Spotting Scope

H

hankpac

Inactive
I am in the market for a spotting scope. I am not in the Swaro bunch, so keep it conservative.
My biggest requirements are clarity all the way to the edge of the image, good eye relief, large exit pupil even at higher magnification, and minimal parallax.
20-60 X, 50-60 mm objective.
I have a tripod, hard and soft cases are not deal breakers, since most suppliers have them available in various packages.
Use for shooting, and bird watching, and possibly adapting my SLR dig camera.
Any thoughts?
 
I have a Burris Landmark...20x-60x-80mm. For what I do at the range it is just fine. If memory serves me correctly it cost me in the $240 range, complete with a hard case and tripod. I will say this though, the first day at the range the tripod broke. I took the whole mess back to my FFL and he promptly handed me some $60 Nikon full length tripod. I'm not sure what a guy would have had to go through if this was bought say at Wal-Mart or wherever but was glad I bought this at my local FFL.
 
If you cannot afford Brunton/Zeiss/Swarovski/Leica/Kowa, take a look at the Mak-Cass scope recommendations in this thread:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216908&highlight=spotting+scope+$200

The prices have come down even further - although the one that I use - this one - is a bit of a beast in size, it's is supremely clear out to 200 (the furthest I've tested it):
http://www.opticsplanet.net/celestron-c130mm-mak-spotting-scope.html


For something more reasonably-sized, which will work with a cheapie tripod, look at the C90 Mak:
http://www.opticsplanet.net/celestron-c90-mak-spotting-scope.html
 
Kowa

I found a Kowa 20/60 x77mm Flourite some time back from one of the NYC discount places.
Different days have different air and light,but I have been able to read 30 cal bullet holes in the black at 500 meters.
I can sight in at 300 meters without going downrange.
That saves so much time and effort...
You can't have one that is too good!!!
 
Hankpac,

How much $$$ do you want to spend?
Generally speaking, the higher the spotting scope price, the better the scope.

Martyn
 
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