Need help picking a mid range spotter

[Alpine4x4]

Anyone ever compare the Cronus with the ares spotter?

Cronus has a clearer picture and less CA than the Ares.

 

[Lowedown]

In that price range or lower I've had great luck with a lightly used 1st gen Vortex Razor HD 20-60x85
Good luck in your shopping

 

[SUD1988]

How does a gen 1 razor 20-60x85 compare to the Ares 15-45x65?

 

[Grassymike]

I have a Pentax PF65 ED, mine is the angled version. It is a really good scope optically and has the advantage of removable eyepieces so if you want to play with fixed or other eyepieces you can. these are made in Japan and are still being made even after Ricoh bought out Pentax. Can be had in the $750 to 800 range. I found mine on Ebay. FWIW I use mine to hunt Bighorn Sheep here in Alberta ,this will be year three in about 2 days and I have no desire/need to upgrade. For reference my binos are either Swarovski EL 8.5x42 or Meopta b1 8x42's.

 

[sacredweed]

I have a Pentax PF65 ED, mine is the angled version. It is a really good scope optically and has the advantage of removable eyepieces so if you want to play with fixed or other eyepieces you can. these are made in Japan and are still being made even after Ricoh bought out Pentax. Can be had in the $750 to 800 range. I found mine on Ebay. FWIW I use mine to hunt Bighorn Sheep here in Alberta ,this will be year three in about 2 days and I have no desire/need to upgrade. For reference my binos are either Swarovski EL 8.5x42 or Meopta b1 8x42's.

just curious how often can you use 45x-60x, how is the FOV? Coz nikon and pentax are camera companies, they purposely make their zoom lens fov small to upsell their wide angle fixed lens.

 

[Grassymike]

I use the higher powers whenever it is bright enough to see clearly. FOV in a spotter to me is kind of a useless statistic. I use my spotter to check out animals after finding them with binos. I occansionally grid search a mountain side, but 97% of my spotter work is evaluating animals already found. I need it to tell if a Ram is legal or not. If his entire head is in focus and fills my eyepiece I am in business. Most of the time to know for sure a Ram is legal I need to be close as in 400 yards or less. If Rams are spotted at long distance (1+mile or so) the spotter now helps decide if a closer look is warranted. It is way easier to "walk " with your eyes than climb/descind and climb again to figure it out.

 

[TheGDog]

I've got a ZEISS Dailyt 18-45x65mm I don't really use anymore since I got a smaller lighter option for the steep places I was focusing on.

$700 + shipping. And she's yours?

 

[Vic vinegar]

I've got a ZEISS Dailyt 18-45x65mm I don't really use anymore since I got a smaller lighter option for the steep places I was focusing on.

$700 + shipping. And she's yours?

I ended up going with the athlon to get me through this season. It’s a bit heavy and has a tight eye box but it’s decently clear. First trip out a couple weeks ago, it did what I needed and I’ll give it another deployment this weekend with another hunt.

 

[tbro16]

How'd the Athlon work out for you? I'm in the same boat you were in last year. Heavy preference towards ~80 mm lens but cant stomach anything more than $800

 

[Vic vinegar]

How'd the Athlon work out for you? I'm in the same boat you were in last year. Heavy preference towards ~80 mm lens but cant stomach anything more than $800

The Athlon worked out really good. I’m like you; I can’t bring myself to buy one of the primo spotters, nor can I afford it. Overall I think you would be hard pressed to find something that is “better” at that price point. The glass is definitely clear and I like the focus controls. I was able to spot game with it on the hunt I used it on and it looked better than I expected when the sun went down, so that was a plus. If I had some complaints I would say it’s a bit on the heavier side, there is no wide angle lenses and the eye box is a bit tight, but not terrible; of course this is subjective to me. Then again there is no free lunch and a paid about 1/5’th of what the guy I was with using the swaro paid.

It’s not “top of the line” but more than serviceable. It Has some drawbacks but I didn’t have to drop 3 paychecks to get it.

 

[tbro16]

Thank you, I appreciate your feedback. I hear the buy once cry once philosophy but there’s a line and $4k for an optic crosses it.. for me. For a once a year elk/deer hunt I don’t need to assess every little indentation of each and every antler, just simply need to tell if the damn thing is legal or not lol.

I don’t love the added weight it has over the Razor, or a few of the others I’m considering, but if its a bit better quality and will save several hundred (or thousand) bucks I’m all for it. I’ll let my back pay the price when I’m older ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Vic vinegar]

Thank you, I appreciate your feedback. I hear the buy once cry once philosophy but there’s a line and $4k for an optic crosses it.. for me. For a once a year elk/deer hunt I don’t need to assess every little indentation of each and every antler, just simply need to tell if the damn thing is legal or not lol.

I don’t love the added weight it has over the Razor, or a few of the others I’m considering, but if its a bit better quality and will save several hundred (or thousand) bucks I’m all for it. I’ll let my back pay the price when I’m older ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Exactly; I may use it for 2, 3 weeks out of the year and figure I can be lighter in the pack or lighter in the wallet and deal with the extra 8 oz