Spotters: Increased bang for the buck with increased price?

[jaredg]

BTW, I'd put my Baush & Lomb spotter from waaay back when against any Vortex. B&L had killer glass in the day. I still break it out once in a while when I don't feel like dragging around the BTX

 

[WasatchRanger]

Am I just wasting money with the D'back?
Who loves theirs?
85 obj or smaller size?

I'm in the market as well. I think that your intended use would determine the level of spotting scope needed.

For instance, I am looking for a scope to size up OTC mule deer bucks within 1 mile of my glassing knob, and then checking out private land elk that I couldn't hunt anyways. I may occasionally need something for glassing up an animal on a "premier tag" but as a meat hunter I think those times will be few and far between. Not sure I need a Viper or Razor

If I was looking to digiscope a lot and try to glass up bucks miles and miles away I would probably look for that more expensive glass, but I think that might be overkill for my intended purpose. I think 95% of the time a Diamondback would fill my needs.

Would love the opinion of others, but that is my perspective so far.

 

[hawkman71]

How can you conclude Viper's are as good as Swaro's? I'd like to understand that.

That's easy for me to say b/c it's a personal opinion. My Vipers are fantastic to me. When I use his Swaris, I don't notice a difference. Did I sit there for a while and truly analyze it and test them hard? No. He lives in Canada and I live in the SE USA so it's not like I get to try them a lot. I wasn't in a hunting situation out west or anything but birdwatching. In that scenario, I wasn't exactly tasking those bins or my eyes very hard.

 

[hawkman71]

I don't spend more than about 5% of my time behind a spotting scope, but I LIVE behind my binoculars...

A lot of good advice there and I'll point out that this one hits home.

 

[hawkman71]

I hear you all out there on my comment on Swaro=Vortex (and those putting a good word in there for me as well ). Like I mentioned above, I didn't give them a rigorous test, I wasn't hunting or doing anything long distance, etc.

Financially, I'm not at the stage to be buying high-end glass. I'm looking at my first antelope hunt - that's all. I DO like to birdwatch a little bit - hawk migration especially - but found that the birds I'm going to get a really good look at can be seen with binoculars fine and the spotters in the group are used to identify distant migrating raptors. Yes, if one lands in a tree, the spotter will be great to see it up close.

I don't hang out with anybody that has nice glass other than some rifle scopes so I can't really try them out.

I'm also curious about these and astronomy. I imagine the moon zips by your field of view pretty quickly at high mag!

So, no, I'm not picking out specifics on Coue's antlers at 1200 yards or whatever, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want the ability to. I just can't afford the really good stuff at this time.

 

[nobody]

I hear you all out there on my comment on Swaro=Vortex (and those putting a good word in there for me as well ). Like I mentioned above, I didn't give them a rigorous test, I wasn't hunting or doing anything long distance, etc.

Financially, I'm not at the stage to be buying high-end glass. I'm looking at my first antelope hunt - that's all. I DO like to birdwatch a little bit - hawk migration especially - but found that the birds I'm going to get a really good look at can be seen with binoculars fine and the spotters in the group are used to identify distant migrating raptors. Yes, if one lands in a tree, the spotter will be great to see it up close.

I don't hang out with anybody that has nice glass other than some rifle scopes so I can't really try them out.

I'm also curious about these and astronomy. I imagine the moon zips by your field of view pretty quickly at high mag!

So, no, I'm not picking out specifics on Coue's antlers at 1200 yards or whatever, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want the ability to. I just can't afford the really good stuff at this time.

From what you're saying, you're not necessarily trying to score animals on the hoof either. If you're primarily looking to judge legality/confirm buck vs. doe or bull vs. cow, then that begs the question: do you really NEED a spotting scope? Honestly, with your style of hunting you could probably completely forego the spotting scope completely and just spend your whole budget on a pair of really good binoculars. If the option is either more magnification or better glass, the answer should always be better glass. You can see more with lower magnification and better glass than more magnification through bad glass. If you're looking to do binos and a spotter, maybe entertain the option of a $1k pair of binos rather than an entry level spotter and a low-mid range pair of binoculars. I'll tell you, a high quality pair of 10's and 12's on a sturdy tripod will get you further than you realize!

