Doublers on 15x56

[PathFinder]

Right now I'm playing some musical optics and changing my setup around a bit. I have a coues hunt this year, along with a couple of other glassing-intensive hunts, and I'm needing to rethink things a bit.
A few years ago, I ran 10x32 and a 65mm spotter. Both spotters I had were trash and I hated using them, so I sold them and never missed them a bit. I ended up buying Meopta 15x56 HDs and Meopta 10x32s as well. The 15s were phenomenal for finding game, but I wanted a little more power at times. Ended up getting tired of carrying them and went to Duovids and no auxiliary optic in my pack. Now I'm ready to pay the price and carry a spotter or something comparable in my pack again.
One option I'm considering is putting doublers on the 15x. Does anyone have experience with Meopta/Swarovski or comparable quality binos with a matching doubler? I've heard mixed experiences. Some say they're borderline unusable, some say it's more comparable to a high end compact spotter on high power; a compromise, but still very capable. Any input on doublers on 15x? If not I'm going to look into some sort of "Big Eye" setup.

 

[Blue72]

A lot of naysayers on doublers

however, this very reputable Optic reviewer wrote a glowing review on the Swarovski doubler. http://scopeviews.co.uk/SwaroBooster.htm

 

[ColoradoCowboy]

This is a great question and I am very curious as well.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

It sounds like you should sell what you can and put it all towards a BTX setup.

 

[PathFinder]

It sounds like you should sell what you can and put it all towards a BTX setup.

In terms of glassing alone, you're absolutely right. But I'm still a weight weenie and want the option to stay around the 3lb mark. This option or a "Big Eye" setup lets me do that. I'm afraid I'd leave a 75+oz BTX behind a lot of the time.

 

[Ben RT]

I have a doubler for my meostar 15x56 binoculars. It's okay for trying to get a closer view at something, but the view seems pretty narrow and tunneled, and quite a bit darker / dimmer. I got it in hopes it could replace a spotter in my pack, and I did find it was way better than the Nikon ED50 (I think 15x56 Meostars beat the ED50 without any doubler(s)), but no comparison to my Meostar S2 by any stretch of the imagination. I can't imagine viewing at 30x through two doublers would be that pleasant an experience, but I have not tried it. I also wonder if the collimation or alignment would be a little skewed.

I often bring my doubler with me because it is so light, but I rarely use it. It may double the image size, but increase in resolution to my eyes doesn't seem like much of a step up.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Blue72]

Another review on meopta doubler

 

[Beendare]

I've tried my buddies doubler on his Swaros....not good.

____

 

[Q child]

I've used a few doublers (the over-the-eye-cup style), and don't really care for them. I think I was using them with a pair of 12s. I have not tried the thread on style that you are thinking about.
They do about what you would expect - double the magnification, narrow the field, and darken the image. I'd say they are usable, but are not my first choice. I've owned two and sold both of them. The image quality was just not good enough, so I didn't really use them. I've never tried two of them at the same time, which seems like it would give me a headache, as I have a hard time seeing how the collimation could be perfect.
Having said all that, I do want them to work and to be good. So, if you go that route, good luck and please let us know how it goes.

 

[BBob]

I have a Swaro doubler. I haven’t used it in a really really long time. I bought it as an experiment to see if it was worth it at times to go light and not carry a full sized spotter. It was not good at all in low light on SLC 15x, never tried it on anything smaller. I turned an adapter to put it on Zeiss 15x60’s and it was about the same. It’s better than nothing and if you have to go really light or can’t afford a spotting scope it works but it’s limited. I prefer to carry the weight of the full sized spotter or at times a dual spotter.

I’d sell the doubler if someone wanted it. I’d have to pull it out and see what adapters I have for it.

 

[PathFinder]

It's sounding like this option isn't going to do what I need it to. I hadn't thought of potential collimation issues, that's a good point to bring up. Thanks everyone for your experience and input.
My plan now is to buy one Kowa 554 this year. When I get the itch I'll buy a second and make a double bracket for them. That would give me a big eye setup that weighs ~65 oz, but can be split to a single spotter weighing 28 oz.

 

[Blue72]

It's sounding like this option isn't going to do what I need it to. I hadn't thought of potential collimation issues, that's a good point to bring up. Thanks everyone for your experience and input.
My plan now is to buy one Kowa 554 this year. When I get the itch I'll buy a second and make a double bracket for them. That would give me a big eye setup that weighs ~65 oz, but can be split to a single spotter weighing 28 oz.

you could run into difficult collimating issues with two scopes at higher magnification

have you considered some oberwerks binoculars ......very popular among astronomers and people who live on the coast

Oberwerk | High-Performance Optics for Earth & Sky

The World's Leading Supplier of High-Powered Binoculars. Binocular telescopes, hand-held Porro-prism and roof prism binoculars, mid-sized mounted binoculars.

oberwerk.com

 

[AkMtnRunner]

It's sounding like this option isn't going to do what I need it to. I hadn't thought of potential collimation issues, that's a good point to bring up. Thanks everyone for your experience and input.
My plan now is to buy one Kowa 554 this year. When I get the itch I'll buy a second and make a double bracket for them. That would give me a big eye setup that weighs ~65 oz, but can be split to a single spotter weighing 28 oz.

I looked into doing this, those who have put together big eyes were certain that it wouldn’t work well with variable zoom like the 550 series. The next best thing is the 660 series with the 30x fixed eye piece.

 

[Q child]

I've got the 553 and love it. I think that the 554 will work really well for you as a lightweight option.
As for the dual mounting, good luck with that too. Tell us how it goes. I've never tried or seen a setup in person.

 

[PathFinder]

I looked into doing this, those who have put together big eyes were certain that it wouldn’t work well with variable zoom like the 550 series. The next best thing is the 660 series with the 30x fixed eye piece.

That's an interesting point. I'm sure there's a reason none of the products like this have zoom eyepieces. I'm going to start another thread on it, I'd still love to give it a try.

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[BBob]

That's an interesting point. I'm sure there's a reason none of the products like this have zoom eyepieces. I'm going to start another thread on it, I'd still love to give it a try.

There are quite a number of people using twin Swarovski STS65 scopes with 25-50 eyepieces so variable power big eyes exist and can work well. Jay Scott shows his on his Instagram account. A guy in Prescott AZ makes a nice compact mount for the Swaro 65's and that's the one Jay uses. Besides Jay's, I personally know of three people using this setup successfully.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

That's an interesting point. I'm sure there's a reason none of the products like this have zoom eyepieces. I'm going to start another thread on it, I'd still love to give it a try.

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I really hope it works. I can't think of a better setup than dual 553/4, if they do play nice. It just seems like there would be so many little adjustments to align. I am certain Kowa could produce a 550 series scope with their wide angle 30x eye piece (which I think would be successful on its own) and paired together would be a game changer for backpack hunting.

 

[SomeJackassOnAForum]

Not to necrobump a thread, but the doubler will not work on any current gen EL or SLC binoculars.