Need help picking a mid range spotter

[hereinaz]

My above image with the Cronus is at 1.25 miles on a magview at max zoom. Plenty clear at max zoom.

I stick with what I said. Your pictures show where it is usable, and it’s not a bad spotter. You aren’t wrong for your preference. There are tradeoffs though.

My point remains, those pictures are in optimal conditions of Elk with enough good light and no mirage. I was specific about when the lack of clarity becomes an issue and where the more clear glass of the smaller Kowa matters.

The difference between glass appears most significant in less than ideal conditions, which are highlighted in two spots in your pictures. The snow picture, the left elk, the tip of his antlers disappear when against the other elk. The elk antlers in the bottom picture disappear in the trees yards behind him. That is because of lack of optical clarity and resolution.

Magnification brings the elk out with enough contrast, and it’s a couple of neat shots. I won’t say those aren’t amazing shots.

But, to me, the lack of clarity is evident. My preference is to default to clarity over magnification. I get more frustrated with lack of clarity then lack of magnification.

So, consider if you put that same spotter on a mule deer at the same distance against rock, sage, etc. The lack of clarity and resolution start to make all the difference.

Just one guys opinion, which is shared by at least one other person, my wife.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I stick with what I said. Your pictures show where it is usable, and it’s not a bad spotter. You aren’t wrong for your preference. There are tradeoffs though.

My point remains, those pictures are in optimal conditions of Elk with enough good light and no mirage. I was specific about when the lack of clarity becomes an issue and where the more clear glass of the smaller Kowa matters.

The difference between glass appears most significant in less than ideal conditions, which are highlighted in two spots in your pictures. The snow picture, the left elk, the tip of his antlers disappear when against the other elk. The elk antlers in the bottom picture disappear in the trees yards behind him. That is because of lack of optical clarity and resolution.

Magnification brings the elk out with enough contrast, and it’s a couple of neat shots. I won’t say those aren’t amazing shots.

But, to me, the lack of clarity is evident. My preference is to default to clarity over magnification. I get more frustrated with lack of clarity then lack of magnification.

So, consider if you put that same spotter on a mule deer at the same distance against rock, sage, etc. The lack of clarity and resolution start to make all the difference.

Just one guys opinion, which is shared by at least one other person, my wife.

Neither were ideal conditions. The snow image was overcast and foggy and image blur contributes to the lack of clarity since magvuew doesnt allow remote shutters. The ither inage was with the sun already down, 15 minutes later you could barely see the elk with your naked eye at 400yds. Again, image blur plays into hand as well. You're also looking at images processed through a phone which is cranking its ISO to gain exposure and destroying detail. To the actual eye they are clearer than that. I wont say they are as clear as a Kowa or Swaro by any means, but if you're not sure of your target off of those I'm not sure what else you need. I can see when you get into a situation with less contrast increased clarity will gain you an advantage, but by how much is subjective imo. Photography is a hobby of mine and optical quality is paramount when it comes to that. The Cronus definitely isnt pumping out images like my L lenses are, but neither are my SLCs. When it comes to mirage there isnt a glass in the world that will overcome it once its gotten bad, whether its swaro or a high end prime camera lens. I've been asking magview to update their app to allow remote shutter so you can capture image without the blur as well.

 

[hereinaz]

Neither were ideal conditions. The snow image was overcast and foggy and image blur contributes to the lack of clarity since magvuew doesnt allow remote shutters. The ither inage was with the sun already down, 15 minutes later you could barely see the elk with your naked eye at 400yds. Again, image blur plays into hand as well. You're also looking at images processed through a phone which is cranking its ISO to gain exposure and destroying detail. To the actual eye they are clearer than that. I wont say they are as clear as a Kowa or Swaro by any means, but if you're not sure of your target off of those I'm not sure what else you need. I can see when you get into a situation with less contrast increased clarity will gain you an advantage, but by how much is subjective imo. Photography is a hobby of mine and optical quality is paramount when it comes to that. The Cronus definitely isnt pumping out images like my L lenses are, but neither are my SLCs. When it comes to mirage there isnt a glass in the world that will overcome it once its gotten bad, whether its swaro or a high end prime camera lens. I've been asking magview to update their app to allow remote shutter so you can capture image without the blur as well.

We agree clarity is paramount, that’s my point.

 

[Buglebrush]

Pickup a refurbished Razor off Sierra.

 

[JGRaider]

IMO/IME, you can't really tell how good a spotter is optically by looking at pics on the internet. Like high end binos, you have to look through them yourself and tinker with them to ultimately decide. There are always things you like and don't like about any optic.....ergos are a factor, ease/how smooth they operate especially while focusing, barrel or double knob focus, eye relief, etc can make or break the deal. One thing isn't debatable....you must have a good, solid tripod/mounting system to really tell.

This was taken at about 3/4 of a mile through my Meopta S2

 

[Alpine4x4]

We agree clarity is paramount, that’s my point.

You stated the top 1/3-1/4 of the magnification range isnt usable in the range hes looking at and that flat isnt true. Once you hit around $1000 you're into the land of diminishing returns when it comes to most models. We do both agree though, clarity is paramount. As you can see in the image above even a $2500 spotter is going to lose the antlers into the background in certain situations digiscoping. Through the eye really the only way to tell and Athlon is leaps and bounds above the competition in their respective price ranges.

 

[Spiral Horn]

Both Schaaf and WRO point out two great performers that are often overlooked. If I were interested in a spotter in this range I’d certainly take a look at the Opticron MM4 77 VHD with the 20-60x eyepiece. Another great option is a used Meopta S2 or the OEM Meopta made under the Cabelas label - the main difference being Cabelas model had a non-removable 20-70x eyepiece.

As some others pointed out - there are some fantastic optics out there that often fly under the radar of the hunting market. Here’s an introductory video to the newly updated Opticron.