compact spotters

[ElkhuntrMT]

I hunt mostly in the steep thick Northwest MT CMW. I rarely have the opportunity to spot in distances of miles but more like 2000 yds or less. What compact spotters have you guys found to be cream of the crop? Anyone have the compact Leupold gold ring 15-30x50? All thoughts are appreciated.

 

[realunlucky]

Razor 50 gets great reviews followed by Nikon ed50 and the minox50 pretty good value spotter. You do limit yourself when going that small though and the 65 is much more versatile scope for little more weight

 

[LitenFast]

I have been happy with my razor hd 50mm, and going up to the 65 basically doubles the weight(25 to 48 oz), I personally would not want spend the extra money and carry the extra weight when glassing less than 2000yds

 

[Hoyts n Mulies]

I've used my dads Leupold 12-40x60 and had good luck with it. It doesn't get much love on here but for the weight and objective size it's worked well for me. Personally, I've not needed above 40x power. Not sure if this scope is still made though.

 

[castandblast]

I've used my dads Leupold 12-40x60 and had good luck with it. It doesn't get much love on here but for the weight and objective size it's worked well for me. Personally, I've not needed above 40x power. Not sure if this scope is still made though.

Same here, great glass!

 

[kodiakfly]

Just today my wife got my the Leupold 10-20x40. I mentioned getting a scope this year and she asked some of the surgeons she works with and a couple of them here use this scope...so she got me one. I gotta admit, when I opened it up I was sorta not sure what to think...40mm?? This thing is tiny.

I'm fortunate that I've got mountains that butt up to my back yard and the weather happened to not be zero vis today so I set it up and I must say I'm impressed and pleased with it. Yes, I've looked through "proper" scopes before, so I know what higher power looks like and I understand a 40 objective isn't the best in low light. But the tradeoff is it fits in a Kifaru medium belt pouch! I'm strictly a bowhunter and nothing on Kodiak requires trophy status to be legal, so I'm not looking at curls a half a mile away. I've hunted a long time without a scope, so I'm not very demanding. But the size and weight of this thing are impressive to say the least and the fact I can pack it on my waist and use it as a monocular if I want to is pretty nice. Of course I've owned it for less than 24 hrs but just glassing the mountains behind my house and it's size and weight...so far I like it for shorter distances where I need more than my 10x42 Leicas.

 

[wpwarren]

I have the 15-30x50. I really like it for its size and purchase price. I tried it out next to some other budget friendly spotting scopes (less than $500) and was impressed. You probably give up a little bit in really low light, but the light weight and compact size of it more than make up for that. Overall it is really sharp and clear.

 

[ElkhuntrMT]

thanks for the feed back guys! I had been really eyeballing the razor HD and I'm leaning towards going with it.

 

[zwoehr]

I've been using a Minox MD50 It's a really good optic for how cheap it is. I think I paid around $200 for mine.

 

[BackcountryMT]

I really like my Vortex 11-33x50 though, like any compact spotter, low light is a major issue on higher power.

 

[Upcountry]

I've yet to make the purchase, but some time before next season I'll be scooping up a Minox MD50. I have a Redfield Rampage spotter that I bought two years ago with a beefy Vanguard tripod and while I've packed it around for a couple seasons for now, I'm having a harder time justifying it each time out. It's nice to have the additional power over my 8x42 binoculars, but I find myself leaving it at camp often. My thinking is that if I can cut the weight in half, I'd be more willing to pack it all the time. I'll be putting it on top of a Slik Sprint Mini II with a small ballhead with pan-lock(Giottos MH1002-310). I also splurged on the Outdoorsman Binocular Adapter for my binoculars, so they'll spend some time on top of the tripod as well. For my style of hunting, where I prefer to cover a lot of ground, I'm thinking that light and small will be worth the sacrifice in clarity/brightness over some of the larger spotters...

 

[ElkhuntrMT]

I've yet to make the purchase, but some time before next season I'll be scooping up a Minox MD50. I have a Redfield Rampage spotter that I bought two years ago with a beefy Vanguard tripod and while I've packed it around for a couple seasons for now, I'm having a harder time justifying it each time out. It's nice to have the additional power over my 8x42 binoculars, but I find myself leaving it at camp often. My thinking is that if I can cut the weight in half, I'd be more willing to pack it all the time. I'll be putting it on top of a Slik Sprint Mini II with a small ballhead with pan-lock(Giottos MH1002-310). I also splurged on the Outdoorsman Binocular Adapter for my binoculars, so they'll spend some time on top of the tripod as well. For my style of hunting, where I prefer to cover a lot of ground, I'm thinking that light and small will be worth the sacrifice in clarity/brightness over some of the larger spotters...

I agree totally. I am also a "cover a lot of ground" hunter. I'm thinking light and small is well worth it. What is making you choose the Minox over some of the others mentioned? (Vortex, Leupold, Nikon ect)

 

[Upcountry]

The price is a large factor for me, as the Minox comes in at less than half of any of the other big 3 you mentioned. I know the money spent on optics is often the best spent money, but it's still hard for me to justify spending $600+ on a small spotter. Although I haven't compared them in person myself, the Minox has great reviews so I'm hoping it'll do what I need it to. Before doing research on the Minox, I was debating carrying two sets of binoculars, some larger 15x for tripod duties, and then some small 8x32's around the neck.

 

[Shrek]

Fyi the Minox is available for $219 as a demo from cameralandny.com . The Opticron GS 52mm HD is highly regarded in birding circles and is being replaced in the lineup and might be available on sale. No way I'd buy the little Razor as it has a fixed foot and can't be rotated.

 

[dotman]

Fyi the Minox is available for $219 as a demo from cameralandny.com . The Opticron GS 52mm HD is highly regarded in birding circles and is being replaced in the lineup and might be available on sale. No way I'd buy the little Razor as it has a fixed foot and can't be rotated.

Don't forget an extra 10% off until 1/24. The md50 is a great budget optic, I liked mine and may get another.

 

[ColoradoTCE]

Loved my Razor 50 this past elk season. Check with Paul at elknut.com or Steve at S&S Archery. both have excellent customer service and prices on Vortex.

 

[ElkhuntrMT]

Loved my Razor 50 this past elk season. Check with Paul at elknut.com or Steve at S&S Archery. both have excellent customer service and prices on Vortex.

thanks for this info!!

 

[bigbob]

i purchased the leupold 10-30x50 for my first western hunt last year. I was concerned about quality given the price but was very impressed with it. It is hard to use above 25ish power but that is common I believe. It is very clear 10-25 power and the light gathering is good for the objective. My dad had a 20-60x80 Kowa scope that he used next to me. We both felt that for the money, size the Leupold was a great scope. It gave up the high power of the kowa obviously but i was able to spot deer and roughly judge racks miles away with my good eyes. I honestly didn't miss a thing that my dad saw and actually spotted more critters on average

 

[Ramshead]

Here is an older (2009) review which includes some compact spotters. Nikon ED 50 was best in class.

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.net/pdfs/MidPRICE_SCOPES.pdf

And a more recent (2014) set of reviews. Vortex edged out the Nikon here.
http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/2014travelscopes/chart_2014.html