• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Spotting scopes???

rolltide said:
So far, I really like it. My biggest challenge has been my current Manfrotto tripod which is just not sturdy enough, especially if there is very much wind. I finally found a mount for digiscoping with my phone which has been a big part of my plan for the scope.

To me, it seems like that would make it that much quicker and easier to see hits on the target, looking at the screen on my iPhone 6 Plus without having to leaving the stock versus setting the scope up close but still having to move around. I've also seen a few videos that people have done using their phone to video a hunt or to film a shot and many of them are surprisingly good.
Click to expand...

If it's an iphone, Meopta makes adapters for it. Wish they would come out with Samsung adapters for my phone. I a clunky universal phone adapter. It works well, but takes some effort to set up
 
Ledd Slinger said:
If it's an iphone, Meopta makes adapters for it. Wish they would come out with Samsung adapters for my phone. I a clunky universal phone adapter. It works well, but takes some effort to set up
Click to expand...

I saw the Meopta makes one, but it seems it only works on the iPhone 6, not the 6 Plus. It also seems that most of the ones out are only made to fit the phone without a case. I keep my phone in a lifeproof case to try to protect it from falls as well as water. I can't imagine taking my phone in the field without some sort of a case on it, although I know people who do that.

This is what I'm looking at picking up: https://outdoorsmans.com/collections/digiscoping/products/digidapter-body
 
Oh, I forgot I talked to a Cabelas employee and he recommended me to "Phone Skope". They make digiscoping adapters for all types of phones on all types of spotting scopes, including the Meopta S2. Not universal. Kinda spendy, but good reviews.

Here's a link
http://www.phoneskope.com
 
Ledd Slinger said:
Oh, I forgot I talked to a Cabelas employee and he recommended me to "Phone Skope". They make digiscoping adapters for all types of phones on all types of spotting scopes, including the Meopta S2. Not universal. Kinda spendy, but good reviews.

Here's a link
http://www.phoneskope.com
Click to expand...

One other question, what kind of case do you carry your Meopta in? I've looked at quite a few but can't find anything that seems like it's what I'm looking for.
 
Thanks for the link! I need to pick one of those up. I've been using a double pistol case as something to keep it protected on the way to the range, but need something like the stay on case.
 
The S2 stay on case does come with a shoulder carrying strap as well so you can carry it if your hands are full. I don't use mine much though cuz it kinda gets in the way when I'm trying to extend my tripod legs. Not sure if I can even remember where I put the strap.
 
I had the oportunity to use a Swarovski 30-90 atx last weekend. Conditions were pristine. Got to compare it to the Cabelas Euro HD, NF comp, and March 8-80. That Swaro blew me away. I could see 6mm holes in the blue at 1k, and was able to spot for a shooter. I could watch 6.5mm holes appear on the paper. To me its the best glass I have seen, by a long shot. Unfortunately the others were not even in that league.
 
Vortex has redesigned the Razor HD spotting scope. I think that it will be released next month. I got to check one out a few weeks back at Lodi.
 
Alex Wheeler said:
I had the oportunity to use a Swarovski 30-90 atx last weekend. Conditions were pristine. Got to compare it to the Cabelas Euro HD, NF comp, and March 8-80. That Swaro blew me away. I could see 6mm holes in the blue at 1k, and was able to spot for a shooter. I could watch 6.5mm holes appear on the paper. To me its the best glass I have seen, by a long shot. Unfortunately the others were not even in that league.
Click to expand...

Yeah but look at the price difference. The Meopta came out with better glass than the Swaro HDs at a cheaper price point so they had to answer back with something. Comparing 90X and a massive 95mm objective to 80mm scopes with 70X is like comparing an 80mm to a 65mm spotter in the same class. There is no comparison

Meopta hit a home run with their first HD spotter in the alpha sporting glass lineup. Took Swarovski decades to get where they are in the sporting glass realm. The ATX is amazing no doubt, but for $4500+, I'll stick with the Meopta Cabelas scope.
 
