First spotting scope

Another way to look at it. If you have a variable rifle scope. If there is a small 1" bullseye dot on a target at 400 yards would you rather have your power set on 2x or 10x? I bet you can hardly even see the dot with 2x? Take a shot at the target. Now take your 15x binos and try to find the bullet hole you just shot in the target? I bet you can find the bullet hole with your spotter set at 60x!
 
There are some really nice kowa spotters in the classifieds right now. Might be a good scope to start with...you may not find it worth it to spend 2k when a $600 scope will tell you what you need to know. Depends a lot on your style of hunting and the terrain. If you’re dead set on getting one at your current budget I would snag the 662 or 601 for sale right now.
 
Jimss said:
There is absolutely no way 15x binos are similar magnification than a 30x spotting scope. 15x is 15x is 15x! The size of tines magnification through 15x are approximately 1/2 the size of 30x spotting scope so it's nearly impossible to field judge game at long distance! No way can a person looking through 15x with 2 eyes all of a sudden increase magnification to 30x!!!! You are correct that it may be easier on the eyes to look through 2 sets of glass with binoculars but there is no way you are going to be able to field judge unless you get a lot closer to game. I switch back and forth all day between my 10x binos and spotter so it's not like I am constantly looking through my spotting scope with 1 eye all day. I can also guarantee that I can spot a ear, tine, etc in brush or rocks at long distance with my 60x that you will miss with 15x binos....because you can't distinguish them when they are so small with binos! Take your 15x out and compare them side-by-side your spotter and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!!!!!!
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First of all, I said that field judging is best done with a spotter.

Second, I never claimed 15x binos have equal magnification of a 30x spotter, I said 'doubling the information gathering ability' in the brain that may be as useful as twice the magnification with a spotter. Smaller picture for sure, but more helpful to the brain to process the detail.

Third, there's no question you'd see much more detail at 60x compared to 15x binos. That is 4 times larger.

Four, I did compare 15x binos (Meopta) with a couple of good spotters (Kowa and Vortex).

Five, you sampled 15x from a spotter and equated that to 15x from binos to make your opinion.

I hope we can continue to share experiences without the need for exclamation. Good day, Sir.
 
I guess I'm scratching my head wondering why anyone would want to carry a pair of 15x binos plus a spotting scope for field judging? If trophy field judging is important there is NO WAY hunters would want to carry 15x over a spotting scope....right? In around 90% of situations hunting western open country it would be a HUGE advantage to carry a smaller pair of 10x binos to help spot game plus a spotter to field judge them? I don't know of any Alaska sheep guides that lug around 15x binos unless they are possibly hunting from horseback. They would be lost without having a spotter to count rings and determine if they have 9+ rings. The same is true for hunting open country muledeer, elk, antelope, etc throughout most of the west.

One of the few locations I can see an advantage for 15x binos is when hunting coues country in Arizona where all the country looks similar and you are trying to spot bucks that blend in to the terrain. It takes hours upon hours to tear the similar country apart to find bucks. It would also be ESSENTIAL to have a spotting scope to size up coues bucks once they are spotted! In most Western US open country situations game can be spotted fairly easily with 10x binos and a spotting scope used for both field judging and spotting game.

Bottem line.....It seems wise for western open country hunters to invest in both 10x binos plus a spotting scope rather than just a pair of 15x binos….or 15x binos plus spotter? If $ is no option it may be nice to have a pair of 15x binos for the few situations where they would be an advantage? If you are a tried and true coues hunter....by all means 15x PLUS a spotter!
 
I have owned several sets of binos and several spotting scopes. It has been a learning process as well as recognition of improvements in optics over the decades. Today, I believe that very good glass is worth buying. Lower cost/quality glass doesn't give me the ability to discern the bedded animal a mile away in the sage. Maybe I wont buy the absolute best, but fairly close. I use 10x binos, and have used 32, 42, and 50 mm objectives, but tend to the smaller and lighter objectives these days. Then, if I don't want to carry a 4 pound spotter and the 4 pound tripod that is necessary to stabilize it, in glass at least as good as Vortex razor, I pick up what Doug recently sold me, the 15x45-55 Kowa 554 and a light tripod. That setup gives virtually as good a view and saves 5 pounds.
 