 

[Trial153]

optics, like many things, your first loss is your best loss. With that in mind stretching your optics budget at the very first purchase will save you the most money.

 

[Dos Perros]

That's easy for me to say b/c it's a personal opinion. My Vipers are fantastic to me. When I use his Swaris, I don't notice a difference. Did I sit there for a while and truly analyze it and test them hard? No. He lives in Canada and I live in the SE USA so it's not like I get to try them a lot. I wasn't in a hunting situation out west or anything but birdwatching. In that scenario, I wasn't exactly tasking those bins or my eyes very hard.

Ok. I guess I would say it's a rather uninformed opinion if you didn't dissect the differences.

I will say that yes, the incremental differences in what you get definitely diminishes as you spend more. Put simply, a $1000 scope will be better than a $500 scope, but a $1500 scope might only be marginally different than a $1000 scope. The improvements get more expensive as you climb through the different price points. And, those differently performing scopes might be functionally the same for you, depending on your use case. For example, if you only need to verify legality of a bull during good light at 600 yards, then sure save you money and stick with the Vipers. If you're trying to differentiate between a 310" bull and 330" bull in lower light and at further differences, I think higher performing glass may be required.

And just so it's clear, I would always say go hunting with what you got as opposed to skipping hunts to save up to buy nicer gear.

 

[Tmac]

Here is how I look at it, and my eyes agree, so do most actual tests. For Vortex the D-back, Viper and Razor are their good, better and best. Out in the marketplace, they are fair, good and better, but not best. But they are getting better, the Razor UHD’s are very good. Only you can decide what it is worth to you.

For me it is generally not worth it for so-called Alpha glass at alpha prices. I end up with almost alpha glass for less, generally Meopta, Kiowa, maybe Athlon or Minox, etc. In some cases I have paid for alpha glass. My spotter is an example, the Meopta S2. I prefer it to the similar Swaro and bought it over Kowa because of availability at a local dealer. All three of these spotters are alpha performance optics, as are a few others.

For some reason most hunters think Leica, Zeiss and Swaro are the top levels and stop there, usually with Swaro as their top dog. Swaro is top stuff, but optical testers know better, as do bird watchers, so they test. Sometimes others win. Those 3 are very good, so are a number of others and in some cases the others are better.

The only way you will appreciate the best glass is to test it for resolution in varying circumstances. The best glass will resolve detail in more if not all of its field of view vs fading at the edges, resolve that detail at further distances, and resolve that detail longer in poor light conditions (dawn/dark). As an observation device the best glass will help you spot more game for longer.

 

[RSather528]

I hear you all out there on my comment on Swaro=Vortex (and those putting a good word in there for me as well ). Like I mentioned above, I didn't give them a rigorous test, I wasn't hunting or doing anything long distance, etc.

Financially, I'm not at the stage to be buying high-end glass. I'm looking at my first antelope hunt - that's all. I DO like to birdwatch a little bit - hawk migration especially - but found that the birds I'm going to get a really good look at can be seen with binoculars fine and the spotters in the group are used to identify distant migrating raptors. Yes, if one lands in a tree, the spotter will be great to see it up close.

I don't hang out with anybody that has nice glass other than some rifle scopes so I can't really try them out.

I'm also curious about these and astronomy. I imagine the moon zips by your field of view pretty quickly at high mag!

So, no, I'm not picking out specifics on Coue's antlers at 1200 yards or whatever, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want the ability to. I just can't afford the really good stuff at this time.

As to your astrology blurb, here is a pic I snagged of the moon when it was a cool enough color I wanted to use the spotter to view. It wasn’t quite at the full magnification range of a 65mm razor.

 

[Moserkr]

I went from japan made vipers to swaro SLC binos and to my eyes the difference was night and day. I couldnt afford a high end spotter so I settled with the maven cs.1 65mm. Better glass than its price range and an attractive weight for its size. It will be handy for confirming what I find with my binos which i will be behind more often than not.

Next to my friends NL pures vs my SLCs, I didnt feel disadvantaged at all. Was able to pick out more elk and deer than him, but thats probably my experience with glassing over glass quality.

His swaro 65mm ats spotter is marginally better than the cs.1 in all respects, no surprise, its more than double the cost. But outside of the first/last 30 min of glassing, and max zoom, Im not losing too much.

