Alternative to the BTX.

[fatrascal]

Meridian Bino Spotting Scope 40x80mm

Atibal NOMAD Spotting Scopes are lightweight and durable. The Atibal NOMAD Spotting Scopes are an essential part to every sportsman's equipment and are equally great for when you are shooting at the range.

atibal-optics.com

For those who do not like Swarovski.
Fatrascal

 

[Blue72]

I always wondered if a bino viewer would work in the well regarded Pentax ED spotting scopes. Since it takes 1.25 eyepieces as well

 

[fatrascal]

Blue 72, I've kinda been wondering when the other high end optic companies would come out with their owne binocular/scope combo or more of them come out with a set of big eyes. So I'm not surprised to see an off name company come out with one. I'm kinda surprised that the Chinese mass production companies are taking so long to bring one out. Patents maybe.
You kinda lost me with "it takes 1.25 eyepieces as well." I remember when Pentax was more popular and I remember that they had a 100mm spotter. Fatrascal.

 

[Blue72]

Blue 72, I've kinda been wondering when the other high end optic companies would come out with their owne binocular/scope combo or more of them come out with a set of big eyes. So I'm not surprised to see an off name company come out with one. I'm kinda surprised that the Chinese mass production companies are taking so long to bring one out. Patents maybe.
You kinda lost me with "it takes 1.25 eyepieces as well." I remember when Pentax was more popular and I remember that they had a 100mm spotter. Fatrascal.

1.25 eye pieces are standard eye pieces that are very popular in the astronomical telescope community. With lots of different manufacters and endless options in magnification, FOV, and AFOV. The beauty of the Pentax and the scope you mentioned is that they take 1.25 standard eyepieces which opens you up to lots of options. Kowa used to (they still might) offer an adapter to take 1.25 eyepieces as well. Some even modify their Nikon ED50 to fit these eyepieces with minimal work

in addition to having a number of eyepieces available, they also make bino viewer adapters that fit any telescope using 1.25 eyepieces. Similar to the one you posted. I’m not sure if it work on the Pentax since you are increas the focal length and the focus adjustments tend to be more limited compared to telescopes. So it might or might not work. Someone will have to be a guinea pig

I believe zeiss has has an adapter and APM makes one for swaro scopes. Plus all celestron spotting scopes take 1.25 eyepieces

 

[fatrascal]

Well dang, you just took me to school, lol. Thankyou for the info. You are definitely knowledgeable in optics. Fatrascal

 

[Blue72]

Well dang, you just took me to school, lol. Thankyou for the info. You are definitely knowledgeable in optics. Fatrascal

Just trying to help, I only know this because optics started in astronomy for me. Where 1.25 eyepieces are are popular discussion. I hope one day hunters see the attraction of fixed magnification eyepieces again vs zoom eyepieces

 

[SikaSeeker]

Monk Optics in the U.K. had a 90mm scope and Binoviewer kit released in late 90s. Spotted one for sale but lady wouldn’t ship. She wanted only $40! Actual value when new would’ve been between alpha and budget.

Binoviewers for Astro are not really suited to outdoors, more of an instrument than a tool. Denis Levatic in Croatia concerts Zeiss surgical Binoviewers in Astro ones and calls them “APO Binoviewers.

If you want to see something really cool check out Matsumoto Binoculars. They use internal mirrors to bounce the light from a telescope until it’s right way up so no prism diagonal is needed. You can use two Swarovski objectives with them and adapt them for many uses. Again, not suitable for a hunt but ingenious engineering.

 

[SikaSeeker]

Spotted this unit for sale in Uk under a different name, one reviewer who owned the Monk Cyclops previously said it was a major step up and he only had the 72mm. One concern for me would be the type of Binoviewer this looks like. Orion make a similar one, they take two half moon images and combine rather than take two full circles. It’s part of an optical design calculation and to keep things light/ smaller.

It uses OHara SPL53 optical glass which is top line stuff.

Would be interesting if someone got their hands on one of these to compare against the BTX. I wouldn’t be too confident but if you get 90% there it’s an interesting value proposition.