Best Beginner's Spotter Selection

[BirdPoop]

Greetings,

I have never looked through a spotting scope before, but I know I want one. What are some beginner's selections would you recommend? My budget is like under $1k. It would be mainly used for wild life observations (e.g. hawks, vultures, deer, elks, bears) for camping trips and day long hikes. I want details over portability to a degree, so, I am looking at 80mm classes. Color fidelity would be important for viewing, and I wear glasses.

I've looked at the Pentax pf series, but I've heard that color fringing is pretty bad even with the XW eyepieces at high mag. Is this true? I thought the Pentax PF series have very good ed glass, so the color correction at slow F7 focal ratio should be virtually color free. Could the bak4 porro prism maybe creating more color especially on the angle version with double prisms?

Another one I've looked at is the Nikon Fieldscope series. I've heard the eye relief is pretty short at high magnifications. How much eye relief is too short for eye glasses wearers?

I've also heard of the Vortex Razor and Viper series. I've heard that the Viper series glass is just so so compared to the Razor series. How much differences are there? How would the Razor stack up to the Pentax PF and the Field Scope series in the sharpness and color department at high mag?

Are there other competitors that I am not aware of that are in the same league?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[Blue72]

The Pentax is great

I am a fan of the ED50. The 27x eyepiece has decent eye relief

i wouldn’t bother searching for anything else

 

[BirdPoop]

I am after up to 50+ mag that can resolve details like iris of a hawk perched nearby. I am hoping that a non-alpha scope can do this with flying colors. I've heard that a good Pentax can resolve 60x just fine with the xw eyepieces. How is the color fringing on that Pentax at the highest magnification? What's the focal ratio on that objective? Thanks.

 

[IrkedCitizen]

Do you already have a tripod and tripod head? If not, what is your budget for that?

 

[BirdPoop]

I am looking for one as well. My budget excludes a tripod/head. Until I find one at a good price, I am planning to use my Amazon photo tripod. Not fancy at all, but will help me get started.

 

[IrkedCitizen]

I would look at the Athon Ares 15-45x65 spotting scope and probably a sirui tripod and head at cameralandny. @gr8fuldoug is your contact for that.

I am of the motto of buy once cry once though. Because if you end up needing to sell you lose less money with alpha equipment. There is nothing wrong with buying gently used high end equipment. Search eBay, Craigslist, rokslide classifieds, fb market place, etc.

 

[beachbunny]

just remember the old" buy once cry once" line, tis true.
if you don't need it right away.hang around rokslide classi, after hunting season,seems like somebody is always selling glass after their hunt

 

[BirdPoop]

I'll take a look at the Athlon Ares. You maybe onto something. Premium camera lens is also like that. I've heard from a wild life photographer that he bought and sold his lens for the same price after using it for a decade. Also, thank you for the pointer on after hunting season. I have no more plans on camping now that the summer is ending. I'll be on the look out for these scopes say in Nov, Dec, and Jan. If they become available now for a good price, that's good too.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

In a full sized spotter you will not find a better "bang/quality for the buck" than the Athlon Ares G2 20-60x85

When details matter, look no further than the 20-60×85 Ares G2 UHD. Whether you are a birder looking for variances in plumage, or a precision shooter spotting impacts at 1,000 yards the extra-low dispersion glass provides vivid clarity and resolution in a full-size spotting scope. The Ares G2 20-60×85 features the ability to pair with an optional fixed 28x ranging reticle eyepiece.

• Aprochromatic Lens System: Apochromatic lense system gives you the result of images which have greater contrast, sharpness and color definition
• UHD Glass: Extra-Low Dispersion glass gives you an image with little or no chromatic fringe so the final result brings an ultimate clearest and sharpest image to your eyes
• ESP Dielectric Coating: ESP Dielectric Coating is a multi layer prism coating that reflects over 99% of the light to your eyes bringing you a clear, bright image that displays accurate color reproduction.
• Magnesium Chassis: Magnesium chassis give you the strength of a metal chassis while reducing the weight as much as 30%
• XPL Coating: XPL Coating gives you an extra protection on the exterior lenses from dirt, oil and scratches
• Bak4 Prism: Bak-4 glass prisms reflect more light to your eyes which will give you brighter and sharper image.
• Advanced Fully Multi-Coated: Advanced Fully Multi-Coated lenses gives you better light transmission to bring optimum brightness and true color across the entire light spectrum.
• Argon Purged: Argon Purging uses the inertia gas with bigger size molecules to purge any moisture out of the tube giving you better waterproofing and thermal stability .
• Waterproof: Waterproof to protects the binocular in the harshest weather conditions or if accidently submerged underwater
• Rotating Ring: Rotating Ring allows you to rotate the scope around tripod supporting ring into the most comfortable and convenient angle for observation