I have a Meostar S2 with the 30-60 wide angle eyepiece and it the best piece of glass i've ever bought. I also have a smaller 12-36x50 Razor HD for trips where i am not going to be glassing for hours but just need something to clarify something i see with my binos. I have stopped using my 65mm scopes, it seems like they are either too big and i can get by with the 50mm scope or i end up wishing it had the better light gathering gained from a 80+mm scope. If i will be spending much time glassing i justify carrying the extra weight of an 80+mm scope. Kind of like the logic in carrying 10x42s vs 10x32s even though the 10x42s are heavier.

An incredible scope for the money is Alpen 20-60x80 scope (straight model 786). It doesn't compare with the Meostar S2 optically but i think it will hold its own against anything under $1000. Alpen went out of business last year i think, but i have never had a QC issue with their stuff. i have used that 786 to spot game from Alaska to Africa and never felt underglassed. You can still find some places online that carry the 786.
 
Upgrade the bins, make sure you have a tripod adapter for them, and then add a lightweight spotter. That's what I did and I'm very happy with that decision. Love my little Nikon ED50 and hardly notice it's in the pack.
 
Having owned a bunch of spotting scopes , including the Meopta S2 with the 30-60w eyepiece , the Meopta S2 is by far the best value in spotting scopes. I currently own an ATX 95 and knowing what I know now if I had to do it all over I’d have the S2 and be happy. I’m super happy with my ATX 95 but it’s not $2000 dollars better than the S2 imo.
 
Another piece of advice is don’t go using someone else’s Swarovski or Meopta S2 if you really can’t afford one. It will just make you unhappy with what compromise scope you bought.
I can give you several examples of the difference. I loaned my ATX 85 I owned before the 95 to a friend and fellow Rokslider. He set it up at last light next to his Vortex Razor 85. He was looking at the mountainside through his Razor and didn’t see any elk which was very disappointing. He switched to my ATX 85 and could see that not only were ther elk on the mountain but that it was covered up in elk ! His comment was he had always thought that the last ten minutes of light were overrated...until that day.
Next was myself and a friend were climbing up the mountain when I happened to turn around and see a whole herd of elk out in the valley about a mile and a half away. I put up my Swarovski EL 8.5x42 and right away could see there were two bulls in the herd. My friend who was using my 10x43 Minox HGs couldn’t see the bulls and kept asking where they were. I finally unclipped my ELs and exchanged with him. His comment was “oh , those bulls”. I couldn’t make out the bulls in the bunched up herd either with the Minox HGs despite their having more magnification and slightly larger objectives. The Minox HGs were considered very good glass but they didn’t hold a candle to the Swarovski ELs. If I had been using my old Minox I would have thought there were only cows in the herd.
 
idahohikker said:
Athlon Ares 65mm for sure is a strong contender for anything except the alpha glass. Great glass, very small and packable so you’ll use it. Use the search function here to read lots of positive reviews and the full review I posted. You can get it for around $500.
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Just got one and love it. Perfect for your uses and it’s not the Hubble telescope.
 
Jimss said:
There is absolutely no way 15x binos are similar magnification than a 30x spotting scope. 15x is 15x is 15x! The size of tines magnification through 15x are approximately 1/2 the size of 30x spotting scope so it's nearly impossible to field judge game at long distance! No way can a person looking through 15x with 2 eyes all of a sudden increase magnification to 30x!!!! You are correct that it may be easier on the eyes to look through 2 sets of glass with binoculars but there is no way you are going to be able to field judge unless you get a lot closer to game. I switch back and forth all day between my 10x binos and spotter so it's not like I am constantly looking through my spotting scope with 1 eye all day. I can also guarantee that I can spot a ear, tine, etc in brush or rocks at long distance with my 60x that you will miss with 15x binos....because you can't distinguish them when they are so small with binos! Take your 15x out and compare them side-by-side your spotter and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!!!!!!
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There is an old scientific study that shows that binoculars can increase the “effective aperture” rate as much as 1.4x compared to a scope. Plus with two eye viewing gives more information to the brain.

I can attest several times that my 16x56 binoculars are very close in image to my 70mm scope with 28x eyepiece. You have to concentrate very hard to see the difference in image

There is a very simple test to prove this. Take your binoculars out on a dark night and find a dense patch of stars to look at. Then close one eye and see how many stars disappeared from view
 
