Evaluating a Spotting Scope

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Jan 23, 2013
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Just received my Cabela's Euro HD spotter. Haven't used much yet, but it seems clear and bright. You always hear about "bad samples", any tips for giving it a thorough evaluation?

It did seem a little hard to focus on top magnifications, 50-70, but I am looking through a window that might have a little haze. I don't think I'm seeing any CA looking at objects at closer distances.

I hope to get it outside today.
 
Definetly get it where you're not looking through window glass as that will create distortions. 70x is lot's of magnification. My spotter ends at 50x. In my experience anything more than 45-50x and you start having problems focusing with all sorts of distortion and light. Get it outside for the best look.
 
I have the euro hd. Great scope. Atmospheric conditions (heat waves, dust in sky, etc) will limit performance at higher magnification.

A good tripod / head helps get all you can out of it.

I’ve been able to get useable performance at 70x and really like the scope.

I was really impressed when I was able to see the rings on Saturn, pick up the stripes on Jupiter and 3 moons.

Great for digiscoping too.

The central focus ring makes the unit more streamlined, but harder to keep an object in focus on the fine adjustments. Digiscoping helps this problem as the phone autofocuses.


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IMHO, outside early and late in the day and check edge to edge clarity and varying distances.

Seems like a great scope, rings of Saturn? Very cool. I'll have to try that with my Swaro some day, wouldn't even know where to look.
 
IMHO, outside early and late in the day and check edge to edge clarity and varying distances.

Seems like a great scope, rings of Saturn? Very cool. I'll have to try that with my Swaro some day, wouldn't even know where to look.

Use one of the apps on a phone to find planets and constellations.
 
Got this out today towards dusk and it remains clear at 70x, I put a tree on the edge and was able to focus no problem. What I notice at the high magnifications is you can focus on the particular object but everything else will seem a little out of focus, almost a little fisheye effect. Is this common? My only experience is with my Nikon ED50 which didn't do that, it just got darker at the top end. I need to spend a lot more time behind it to form a real opinion.
 
ok this picture might explain what I was trying to say. this doesn't do the scope justice, it is just holding my cheap cell phone up to the lens at 70x and I got better pictures doing this (this was the worst) but it kind of explains the effect.

I get darker areas in the picture and have to move my head/eye around to "clean up" the picture.

it seems to do this 50-70, worse at the higher end. maybe this is a common phenomenon that just happens at high magnification? is there a name for this? i just want to make sure it's not my specific scope - bad sample.
 

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That is normal with any spotter, the eye relief or pupillary distance reduces as you zoom. Not sure if those are the correct terms but it’s normal and you have to place your eye in a consistent spot to not get it.

It should be clear if your eye is in the correct spot. If you are getting a full image then your scope may have an issue if the different tints are always there. Hard to say it’s jacked without knowing the exact conditions etc. try to get a phone Skope or something similar as when you just hand hold your phone it’s hard to get it perfectly aligned.
 
That is normal with any spotter, the eye relief or pupillary distance reduces as you zoom. Not sure if those are the correct terms but it’s normal and you have to place your eye in a consistent spot to not get it.

It should be clear if your eye is in the correct spot. If you are getting a full image then your scope may have an issue if the different tints are always there. Hard to say it’s jacked without knowing the exact conditions etc. try to get a phone Skope or something similar as when you just hand hold your phone it’s hard to get it perfectly aligned.

Thanks that's great info.
Would you say if the tints are gone with a proper digiscoping setup, then there is no issue?
If it's "hard to get behind" could that be a build issue with my particular scope, or would you think all other Euro HD scopes function about the same in this regard?
 
Thanks that's great info.
Would you say if the tints are gone with a proper digiscoping setup, then there is no issue?
If it's "hard to get behind" could that be a build issue with my particular scope, or would you think all other Euro HD scopes function about the same in this regard?

Yes, if you are not straight on with any optic you can get tints and then you start to lose the full view. Not sure as some optics are hard to get behind, take the Swaro 25-50 eyepiece for example you have to have perfect eye placement or it can mess with you. I haven’t used this particular spotter so no idea on how sensitive it is to eye placement. You could always have Cabela’s look at it as it may truly be an issue.
 
Ok this scope is amazing. I knew I just needed to spend time behind it. I just need to really mash my eye into the cup for the eye relief at top magnification and this won't be a problem digiscoping. My only regret us not holding out for the meopta with 30-60 wide angle but this was too good of a deal to pass. I can't wait to hunt with it
 
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