Athlon Ares 15-45x65 spotter eye relief question

[justpassingthru]

Looking for some advice from those who have experience wearing glasses using a spotter. Just bought the Athlon Ares 15-45 spotter from cameraland, I’m fairly happy with the quality of the glass especially for the price but it seems like the eye relief is not ideal for those who wear glasses? I have to press my glasses against the eye piece somewhat to get a clear picture, even with the eyecup turned all the way down, Is this normal? It causes too much movement on the image and seems to defeat the whole purpose of setting up a spotting scope on a tripod to begin with. It’s my first spotter so I’m not sure what to expect, I’m wondering if I should look for a different one. Any input appreciated. Thanks

 

[justpassingthru]

Being a popular budget spotter i know there are many who have to wear glasses who own this. Is this normal? Maybe i have a lemon. I’ll probably call cameraland tomorrow to see what they say but wanted to see what others here thought first.

 

[Elk botherer]

Being a popular budget spotter i know there are many who have to wear glasses who own this. Is this normal? Maybe i have a lemon. I’ll probably call cameraland tomorrow to see what they say but wanted to see what others here thought first.

I had one and while the glass was great, the eye relief isn’t the best. I sold it and went back to a vortex razor 20-60x85 (I also had a 16-48x65 razor that was similar in generous eye relief) that seems much more generous with eye relief to me. I wear contacts most of the time so it didn’t interfere too much but it was more comfortable with the razor for me. The ares is a good spotting scope, but wasn’t the best fit for me.

 

[Pro953]

I guess I have the same issue, but I do not like to glass with my eyeglasses on so I always pull them off/away and deal with the adjustment in the spotter. My glasses just seem like another layer that degrades the image during a long glassing session.


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[Rob5589]

I wear glasses but not while using a scope/spotter. The eye relief is tight especially at higher magnification. Wearing glasses would for sure make it worse.

 

[justpassingthru]

I see… No problem wearing glasses with any binoculars I’ve used, I never expected this to be an issue.

Live in western Pa so no long glassing sessions here. But for range work I’m not sure i want to be taking my glass on and off all the time.

 

[justpassingthru]

I had one and while the glass was great, the eye relief isn’t the best. I sold it and went back to a vortex razor 20-60x85 (I also had a 16-48x65 razor that was similar in generous eye relief) that seems much more generous with eye relief to me. I wear contacts most of the time so it didn’t interfere too much but it was more comfortable with the razor for me. The ares is a good spotting scope, but wasn’t the best fit for me.

How does the Razor compare to the Ares in glass quality, a little better or the same? I may check it out at Sportsmans, maybe they’ll let me mount it on my tripod

 

[Elk botherer]

How does the Razor compare to the Ares in glass quality, a little better or the same? I may check it out at Sportsmans, maybe they’ll let me mount it on my tripod

I’d say it’s a little bit better in clarity but the eye relief is significantly better, especially for digiscoping. I also like the dual focus knobs on the gen 1 razor much better than the barrel focus ring on the ares. All that being said, for the cost the Ares is a pretty good buy. If I’m picking between the two at a similar cost($600-700) I’d go razor. If you’re closer to retail on the razor($1,000), I’d save a bit more and jump to a used alpha spotter and not look back.

 

[justpassingthru]

I’d say it’s a little bit better in clarity but the eye relief is significantly better, especially for digiscoping. I also like the dual focus knobs on the gen 1 razor much better than the barrel focus ring on the ares. All that being said, for the cost the Ares is a pretty good buy. If I’m picking between the two at a similar cost($600-700) I’d go razor. If you’re closer to retail on the razor($1,000), I’d save a bit more and jump to a used alpha spotter and not look back.

Thanks. I’m going to start looking for something in the classifieds. The one thing I’ve noticed about scopes and binoculars and now spotters is that I personally appreciate the ease of being behind the glass. I hate struggling to find the sweet spot. The Ares is excellent glass for the money though, If I didn’t wear glasses I think it would be perfect for me

 

[Elk botherer]

Thanks. I’m going to start looking for something in the classifieds. The one thing I’ve noticed about scopes and binoculars and now spotters is that I personally appreciate the ease of being behind the glass. I hate struggling to find the sweet spot. The Ares is excellent glass for the money though, If I didn’t wear glasses I think it would be perfect for me

Just a heads up the 11-33x compact razor’s eye relief is similar to the Athlon. The 16-48x65 and the 20-60x85 are good to go on the eye relief.

 

[justpassingthru]

Just a heads up the 11-33x compact razor’s eye relief is similar to the Athlon. The 16-48x65 and the 20-60x85 are good to go on the eye relief.

Thanks for the heads up, have no intention to go smaller. Maybe bigger, we’ll see. Just picked up a pair of Maven B2s from the classifieds, maybe I’ll demo their spotter and see how it compares