Shrek said:
Another piece of advice is don’t go using someone else’s Swarovski or Meopta S2 if you really can’t afford one. It will just make you unhappy with what compromise scope you bought.
I can give you several examples of the difference. I loaned my ATX 85 I owned before the 95 to a friend and fellow Rokslider. He set it up at last light next to his Vortex Razor 85. He was looking at the mountainside through his Razor and didn’t see any elk which was very disappointing. He switched to my ATX 85 and could see that not only were ther elk on the mountain but that it was covered up in elk ! His comment was he had always thought that the last ten minutes of light were overrated...until that day.
Next was myself and a friend were climbing up the mountain when I happened to turn around and see a whole herd of elk out in the valley about a mile and a half away. I put up my Swarovski EL 8.5x42 and right away could see there were two bulls in the herd. My friend who was using my 10x43 Minox HGs couldn’t see the bulls and kept asking where they were. I finally unclipped my ELs and exchanged with him. His comment was “oh , those bulls”. I couldn’t make out the bulls in the bunched up herd either with the Minox HGs despite their having more magnification and slightly larger objectives. The Minox HGs were considered very good glass but they didn’t hold a candle to the Swarovski ELs. If I had been using my old Minox I would have thought there were only cows in the herd.
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Yeah people dont realize just how much of an edge top shelf alpha glass gives a trophy hunter until they use it extensively in the field.

But it all depends on what type of hunting a person does. Will a person wanting to just kill a decent buck or bull need optics that can clearly see small tines at 2-3 miles? Or optics that allow you to glass past legal shooting light when the big boys come out of the woods? No, theres no need for that. Mid price glass will help a person find some nice animals and luck might play enough of a part to help find a really big one.

The nice thing about a top quality spotter is that the low light performance is insane. You can glass on lower 30x-40x powers long after even the very best and most expensive binoculars have gone dark and are rendered useless. Ive tested this against one of the best binoculars on the market, the Leica Noctivid 10x42 that I now carry. Arguably the best glass in a binocular I have ever seen. But even the amazing glass of the Noctivid cant keep up with a Meopta S2 or Swarovski ATX in really low light. In really low light, I will use my spotting scope to "put a buck or bull to bed". When I finally cant see them anymore in the spotter or I get lucky enough to watch them bed down after their evening meal, I can almost guarantee they will be there moving out of that same spot, or at least close to it, at first light. Hike up in the dark and be ready when shooting light breaks.
 
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So what I’ve gptten from everyone is either the Meopta s2 or a swaro atx. And good 10x42. I’ve been looking at the zeis conquest hd are they pretty good binos
 
Cdneville said:
So what I’ve gptten from everyone is either the Meopta s2 or a swaro atx. And good 10x42. I’ve been looking at the zeis conquest hd are they pretty good binos
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I have the conquests and absolutely love them. Best in the mid tier class imo and I tried a few. Can get into some Swaro slc for about 1500 and they are real nice also.

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk
 
You'll want to consider the Meopta Meostar / Cabela's Euro binos if you're in the $1200 range. It's the same story as their S2 scope. People who've tested them alongside the Conquests say they are at least as good, usually better.
 
AkMtnRunner said:
You'll want to consider the Meopta Meostar / Cabela's Euro binos if you're in the $1200 range. It's the same story as their S2 scope. People who've tested them alongside the Conquests say they are at least as good, usually better.
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I agree they were optically very very close to the conquests. But their ergonomics aren't for everyone. Definitely try before you buy!

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk
 
Ledd Slinger said:
Yeah people dont realize just how much of an edge top shelf alpha glass gives a trophy hunter until they use it extensively in the field.

But it all depends on what type of hunting a person does. Will a person wanting to just kill a decent buck or bull need optics that can clearly see small tines at 2-3 miles? Or optics that allow you to glass past legal shooting light when the big boys come out of the woods? No, theres no need for that. Mid price glass will help a person find some nice animals and luck might play enough of a part to help find a really big one.

The nice thing about a top quality spotter is that the low light performance is insane. You can glass on lower 30x-40x powers long after even the very best and most expensive binoculars have gone dark and are rendered useless. Ive tested this against one of the best binoculars on the market, the Leica Noctivid 10x42 that I now carry. Arguably the best glass in a binocular I have ever seen. But even the amazing glass of the Noctivid cant keep up with a Meopta S2 or Swarovski ATX in really low light. In really low light, I will use my spotting scope to "put a buck or bull to bed". When I finally cant see them anymore in the spotter or I get lucky enough to watch them bed down after their evening meal, I can almost guarantee they will be there moving out of that same spot, or at least close to it, at first light. Hike up in the dark and be ready when shooting light breaks.
Click to expand...


Yes but 10x42 are small objectives if your looking to glass in low light, even if they are alpha glass. Especially when comparing to spotting scopes that have 80mm or higher objectives

There are others on here that can vouch that a set a 15x56 or similar is a way brighter image then a spotting scope
 
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