 

[eric1115]

If I were in your shoes, I'd look for a used Leica APO 62mm or used Kowa 663/664. Either one can be had for $1k if you're patient. Both are excellent.

If you had 1500 to spend, you might try to hold out for a smoking good deal that pops up now and then on a used Swaro 65 or Kowa 77. It seems like these usually go for 1700± but now and then I see one for under 1500.

The Pentax and the ED Fieldscope are great options as well. Hard to go wrong with either one.

I would not purchase a Vortex spotter. Color and clarity, especially in low light is disappointing compared to the other options you're looking at.

As noted by previous commenters, you should plan on spending at least $300 on a tripod as well. I would rather use a $1,000 spotter on a $300 tripod than a $1,500 spotter on a $50 tripod.

 

[ajbailey21]

Athlon Ares


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Starting tonight at Midnight - Monday at Midnight we are running our Birthday/Labor Day Sale.
All spotters from Kowa, Athlon, Konus, Meopta, Hawke and Zeiss will be reduced on our web site. Please feel free to give us a call, 516-217-1000, to discuss which would be good for your task(s)

 

[BirdPoop]

Thank you everyone. I'll certainly be on the lookout for great deals. For the Athlon Ares, I would have to do much more research. I believe these are pretty new as reviews about them are pretty sparse. There is currently an oldie pale green 82 fieldscope with several eyepieces on sale for $1k, but it's an older version. I know that a premium lens can last a life time if well taken care of. But, I also saw a more recent Monarch 82 fieldscope+zoom that also went for $1k right after the hunting season. If you were in my shoes, should I haggle with the older 82 or wait for after the hunting season knowing that I won't need it till next year? I know my budget is tight, but I think 65mm whether it be Kowa or Leica will be quite limiting in low light conditions compared to say pf80ed or 82 fieldscope.

 

[kcm2]

Used Nikon 13x30 HD is about half your budget. I got mine for $400, in perfect shape. You could be pretty happy with that one, and it's a lot more packable than most.

 

[BirdPoop]

When I have additional funding, I might consider an ED bino in the future. Thanks.

 

[joshbazz]

I often see old bushnell spacemaster ii's for sale for cheap and bought one for $70 Canadian (around $50 USD). I haven't been able to compare it to anything significantly more expensive, but if it's stable, which means a heavy tripod, then the picture is quite good. Does anybody else use these, or do most just fork up the dough for a modern light spotter?

 

[BirdPoop]

Spacemaster ii is an excellent achro spotter, but it will show some colors at high magnification. I guess it all depends on what you want to do with the spotter. Some people swear by it for both wildlife observing (hunting included) and birding. If you want to get color free, bright, crisp, and high contrast images, big size ED or APO spotters (fluorite is better) with fully multicoated modern coatings reign supreme.

 

[joshbazz]

Spacemaster ii is an excellent achro spotter, but it will show some colors at high magnification. I guess it all depends on what you want to do with the spotter. Some people swear by it for both wildlife observing (hunting included) and birding. If you want to get color free, bright, crisp, and high contrast images, big size ED or APO spotters (fluorite is better) with fully multicoated modern coatings reign supreme.

Thanks for the explanation, I'll be looking up what "achro" and "APO" stand for, I assume ED is extra dispersion, but maybe I'm wrong there.

The purpose of a spotter for me would be to supplement my binos to confirm whether the game is legal (buck vs doe, 4 pt vs 2pt, etc).... I'm 3 years into my hunting journey, taking baby steps lol

 

[IrkedCitizen]

I use a swarovski sts 65 non hd. I do not feel I am lacking anything due to its size.

 

[BirdPoop]

Yes, exception is of course alpha scopes. They are better than cheaper and larger objective ED scopes.