Pentax PF 65ED II Angled Spotting Scope Body

As an amateur astronomer as well as birder, I have long been aware of the degree to which captive and proprietary eyepieces confound spotting scope review results. Astronomical telescopes are all outfitted with a 1 1/4" eyepiece barrel permitting the use of literally, thousands of eyepiece options. Reviews of telescopes typically utilize well known, widely recognized, highest quality eyepieces to ensure that the review of the telescope is not limited by the eyepiece. Birding spotting scopes, in most cases, utilize captive eyepieces that are proprietary to the scope maker. This prevents direct comparison of spotting scopes while holding the eyepiece constant. Thus a Swarovsky scope is, in significant part, well rated due to the excellence of their eyepiece or zoom. It may be that another, less favorably reviewed scope, would perform close to the Swarovsky if it utilized the Swarovsky eyepiece. The Pentax PRF ED II 65mm spotting scope is unique in that it, like astronomical scopes, permits the use of thousands of 1 1/4" barrel astronomical eyepieces. I have found the Pentax objective lens, in star tests using high quality Tele-Vue eyepieces, to be of exceptional quality. When partnered with eyepieces of similar quality (e.g. those fixed focal length eyepieces made by Tele-Vue or Pentax) the Pentax PRF ED II 65mm provides spectacular performance, comparable to other high end spotting scopes costing hundreds of dollars more. I have been less impressed by the Pentax zoom often provided in a "package" with the Pentax scope. Frankly the Pentax zoom diminishes the potential performance of the scope well below the capability of the objective lens. The good news is that the Pentax scope is not limited by a proprietary eyepiece design and can be significantly improved through the adoption of an alternate fixed focal length eyepiece. Additionally, for birders who prefer a zoom, the Baader Planetarium 8-24mm Hyperion Clickstop Zoom Eyepiece significantly improves the Pentax scope beyond its performance using the typically supplied Pentax eyepiece. In summary, I have found the Pentax PRF ED II 65mm Spotting Scope to be of unusually high quality in terms of its build quality and the optical quality of its objective lens. In fact, its performance is virtually unsurpassed when utilizing higher quality astronomical wide field eyepieces such as those made by Tele-Vue and Pentax (XW series).