Ive never regretted biting the bullet on those SLCs. Wish I had done it 20 years ago. Soon as I can bite the bullet on an even better spotting scope Ill do that too.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

High magnification is where the glass quality really becomes apparent, in my experience. So if you really need a spotter for many hunts to come, invest in the best spotter that you can afford.

 

[tdhanses]

As to your astrology blurb, here is a pic I snagged of the moon when it was a cool enough color I wanted to use the spotter to view. It wasn’t quite at the full magnification range of a 65mm razor.

View attachment 372117

Cool picture but how does that define low light in the showdows detail we often come across when hunting?

 

[RSather528]

Cool picture but how does that define low light in the showdows detail we often come across when hunting?

I was addressing the OP’s curiosity of spotters and astronomy. Specifically the moon.

I'm also curious about these and astronomy. I imagine the moon zips by your field of view pretty quickly at high mag!

Seemed fitting to showcase a picture of a moon through a spotter if there was interest.

 

[hawkman71]

As to your astrology blurb, here is a pic I snagged of the moon when it was a cool enough color I wanted to use the spotter to view. It wasn’t quite at the full magnification range of a 65mm razor.

View attachment 372117

Great shot! Thanks!

 

[hawkman71]

Ok. I guess I would say it's a rather uninformed opinion if you didn't dissect the differences...

...And just so it's clear, I would always say go hunting with what you got as opposed to skipping hunts to save up to buy nicer gear.

I always stick my foot in my mouth on forums, not really thinking through what I say. Usually, my point is about something else and I end up making a statement like "A is better than B" (like here Vortex/swaro) when really, I didn't mean it to be stated as fact.

I'm with you on the part about hunting and saving up. I'm not dissecting differences on a trophy elk/Coue's/muley rack - I'm just hopefully going western hunting for the first time, and for antelope. While I hope to get a 'nice' antelope, will I be able to judge such a rack at distance anyway? Let's put it this way: if my son and I have good binos (Vortex Viper HD, an 8x42, and a 10x50), can we get by without a scope? I hope so, but having one would sure be nice to have.

 

[tdhanses]

I always stick my foot in my mouth on forums, not really thinking through what I say. Usually, my point is about something else and I end up making a statement like "A is better than B" (like here Vortex/swaro) when really, I didn't mean it to be stated as fact.

I'm with you on the part about hunting and saving up. I'm not dissecting differences on a trophy elk/Coue's/muley rack - I'm just hopefully going western hunting for the first time, and for antelope. While I hope to get a 'nice' antelope, will I be able to judge such a rack at distance anyway? Let's put it this way: if my son and I have good binos (Vortex Viper HD, an 8x42, and a 10x50), can we get by without a scope? I hope so, but having one would sure be nice to have.

Truthfully, I’d put more money into a better bino/tripod and go without the spotter, and I have 2 spotters.

 

[Bailer]

I always stick my foot in my mouth on forums, not really thinking through what I say. Usually, my point is about something else and I end up making a statement like "A is better than B" (like here Vortex/swaro) when really, I didn't mean it to be stated as fact.

I'm with you on the part about hunting and saving up. I'm not dissecting differences on a trophy elk/Coue's/muley rack - I'm just hopefully going western hunting for the first time, and for antelope. While I hope to get a 'nice' antelope, will I be able to judge such a rack at distance anyway? Let's put it this way: if my son and I have good binos (Vortex Viper HD, an 8x42, and a 10x50), can we get by without a scope? I hope so, but having one would sure be nice to have.

You definitely don’t need a spotter. If at all possible I’d stretch the bino budget to something in the $1000ish range and you’ll be in good shape. I personally could not keep my eyes behind vipers long enough to do any good without a headache. YMMV.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

There is a video on youtube comparing the Viper HD to the Razor HD spotters and there is very very very little difference in performance. There is a difference in weight. I decided to go with the Viper HD because of that video and have been extremely happy.

My buddy just purchased the new diamondback hd spotter last fall and loves it. I’ll be able to compare it to my Viper HD this spring during our bear hunt.

Law of diminishing returns definitely applies to glass - binos, spotters, scopes etc. I am pretty hard on spotters, hauling them on horses and ATVs. I’ll take the warranty.

 

[atrip07]

Save your Money and get the Kowa or Meopta of the size that fits your hunting style.