Last edited:
I miss typed that. its a 30-70x95. So the power is the same. I bought one of the NF/Meoptas because its so good. But the Swaro was better, by far.
 
Alex Wheeler said:
I miss typed that. its a 30-70x95. So the power is the same. I bought one of the NF/Meoptas because its so good. But the Swaro was better, by far.
Click to expand...

I agree with you for sure. Just depends on if a person wants to fork up almost 3 times the money to have the next step up.

10 years from now, top tier alpha spotters will probably cost us all as much as a nice truck. Lol
 
Bigger objectives definitely make a difference in brightness and clarity. Get bigger sweet spots.

I really like the modular design of the ATX. Just hard for me to justify when each objective and eyepiece individually rivals the price of my Cabelas Euro HD. Im sure the smaller ATX objectives would stack up nicely to the Meopta glass as well. Would like to look through the 85mm ATX sometime. Is the 30-70X ATX eyepiece a wide angle design?
 
Last edited:
tom said:
Ledd, I was there with Alex and it was not an unexpected outcome. Yes we were comparing 2 70x spotters, but as stated the swaro had a 1.3mm exit pupil advantage. The scope we used was actually my cabelas euro HD when comparing the swaro. I could find the 6mm holes in the blue also, but they were much more obvious with the big 95mm swarovski. A more fair comparison would be if Dennis had an 85mm objective for his swarovski. But as of today, disregarding weight and bulk and price, that 95mm swarovski is as good as I've seen EVER. As for the March...... let's just say it holds zero better but shouldn't ever be included in a resolution comparison lol.

Tom
Click to expand...

I've read that about the March scopes a handful of times. Makes a guy wonder why they cost so much.

Did Dennis ever get one of those Vortex Golden Eagle scopes in yet? I know he had a few on order and said he got a FedEx shipping confirmation when I talked to him last. I'm overseas now so don't have a lot of contact with everyone back home. Being that you and Dennis are always around the best glass available in all forms of optics, I'm really curious to hear how you both think the Golden Eagle stacks up against other top shelf competition scopes.
 
Clavius-Walker said:
Not trying to hijack this thread but how far off are the old Japan Bushnell Spacemasters from the clarity of these newer spotting scopes?
Click to expand...

I had one of the really old ones with the metal body years ago. Guy gave it to me to do some simple trigger jobs on a couple of his rifles. Think it went up to 30X. Wasn't the Spacemaster though, was a different Bushnell model but had the Japanese glass. That old Japanese glass was very nice. Not as good as today's top shelf ED glass by any means, but definitely very nice. Can't remember if I lost it or gave it away?... wish I still had it though. Was a great throw around truck spotter. Now I have one of those little Burris 20X compact spotters I keep in the truck console. Not the greatest glass, but gets the job done in a pinch when I don't have my big spotter
 
STALKER! That was the name of the Bushnell scope I had. Had it on the tip of my tongue for a while.

On another note. I have 4 of the old Tasco Japanese glass rifle scopes. One in 3-9x40, one 6-18x40 with the wide angle TV view, one 6-24x40 with the extra fine crosshair, and one 5-20x50 with the old rangefinding reticle. The glass on ALL of them is absolutely amazing for their age. They honestly have noticeably better glass than my Zeiss HD5, Nikon Monarch, Bushnell Elite, and any other mid to mid-upper grade scopes I have around. Glass is crystal clear to the edges all the way to max power on every one. Bought them all for next to nothing. I'll never sell them. Couple of them even have the tall target turrets with 1/4 clicks that are every bit as solid as a NF. Even in only a 1 inch tube I think I counted around 45-ish MOA of elevation in the 5-20x50 model. Pretty good for a 30+ year old scope ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
165,870
Messages
2,205,091
Members
79,175
Latest member
rlk99

Share This Page

Back
Top