NL 14x52 with Phone Zoom instead of Spotter

[dank]

I’m thinking about selling my 65mm ATS to buy NL 14x52 and wondering if I could help bridge the gap by digiscoping and zooming in my phone? I already usually just zoom in on my phone anyway when I’m dogiscoping with spotter. Seems to me that if that worked I could get NLs to maybe like 20x and then combined with some Zulu6 10x30s on chest it could be a pretty sweet minimalist setup. Anyone dabbled in this?

Obviously would be missing ultra high mag but I would get so much more use and have so much more fun with the NL 14s I think for 90% of my hunts.

 

[dank]

Additional info:

I have NL 10x42 now.

I purchased zulu6 16x42 but didn’t like. FOV was too narrow and I couldn’t get context while glassing closer stuff so it didn’t make cut.

I carried NL on chest and Zulu 16s in pack.

This system was kinda dumb though. NL wasn’t stabilized so on chest isn’t great, but FOV is ideal. Then when time to really glass, NL goes on tripod and clarity beats out sigs with IS. So I had IS when I didn’t need it and no IS when I did.

I saw Trail from goHUNT made a video about his optic setup which made a ton of sense and now I’m thinking 10x30 Zulus on chest and NL 14s on tripod. So kinda opposite what I was doing.

Only problem is I can’t afford all that glass right now lol but if I sold swaro ATS and NL 10x I could make it happen! Then I got to thinking, what if you zoomed on phone digiscoping the NL 14s.

Phew that was a lot to type on my phone.

 

[Wapiti151]

I did this with Maven 18x binos a few years ago and ditched spotter. Didn’t work for me, after a season I ended up going back to a spotter and ditched the 18s. Granted, not NLs but 18x vs 14x. I still just couldn’t see what I wanted to see in certain situations …and it only takes one of those to make you wish you had the spotter.

I tend to change around my optics system a little every year, playing with all the alphas. Spotter never is in the “rotation” anymore. Spotter can do everything a high powered bino can, the opposite is never true. And with either 10 or 12x alphas on a tripod (el, Zeiss SF or EL Range 12x) I never feel like I really have a hole. All depends on hunting style and what matters to you.

I say if you have a feeling you’d like it, try it…as long as you are dealing with good glass, it’s gonna retain value. And you can figure out what works best for you.

 

[dank]

Ya that’s great intel! Thanks for sharing. I’ve never used any of the higher magnification binos but always wanted to try them out. Spotter does what it needs to but is heavy for how little it gets used. In my mind, I’d imagine I’d put 10x more use behind some 14-18x binos. But you’re right, if they don’t cut it when it matters that’d be a bummer. Spotter does what they do and more but isn’t particularly pleasant.

 

[Car Ramrod]

Depends on how you hunt but I went through this dilemma and picked up 14 nl’s but as amazing as they are, even with zoom on your phone, it won’t replace your spotter. Shove it in the bag and forget it’s there when hiking

 

[littlebigtine]

I have gone back and forth between high powered binos and spotters quite a bit the last 4 years. Had 18x mavens, 15x slcs, kowa 773, maven s1a, and now an 884 and a stc.

Like @Wapiti151 said, the big bins(even with phone zoom) do not truly replace the use for a spotter. The real question is do you require a use for a spotter?

I may be unique but I found that the high mag binos would never really help me find more game than my 10x42 pures and they also never gave me a good enough look at something where I wouldnt put a spotter on it after or wish I had a spotter to do so.

That being said I love to digiscope and every year I care less and less about the weight of a spotter because I enjoy looking at animals through a big spotter almost as much as hunting them.

During scouting season I carry the 884. During hunting season I always carry at least the stc. 10x in the bino harness and always have a tripod. Those pures handhold pretty sweet also. Not IS stable but are not bad for quick looks. I spot game all the time on the move with them. Hope this helps

 

[dank]

Glad to hear all your experience and kiss my genius idea goodbye lol.

Maybe I don’t need to totally overhaul my optics and just keep 10x42 NLs and ATS but just add Zulu 10x30s for those hunts where I’d be willing to use it as chest rig or only optic.

I do a lot of half day hunts or after work hunts and for those I usually just creep around burns or timber cuts that are all within rifle range or just beyond and find for those hunts I think IS would be clutch. 10x42s handhold really nice for me if I want to check something specific out or scan a little but not if I’m trying to verify there’s no game on a whole mountain side before I continue walking kinda thing (usually this is primetime trying to kill tonight type of hunts). I tried this with Zulu 16x42s but the FOV was so small I felt like I had to scan a hillside literally one bush at a time.