Compact Spotting Scope (Another Thread)

[kelly1]

I tried the Mvan cs 1a ,it was compact enough,a little heavier but 65 mm lense too. Rotating mount too.
Eye relief with glasses was ok until I zoomed to about 35x.

Cabelas locally finally got the Razor angle eye piece version of the 13x39 x56 .
Compared both and kept the Razor,better eye relief ,lower weight plus neoprene armour, but giving up larger lens ,rotating mount less max power, and about 250 less dollars.

 

[wildstar82]

I just spoke to Doug at cameraland about the scopes on my list. He believes the Hawke Endurance ED would be the way to go for me. He told me it was an excellent scope with great glass. I'm buying it today. Once I get a chance to check it out, I will post a review here.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Thank you for your perspective. I agree the vortex probably has the best glass amongst that group. I have not totally ruled it out just biting the bullet and getting that one. I would really like to see the hawke and Vortex side by side to see how they compare and see if the price difference is worth it.

I didn’t read deep enough. If you can get that Kowa for that cheap, there’s no other scope to consider. It will have the best glass by far.

 

[tracker12]

I had the Leupold GR 15-30 X 50. It was OK but not what I would want to use to glass with other than on the range. I would rather sacrifice and carry more weight to get better glass. There are lots of other places to cut weight.

 

[Dos Perros]

There's a Maven in the classifieds for $650. I'd buy that and return the Hawke. You'll never be able to sell the Hawke and get any decent money back. The Maven you could sell later pretty much what you paid for it and apply to a better optic.

 

[Johnny_Yemon11]

How do you like the Hawke? In a similar boat to you as far as needs, price, size, use.

 

[wildstar82]

How do you like the Hawke? In a similar boat to you as far as needs, price, size, use.

When I got the Hawke and inspected it, what a mess. It had no tripod threads on the bottom. The female brass coupler was there, but it was slick inside with no threads. The soft case was also put on upside down. It was like they had Helen Keller doing the inspections before items were shipped.

I contacted Hawke, who immediately sent me a replacement scope and a return label for the old one. They were very apologetic and even called me on the phone to express remorse. They were shocked the scope made it out of their quality control. I will say their customer service was top-notch.

I have not had a chance to use the scope out in a field environment yet. I have used it around my house and am very pleased with the glass. For the value, it seems pretty excellent. Once I get more time out in the field with it, I will come back and update to get all of my thoughts out to folks.

 

[Grassymike]

So where is the update ?

 

[StupidLightweight]

I've used my Nikon ED50 everywhere from New Zealand to Alaska over the past 15 years. We've had great adventures together. However, I only like it with the fixed 27X wide angle lens. The stock 13-30X was hideous.

As much as it pains me to say this, today, I would likely just get a set of 20X SIG image stabilized binos. No need for a tripod, about the same weight, easier to use with both eyes open. Crazy, huh?

 

[wildstar82]

So where is the update ?

I wanted to get through hunting season before I gave my review. I did not get drawn for the hunt that I wanted, which would have allowed a chance to get some really robust use out of the scope. What I ended up hunting was a lot of timbered land that did not require a spotting scope. I tried to use it every chance I could to test it out.

-The scope is very light and easy to pack.
-The cover it comes with is convenient and pretty good quality.
-As I stated in an earlier post, when I received my first scope the female adapter on the bottom was not threaded so the quality control is off at the factory. Hawke quickly remedied the situation and sent me a new one right away. Great customer service.

I glassed a large bull elk at 750 yards with my 10x42 binos. He was very big and I wanted to see how many points he had. I felt this was the opportunity to test the new spotting scope. I got it set up on a tripod and...... I was drastically underwhelmed.
-The field of view is like looking through a pinhole. Especially at or near max magnification. While I knew the field of view was small, the real world application was disappointing.
-Throughout the whole range of magnification, I still could not determine how many points the elk had. I felt the clarity of my Nikon Laserforce 10x42 binos showed just as much detail as the Hawke spotter at any magnification.


So I guess my final thoughts would be the Hawke spotter is better than nothing. I guess I would rather have it then a paper towel roll to look through. Although the paper towel roll would offer a wide field of view. If you are looking for a spotter to determine animal size and detail before stalking that animal, that animal better be 500 yards or less from you in order to see that detail. Anything above that, the spotter is really good for just determining that the animal does exist.

Within the last few weeks, I got an email from vortex about their new Viper HD 11-33x50 compact spotter. It is lighter, guaranteed it has better glass, and has a better field of view (by a small amount, but at 600yds everything helps). It is less than $200 more expensive as well. If I had it to do over again, I would buy the new Viper HD.