spotting scope

[kochie]

what a good spotting scope? do you pay for what you get ?

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Spotting scopes are definitely subject to the "you get what you pay for" rule.

The spotting scope with the best IQ currently is the Kowa in the 88x and 99x series. They use fluorite crystal glass. The 88x have 88mm objectives and the 99x have 99mm objectives. In mirage conditions and for color rendition they are awesome. Their new 80° wide angle eyepiece is breathtaking.

The runner up will be the Swarovski. They have excellent glass, and they have lots of eyepieces and they make quite a system.

After these kilobuck items, there are many excellent spotters, and you just need to figure out what your requirements are and how much you want to spend.

 

[kochie]

Spotting scopes are definitely subject to the "you get what you pay for" rule.

The spotting scope with the best IQ currently is the Kowa in the 88x and 99x series. They use fluorite crystal glass. The 88x have 88mm objectives and the 99x have 99mm objectives. In mirage conditions and for color rendition they are awesome. Their new 80° wide angle eyepiece is breathtaking.

The runner up will be the Swarovski. They have excellent glass, and they have lots of eyepieces and they make quite a system.

After these kilobuck items, there are many excellent spotters, and you just need to figure out what your requirements are and how much you want to spend.

ok thanks i kind of thought you pay for what you got when it came to spotting scopes

 

[Oldman1950]

I recently purchased a Zeiss Conquest Gavia 85 spotting scope and for the money it fits my needs to a T.
Spend the money the first time and get a QUALITY one. Something less and you will be looking for another scope in the next few years.
A. J. Palik

 

[kochie]

I recently purchased a Zeiss Conquest Gavia 85 spotting scope and for the money it fits my needs to a T.
Spend the money the first time and get a QUALITY one. Something less and you will be looking for another scope in the next few years.
A. J. Palik

. ok thanks i will look at zeiss

 

[STORM2]

Spotting scopes are dependent on the tripod used. Cheap tripod will degrade the performance of a good scope. Then you must consider if you will have to tote the rig a distance or back your vehicle up to your bench. My rig is big and bulky but I have access to a private range. I use a real surveyor tripod with a dedicated chair. It would be tough to carry it any distance. You have to decide how it will be used before you select the tripod. The wind will play havoc with light weight rigs. If you are shooting at longer targets you need better glass, if you never play past 100 yards the glass is not as critical. Try using a friends or ask folks at the range for a peek. Most shooters will share the good and bad about their equipment.

 

[kochie]

Spotting scopes are dependent on the tripod used. Cheap tripod will degrade the performance of a good scope. Then you must consider if you will have to tote the rig a distance or back your vehicle up to your bench. My rig is big and bulky but I have access to a private range. I use a real surveyor tripod with a dedicated chair. It would be tough to carry it any distance. You have to decide how it will be used before you select the tripod. The wind will play havoc with light weight rigs. If you are shooting at longer targets you need better glass, if you never play past 100 yards the glass is not as critical. Try using a friends or ask folks at the range for a peek. Most shooters will share the good and bad about their equipment.

ok thanks

 

[Alex Wheeler]

The 115 btx swaro with 1.7 multiplier will see 6mm holes at 1k without even stressing. Obviously the air has to be good.

 

[6BRA]

The 115 btx swaro with 1.7 multiplier will see 6mm holes at 1k without even stressing. Obviously the air has to be good.

pocket change right there... LOL.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Swaros are excellent, especially the larger ones, if you can afford the price and the heft. These puppies are huge and heavy.

The larger the objective lens the greater the resolution capability, and that's where the Swaros shine. If you need to see the back side of a fly at 2000 yards, get the biggest Swaro possible, and a mule to carry it.

I use my Kowa from position on the line to observe the conditions, watch the flags, and poach on other targets, of course. When I got my latest unit, it was a decision between the 88x and the 99x. The 88x won because while it was a big unit, it was still manageable on the line and allowed me to discern the faintest wisp of mirage while still provide excellent IQ.

What I like about the Kowa brand, after their use of CaF2 lenses, is the wide panoply of eyepieces, digiscoping adapters and other accessories. Swarovski also has a large assorment of eyepieces and accessories.

If you're going to get a quality spotting scope, I would suggest strongly that in your list of specs you have "interchangeable eyepieces." This capability multiplies the uses of the spotter dramatically.

For instance, for my Kowa, I have a 25-60X zoom eyepiece, the 25X LER eyepiece (no longer used,) and the phenomenal 80 degree wide angle eyepiece. I also got the astronomical unit adapter and bought a 3rd party astonomical eyepiece that further extends the capabilities. Looking at the Moon with that combo is amazing. I also have the digiscoping adapters and did a video with my Nikon D-7500 on the Kowa 883 at Ben Avery year before last.

