Spotting scope at or under 1k

[Jjustus16]

Looking to purchase a 65ish mm objective lens spotting scope. I was going to go with an Athlon Ares, but some people have scared me away from them on here. What are your opinions for that price point?

 

[Hatchet Jack]

kowa 66 thank me later

 

[Grassymike]

Currently I am playing with two Pentax PF 65 ED A 2 spotters and both of the Pentax zooms trying to decide which one I like the best. This is a great scope and can be had for about $750 new. I also have a Leupold gold ring 12-40x60 that is a real good scope as well. Honestly it hangs in there very close optically to the Pentax . This coupled with a more useable power range and very light weight , make it easy to backpack. I am not sure why this scope does not get more love from backcountry hunters ,in my mind it seems like the perfect blend of features.

 

[Happy Antelope]

We have a bunch of the gen 1 Razors left if you're interested. Selling for 695.00 free shipping. Www.happyantelope.com

 

[huntabsarokee]

I have owned a few 50 but didn’t care for the light gathering and moved up to the Pentax 65. It was good but their better eye pieces were fixed. Ended up buying an Opticron 66 and it’s very good. They discontinued the 66 but still offer the 60 with the same eye piece. The Opticron is made in Japan at least mine is and not China. I liked it better than my buddies Razor 65 when we did a comparison at camp a few years ago.

 

[OrangeArmy]

I have an Athlon Ares and really like it... but then again I haven't used it next to many others to get a good comparison.

 

[4th_point]

I posted this in your other thread:

An older used 60mm Nikon Fieldscope ED or 66mm Kowa XD. I have experience with a couple of the Nikons, but not the Kowa however it has an equally good reputation from discerning users. Resolution and image quality should be good all the way to 60x with either. Downside is FOV and eye relief with zoom eyepieces. With something like a fixed 24x or 30x the image can be extremely good.

I have not looked at the Ares, but checked out one sample of the Cabela's version. Supposedly both are made by Bosma and appear to be the same optic. I was not impressed with the Bosma. Nowhere close to the ones mentioned above, in my opinion.

 

[Honyock]

I've been happy with the Athlon Ares. At its price point I don't think you can do better.

 

[Honyock]

I posted this in your other thread:

An older used 60mm Nikon Fieldscope ED or 66mm Kowa XD. I have experience with a couple of the Nikons, but not the Kowa however it has an equally good reputation from discerning users. Resolution and image quality should be good all the way to 60x with either. Downside is FOV and eye relief with zoom eyepieces. With something like a fixed 24x or 30x the image can be extremely good.
version
I have not looked at the Ares, but checked out one sample of the Cabela's version. Supposedly both are made by Bosma and appear to be the same optic. I was not impressed with the Bosma. Nowhere close to the ones mentioned above, in my opinion.

The "Cabelas version" appears to be similar to the Gen 1 Ares, both have HD glass. The Ares Gen 2 has UHD glass and is definitely a step up from the Gen 1.

 

[4th_point]

The "Cabelas version" appears to be similar to the Gen 1 Ares, both have HD glass. The Ares Gen 2 has UHD glass and is definitely a step up from the Gen 1.

Hey man, if it works for you that is great.

And thanks for clarification on the HD being updated to UHD. I don't think that those designations have any real technical meaning, but it sounds like there was at least some sort of design or model name change.

What other scopes have you compared the G2 Ares to?

From what I have heard, the G1 and G2 are very similar in optical quality. And I don't know what scared the OP away from the Ares but from what I personally saw of the G1 variant and what people say about the G2 is that the image quality peters out above ~40x. That's not a very good sign for a 65mm scope.

An old Nikon EDIII or the 66mm Kowa should be tack sharp up to 60x. To me that is a huge difference compared to what I saw and hear about the Ares. Some people may not need good performance at 40x and above, so that might be irrelevant.

 

[huntabsarokee]

PMs answered

 

[Ram94]

The "Cabelas version" appears to be similar to the Gen 1 Ares, both have HD glass. The Ares Gen 2 has UHD glass and is definitely a step up from the Gen 1.

It’s actually the exact same glass with a name change. Not a step up.

The Ares is a really nice scope though, Gen 1 or Gen 2.

 

[Huntin_GI]

If you are considering the Athlon lines, look at the Cronus G2. Yes, it is bigger than what you have been considering, but if your goal is to gather light and have incredible clarity, it may be worth the weight penalty.

Just picked one up a month ago. Had a chance to compare it side by side with the Razor 85. The only aspect in which we concluded the Razor outperformed the Athlon Cronus was the eye relief. It feels like the eye cups need to extend possibly one more turn.

As far as light and clarity, the Athlon was the winner.

 

[outdoor_matt]

Yep I’d be going Kowa 663 or 664 in that price range. Very good scope.

 

[4th_point]

Yep I’d be going Kowa 663 or 664 in that price range. Very good scope.

Was I correct in thinking that the Kowa 660 scopes are sharp up to 60x? Or do they peter out above 50x? Not in terms of brightness but sharpness.

The EDIII scopes I have owned were tack sharp at 60x. That's my expectation for a 60mm scope. The Kowa 66mm should be brighter and have higher resolution but I have never used one.

 

[JAC8504]

Athlon Ares gets my vote

 

[KU_Geo]

The leupold golden ring 60mm HD scope is a nice, compact, very user friendly spotter for <$1000.

 

[4th_point]

I really like the 60 GR HD as well, for the size and eye relief.

 

[OKHunter84]

Currently I am playing with two Pentax PF 65 ED A 2 spotters and both of the Pentax zooms trying to decide which one I like the best. This is a great scope and can be had for about $750 new. I also have a Leupold gold ring 12-40x60 that is a real good scope as well. Honestly it hangs in there very close optically to the Pentax . This coupled with a more useable power range and very light weight , make it easy to backpack. I am not sure why this scope does not get more love from backcountry hunters ,in my mind it seems like the perfect blend of features.

I just picked up a used Leupold gold ring on here for half what they cost new and I'm loving it. I'm with you. For how much they weigh and how good they are, I'm not sure why they don't get more love.

 

[Mildot]

I have an Athlon Ares 15-45x65 Gen 1 and like it. But I only use it on the range at 100 yards.

The Leupold Gold Ring 12-40x60 has much better eye relief and sharpness but they are twice the price.

I would look hard at Pentax, I have a pair of their binoculars that are very nice.