-filled to be fogproof and totally waterproof to a depth of one meter. Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass elements in its 5-element 3-group objective yield optimum optical resolution.

Unlike other spotting scopes, which use proprietary bayonet-mount eyepiece holders that accept only the scope manufacturer's eyepieces, the 65mm Pentax uses an American standard 1.25" (31.7mm) diameter eyepiece receptacle. In addition to the supplied excellent-quality Pentax XF zoom eyepiece, this system accepts single magnification Pentax XF 60° field eyepieces, the larger Pentax XW 70° field eyepieces, as well as more than 150 other 1.25" astronomical eyepieces from other manufacturers that can be found on the astronomics side of this website. If you want to expand your eyepiece capabilities beyond that of the supplied zoom, you can tailor the magnification and field of view precisely to your requirements with this Pentax. It's something you can't do with other spotting scopes that have a more limited range of eyepieces available.

For use with 1.25" eyepieces, the focal length of this scope is 390mm. You can calculate the magnification of a 1.25" eyepiece on this scope by dividing the scope's 390mm focal length by the focal length of the eyepiece. Divide the apparent field of view of the 1.25" eyepiece by this magnification to get the actual field of view in degrees.

Features that distinguish this scope from competitive scopes . . .

The optics - both scope and eyepiece - are fully multicoated with famous Pentax Super-Multi-Coating (SMC) antireflection coatings to maximize light transmission, clarity, and contrast.Exceptionally close focusing, down to a very good 16.4 feet (5 meters).The scope is supplied with a 20x to 60x zoom eyepiece. This provides a view that ranges from a 2.2° field at 20x (117' @ 1000 yards) to a 0.97° field (51' @1000 yards) at 60x. A groove in the zoom eyepiece barrel fits a pin in the scope's eyepiece receptacle. This keeps the eyepiece from accidentally loosening as the zoom magnification ring on the eyepiece is turned in cold weather. The eyepiece is specially sealed to be weatherproof under the worst observing conditions a birder might encounter, short of total submersion. Protective caps are provided for both ends of the eyepiece, as well as for both ends of the scope.
The usable eye relief ranges from 14mm at 20x to 10mm at 60x. These somewhat-short figures will vignette the field of view for those who must wear eyeglasses while observing due to astigmatism, particularly at the higher powers. Those who do not wear glasses will find the eye relief more than acceptable for unvignetted viewing, particularly when the rubber-rimmed twist-up eyecup is extended to block out ambient light and position the eye at the correct eyepoint.
As with any zoom eyepiece, the precise focal length or magnification of the Pentax zoom at any given point in time is not all that important. The experienced observer invariably adjusts the zoom magnification to match the seeing conditions and object size as he looks through the eyepiece, rather than first setting the zoom to an arbitrary focal length value according to the scale on the side of the eyepiece and using it at that power no matter what the seeing conditions. The flexibility of a zoom to instantly match the magnification to changing lighting or seeing conditions is one of the zoom eyepiece's chief advantages.
The scope can also use other brands of 1.25" astronomical eyepieces in addition to the Pentax eyepieces. A collet-type knurled ring locks the eyepieces in place, but allows eyepieces to be changed with just a twist of the wrist.

Other features of this scope . . .

Rugged and lightweight magnesium alloy body is nitrogen filled and O-ring sealed to be fogproof in all temperature extremes and waterproof to a depth of one meter (JIS grade 6). Nitrogen purging also prevents the internal formation of fungus in high humidity climates, such as rain forests.Rubberized black paint on the scope body provides a sure grip in wet weather. The prism housing and lens shade are clad in black rubber armor to help shock-proof the optics.Only three and a quarter turns of the ribbed rubber focusing knob located at the top of the scope moves from a very close focus of only 16.4 feet out to beyond the horizon.The 65ED II Zoom mounts on any photo tripod having a standard 1/4"-20 thread mounting bolt. There are three 1/4"-20 mounting holes in the bottom of the mounting shoe to let you balance the scope more precisely, depending on whether you are using an eyepiece or the optional #PF-CA35 camera adapter.A self-storing retractable lens shade improves the visual and photographic contrast.A camera-type snap-in objective lens cover protects the optics while they are being transported or stored.A sight line molded into lens shade aids in acquiring targets quickly, although the lens shade needs to be rotated to one side to use the sight line since the prism housing and eyepiece block the view along the top of the scope. This straight-through viewing design is generally better for quickly locating birds in the field than a 45° viewing angle model. You can quickly switch from roughly locating birds using the sight line to observing them close up through the eyepiece with little more than a 1" move of your head. On the other hand, a 45° viewing angle is generally more comfortable for watching treetop activity or for extended observing from a blind or back porch. The #P652AZ 65ED-A II Zoom 45° angled viewing model is also more convenient for observing couples of varying heights who must share a single scope, as there's little need to constantly raise and lower the tripod to a comfortable height for each observer.For photography, you can use the Pentax #PF-CA35 camera adapter for Pentax K-mount cameras only. It converts the scope to a 780mm f/12 telephoto lens, with a 3.2° field of view and an 18' close focus. There may be some very slight vignetting at the very corners of the field, but cropping the image by about 5% would get rid of the effect. A locking knob at the side of the scope body allows the barrel to be rotated left or right from a horizontal (landscape) to a vertical (portrait) orientation, with click stops every 45°.The supplied water-shedding Cordura-style nylon soft case has Velcro-fastened fold-back flaps that allow the scope to be mounted on a tripod and used while still in the case. Carrying handles are provided on the case.This Pentax spotting scope is protected by the Pentax "Worry-Free" lifetime warranty that will repair or replace (at Pentax's option) any defective product (even if damaged by you) for the life of the original owner for a cost of only $19.95 to cover shipping and handling.

Tech Details: 

Supplied Accessories: 

• 20-60x XF-series zoom eyepiece
• Dust covers
• Lens cover
• Self-storing lens shade
• Fitted soft stay-on carrying case