You can view it here.

NIKON IMAGE SPACE

There are many fine spotting scopes and it would be a good thing to figure out what your needs are before jumping in.

EDIT: There seems to be some issue with viewing the video through NikonImageSpace.
Here is a link to an entry on my Facebook page that has the video.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=858106135327869

 

[Andy Legg]

For the $$ I'd recommend taking a look at the Celestron Regal M2 80ED Spotting Scope. It's dual focus and includes the 20-60 Zoom Eyepiece (interchangable). Scope is very nice and you can't beat the lifetime warranty service.

$850 at Celestron's Amazon Store.

Amazon.com

Also, very compatible (IMHO) is the Kowa TSN-82SV 82mm. The scope body is typically sold separately at around the same price or slightly lower than the Celestron M2 80ED but you then have to choose (and purchase) an eye piece. All-In...for the Kowa should be around $1150-$1250 last time I checked.

 

[ronemus]

Good Kowa scopes are available at lower price points - check out the TSN-66 (66 mm objective with fluorite lens elements); it's also a smaller, lighter package than the 80 mm+ scopes.

 

[kochie]

Good Kowa scopes are available at lower price points - check out the TSN-66 (66 mm objective with fluorite lens elements); it's also a smaller, lighter package than the 80 mm+ scopes.

ok thanks for vedio & all the other good infor

 

[std7mag]

I'll be the one to go out on the limb and ask, what's the intended usage?

I have a Celestron C70 Mini Mak.
Large in diameter. Short in length. Extremely lightweight.
My main usage is spotting game on the gas lines. 400 yards to several miles.

And I will usually pack it in my backpack going up to 4 miles away from the truck.

For this it works great!

For seeing 22 caliber bullet holes at 300 yards or more on a day with a fair bit of mirage, it sucks.

I do like that it uses the standard 1.25" eyepiece as on a telescope. So changing lenses & filters is straightforward, and they help alot in certain circumstances.

 

[kochie]

I'll be the one to go out on the limb and ask, what's the intended usage?

I have a Celestron C70 Mini Mak.
Large in diameter. Short in length. Extremely lightweight.
My main usage is spotting game on the gas lines. 400 yards to several miles.

And I will usually pack it in my backpack going up to 4 miles away from the truck.

For this it works great!

For seeing 22 caliber bullet holes at 300 yards or more on a day with a fair bit of mirage, it sucks.

I do like that it uses the standard 1.25" eyepiece as on a telescope. So changing lenses & filters is straightforward, and they help alot in certain circumstances.

thanks for info

 

[kochie]

thanks for info

another question where do you guys find the best place to buy a spotting scope ?

 

[Jr solocam]

I agree Kowa and Swarovski are 1-2. The usual suspects like Leica, Zeiss, Razor and Meopta are very good as well, at a slightly lower price. Pentax used to be good, now I don't know. You will need to decide what size/weight/$ serves your purpose. I still use an old Nikon ED Fieldscope, it does what I need.

NY Cameraland has good prices, just hit the outdoor/optics sites and look for a good sale....

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

@Jr solocam is exactly right. There are a lot of extremely good spotters after Kowa and Swarovski, and Kowa has lower price point models. For instance, my prior spotter was a Kowa 82-SV and it worked really well for many years. I have a couple of eyepieces for it and did some digiscoping with it; a perfectly good spotting scope and at a more affordable price point. Yeah, that Nikon ED Flieldscope is a good one also.

Cameraland, Eurooptics, etc; they all carry good stuff and are happy to guide you.

 

[209jones]

I've owned a Kowa 77 for about 33 yrs now, bought it mostly for range use, although, I hauled it sheep hunting a few times as well, definitely heavy, but, was worth doing at the time. I cringed at the till, knew, but, didn't want to know the price, turned the other way and handed over my credit card for the Kowa and a big Manfrotto tripod. I had 5 or 6 out on the sidewalk to test out side by side, looked at a double on a target at 200yds, that I couldn't see with a 15-45x 50(60?) B&L from back then. No regrets, it's worth doing. I did buy some kind of a cheaper oddball brand 50mm 15-32x spotter for the daypack and hiking the hills when hunting later on, but, still carry the Kowa in the truck, for when I really want to look at something on the hills, or across a section of land.

 

[coldboreshot]

what a good spotting scope? do you pay for what you get ?