Spotting Scope- Straight or angled eyepiece?

[Exocet]

I'm in the market for a spotting scope. I've seen the pros and cons. I like the idea of a straight eyepiece but wanted input before I buy. Use will be wildlife viewing mostly (hunting, travelling, hiking) with a tripod and occasionally off of or next to the shooting bench. Is there a great benefit to the angled eyepiece?

I just don't want buyer's remorse since I'm planning on buying a really good one. Only want to buy once. Help me decide.

 

[spclark]

My $0.02 is that an angled eyepiece is a distinct advantage if you shoot competition events whilst laying on your belly, on the ground.

That angled eyepiece helps get your spotting scope aligned as closely as possible with your non-shooting eye so you don’t have to move your head at all (under perfect set-up) while shooting.

Straight eyepiece is for more ‘relaxed’ use, either with ‘scope mounted on a tripod or held up to your eyeball-of-choice, as you would with a telescope.

 

[Fast14riot]

My dad initially bought a straight eye piece and quickly found that he needed a much taller tripod to look at anything remotely at an up angle unless he was sitting in a low chair or on the ground. An angled eye piece is more comfortable when looking up, like with bird watching or spot and stalk in hilly terrain. He now has an angled scope.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

When shooting Hunter Class BR matches I prefer an angled eyepiece. And as an F-Class spotter I prefer the angled eye piece. For watching from behind the line in an BR match I prefer a straight eye piece. But then it depends on what you are going to use the scope for most of the time.

 

[Mikey_P]

Another vote for the angled eyepiece. I use my spotting scope for shooting from prone position, occasional shooting from a bench, and even for stargazing. Can't think of a time where I wish that I had a straight eyepiece vs. an angled.

Mike

 

[std7mag]

I use angled.
F-Open a short tripod with the spotter essentially laying on it's side.

For spotting game, i don't have to extend the regular tripod as high.

 

[watercam]

If your primary usage is wildlife/birding, go with a straight eye piece. It is easier to pick up your quarry looking straight at them and then find them in the scope then having to look one direction at the animal and then over to an eye-piece pointed in another direction. Having shot God knows how many hours of film and video wildlife documentaries it is the only way I would go.
The straight eye piece is not a hamper to a bench shooter. Mount the scope near your rifle on a pipe clamp type mount attached to the bench.
That said, I am a competitive shooter and use an angled for shooting only.

 

[MislMan]

You may also want to post this question on a wildlife/birding forum site to see if they have any particular preferences we shooters may not know about or consider.

 

[mousegunner]

Also consider the exit pupil and eye relief on the scope. With My TSN1 with angled eyepiece and LER lens I don't have to be right on it to see the image. My Zhuemell 20-60 also has a good exit pupil and eye relief for a zoom lens.

I had an older Bushnell straight scope that was hard for me to use in across the course shooting with three different positions and you had to get close to the eyepiece to see the image. My 2 cents.

 

[rsmithsr50]

I like angled. mainly a bench shooter

 

[brxbrad]

Definitely angled. I've had both.

 

[nilebartram]

I have a Leica 65 angled spotting scope for sale on the forum. Leica is top of the line. nilebartram

 

[Forum Boss]

On most spotters, the scope body can be rotated so the angled ocular tilts to the right or the left. This can be very be handy when shooting from bench or Prone.




David Tubb

 

[carlsbad]

Depends on how flexible your neck is. I think only the most flexible will prefer a straight eyepiece. I wish I could put an angled eyepiece on my rifle scope.

 

[Steve Ladino]

If your primary usage is wildlife/birding, go with a straight eye piece. It is easier to pick up your quarry looking straight at them and then find them in the scope then having to look one direction at the animal and then over to an eye-piece pointed in another direction. Having shot God knows how many hours of film and video wildlife documentaries it is the only way I would go.
The straight eye piece is not a hamper to a bench shooter. Mount the scope near your rifle on a pipe clamp type mount attached to the bench.
That said, I am a competitive shooter and use an angled for shooting only.

Ditto for straight although if you forget the tripod an angled scope can just be set on top of the bench.

 

[jbarron]

For competition you want angled.
For wildlife/hunting you want straight.
Would you buy binoculars with angled eye pieces?

 

[SPQR70AD]

I would think with angled eyepiece it would maybe distort the image cause it has to bend it as opposed to the image coming straight in. does any one know about this?

 

[spclark]

I would think with angled eyepiece it would maybe distort the image cause it has to bend it as opposed to the image coming straight in. does any one know about this?

No, it doesn’t. Or we wouldn’t use them for what we do! They cost too much for us to have to put up with a distorted image.

 

[carlsbad]

angled eyepieces use prisms that have perfectly flat surfaces placed at the correct angles to bet the bend angle desired.

 

[SPQR70AD]

angled eyepieces use prisms that have perfectly flat surfaces placed at the correct angles to bet the bend angle desired.

but it has to cost more to bend an image and make it just as good as a straight image