Choosing between spotting scopes

[454bore]

Currently debating on keeping a Vortex Razor HD 27-60x85mm Gen ii spotting scope I recently purchased versus returning it and getting a Pentax PF-100ED 32.5-97.5x100mm spotting scope. Expect this to be the last spotting scope I buy.

Anyone have any experience with the PF-100ED that could tell me if it is worth the extra spend? Pro's/con's?

Like they say, spend once cry once.

 

[std7mag]

Man i HATE that freak'n saying!

But sounds like you already spent once.
And thinking of spending twice.
There was just an article in the bulletin on the spotter subject. You may want to check it out.

 

[centershot]

Bought one once and returned it because mine said made in China. There are used Kowas for sale here. I bought one and saved a lot of $$$. The Vortex is a large scope so it depends on what you are going to use it for.

 

[FNSafari]

Vortex are nice, Kowa are nicer, Nikon on par with Kowa, Swarovski/Zeiss/Leica will put drool on your shirt and shoes. Any of the above will do but every one will not overcome heavy heat mirage. Try and find them all to look through and buy the one that suits your needs and budget.

 

[FarmerDave]

Right as rain. I have a Kowa with the 30 - 60 eyepiece, and really like it a lot, but when mirage starts, doesn't matter what the glass. Everything turns to fog at high power distance.

 

[Dub]

Kowa with a 25X LER is as good as it gets

 

[Dave Marshall]

Do yourself a favor and don’t look through a Nightforce TS 82. Just don’t.

 

[KY_Windage]

Look thru it w- your shooting glasses on -- how much of the picture do you see?

 

[JEFFPPC]

For starters what you want to use it for....spotting bullet holes....spotting game....spot hits on steel will have a big impact on what you need. I have a Ziess, I like it. But I will say compared to my 150.00 40 year old B&L , for most uses it was not the best investment I ever made. First thing wrong most of us do is buy a variable eyepiece. Not the best for much of anything in my opinion. Educate your self and look through as many as you can before spending your money. Lastly, your scope is only as good as your tripod, don't cheap out on it.Lots of good ones these days.

 

[wedgy]

Do yourself a favor and don’t look through a Nightforce TS 82. Just don’t.

The Nightforce spotter is made by Meopta so don't overlook them.

 

[centershot]

I have a Kowa 660 with a 20x60 eyepiece. I think that I need to start looking for a 25 LER eyepiece.

 

[Kittitas George]

For starters what you want to use it for....spotting bullet holes....spotting game....spot hits on steel will have a big impact on what you need. I have a Ziess, I like it. But I will say compared to my 150.00 40 year old B&L , for most uses it was not the best investment I ever made. First thing wrong most of us do is buy a variable eyepiece. Not the best for much of anything in my opinion. Educate your self and look through as many as you can before spending your money. Lastly, your scope is only as good as your tripod, don't cheap out on it.Lots of good ones these days.

As I have posted before we compared an expensive Pentax with multiple lenses to my 40 year old B&L variable, we couldn't see any difference. My B&L works good at the range, but is not something to pack on a sheep hunt or on horse back. A solid tripod is the key, I spent about 40 years as a surveyor, shaky tripods weren't allowed. Some of our work is done at night to avoid heat and mirage.

 

[JayHHI6818]

There are used Kowas for sale here. I bought one and saved a lot of $$$.

I did the same thing!

 

[JayHHI6818]

Kowa with a 25X LER is as good as it gets

+1
I have same Kowa setup. Bought 20x60 eyepiece wanting more magnification. Used it a few time and now I rarely use

 

[JEFFPPC]

What do you want to use for? Necessary information for an intelligent answer. If your primary reason is spotting bullets holes buy a body plus an astronomical eyepiece of the wide angle variety. Far superior to any zoom for that propose. More power, brighter, and a bigger field of view. If you buy a Ziess like I have they make an adapter to allow the use of a non factory lens because Zeiss has their own mounting system.

 

[XTR]

If you are using it for reading mirage then my personal opinion is that the most important feature is a long eye relief (LER) eyepiece, and after that probably wide angle, last thing is glass quality.

If you are trying to see bullet holes past 300 yards in anything you are probably going to be disappointed in everything because nothing will remove the atmospheric distortions. In white paper in ideal conditions, I have used my Leica with a 20-60x eyepiece to spot holes in white paper out to 600, but my NF scope can see them then too.

I've got a very old Kowa TSN823, a Leica 77, and a Celestron Hummingbird 56ED.

They will all read mirage, the Leica probably has the best glass but I haven't used it in yrs. The colors between the Leica and the Kowa are slightly different. The Celestron is the lightest and smallest and packs well for flying, and the Kowa has the LER eyepiece, it get used the most.

I have used some other peoples Vortex spotters and some newer Kowas and I'm on the fence about getting a new one. The new Kowas and the Vortex with the LER eyepiece have a bit wider angle than my old Kowa.

 

[johara1]

Nobody has stated what they want to use the spotting scope for..... why? I have a TSN 880 with a 25-60 eye piece and I can see 6mm bullet holes at 600 yds most of the time. if you add the 1.6 multiplier I can see flies at 1200 yds on 96 power. Is it that much better than a Pentax 80 mm with astronomical eye pieces .... not really...... The 100mm is too big and heavy.... jim