Spotting Scope, so many to choose from!

[JaredJ]

I am always wanting to understand gear better. I am hoping to get some opinions on what spotting scope you use any WHY. I would like to hear how you use it and under what conditions. Also if you want to mention your tripod set up too.

 

[pc3]

If Money was no object, I would have chosen;

Swarovski ATX 95mm
Outdoorsman Medium Tripod and Outdoorsman Pan head


Money is an Object so I chose;

Meopta S2 82mm with 20-70 eye piece
Promaster 525 Carbon fibre tripodand scph 20 promaster pan head.


The glass on the s2 is VERY nice, I cant comment on how inferior it might be to the 95mm Swarovski ATX as I have never looked through one.

In all reality it might be fair to say that I would be able to spot most things I need to with this equipment and I doubt I am losing that much compared to the Swarovski/Outdoorsman combo. I felt I'm better of the with the cost difference invested in Vanguard at this stage.

I feel that with the above equipment I have achieved good value for money for the performance level and bought the best optics that I can afford/justify. And the reality is even the second tier optics and gear is expensive when you have a family/kids/saving etc. to consider.

Camera Land have great deals and service on the items I bought.

I will be using my gear for targets and scouting for game......yet to really try the gear out only initial getting used to it etc. But gee that s2 is clear !

 

[W1bowo]

If Money was no object, I would have chosen;

Swarovski ATX 95mm
Outdoorsman Medium Tripod and Outdoorsman Pan head


Money is an Object so I chose;

Meopta S2 82mm with 20-70 eye piece
Promaster 525 Carbon fibre tripodand scph 20 promaster pan head.


The glass on the s2 is VERY nice, I cant comment on how inferior it might be to the 95mm Swarovski ATX as I have never looked through one.

In all reality it might be fair to say that I would be able to spot most things I need to with this equipment and I doubt I am losing that much compared to the Swarovski/Outdoorsman combo. I felt I'm better of the with the cost difference invested in Vanguard at this stage.

I feel that with the above equipment I have achieved good value for money for the performance level and bought the best optics that I can afford/justify. And the reality is even the second tier optics and gear is expensive when you have a family/kids/saving etc. to consider.

Camera Land have great deals and service on the items I bought.

I will be using my gear for targets and scouting for game......yet to really try the gear out only initial getting used to it etc. But gee that s2 is clear !

+1

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

I also have the Meopta S2 but wide angle eye piece, pro master 525 and the outdoorsman pan head it’s a killer combo. I got to play with the ATX 85 side by side for a while a few weeks back. I’m just starting to play with digiscoping so the pictures could be better, both are extremely nice scopes.

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

If Money was no object, I would have chosen;

Swarovski ATX 95mm
Outdoorsman Medium Tripod and Outdoorsman Pan head


Money is an Object so I chose;

Meopta S2 82mm with 20-70 eye piece
Promaster 525 Carbon fibre tripodand scph 20 promaster pan head.


The glass on the s2 is VERY nice, I cant comment on how inferior it might be to the 95mm Swarovski ATX as I have never looked through one.

In all reality it might be fair to say that I would be able to spot most things I need to with this equipment and I doubt I am losing that much compared to the Swarovski/Outdoorsman combo. I felt I'm better of the with the cost difference invested in Vanguard at this stage.

I feel that with the above equipment I have achieved good value for money for the performance level and bought the best optics that I can afford/justify. And the reality is even the second tier optics and gear is expensive when you have a family/kids/saving etc. to consider.

Camera Land have great deals and service on the items I bought.

I will be using my gear for targets and scouting for game......yet to really try the gear out only initial getting used to it etc. But gee that s2 is clear !

I don’t know if I’d consider the S2 second tier at all, maybe price wise not performance. There’s a few guys that prefer the S2 to the ATX. Check out @Ledd Slinger he has some great posts comparing the S2 to atx and others

 

[willfrye027]

Last year I used a kowa 602 with 20-60x. I wanted something mainly for trophy judging because I already have 15x binos to look for game. The kowa is very light and punches above it’s class in performance to me (34oz with adapter plate and caps). I was doing a lot of backpacking so weight was pretty important and I did not have the budget for the 553 kowa although it would have been nice. Tripod was the smaller promaster 522 with two leg sections removed and a different ball head to keep in under 2lbs. The Scope was perfect, helped put frames on deer from 2-3 miles away that I picked up in the binos. I think it would take a lot more money and weight to have gained much. I took it to the front country in Wyoming with some really open country and feeling more picky on the bucks we were looking for. There were a few times I wanted for a bigger scope, so now I’m looking for something in the 80mm class for the front country.

 

[Mt Al]

I have a Swarovski 65mm STS HD with the 25-50 eye piece. Why/Reason is: I tend to get to a glassing place very early. I had the Nikon ED 50mm and loved the weight, but the poor performance in low light kept being an issue, one time in particular when I was glassing a mulie buck that was chasing a doe and the stalk was a commitment - but couldn't see his horns until well after legal shooting light, like surprisingly after legal light. Got very luck that he stuck around. Same with some elk even against the snow, just couldn't see clearly enough in early light on several occasions. In full daylight, love the Nikon ED 50, but not early/late when critters tend to be active. Got a good deal on the Swaro and pulled the trigger.

The 65 is a compromise in weight and awesomeness, I don't think I'd haul an 85 or 95 up the hill and even struggle to take the 65 sometimes.

I'd take a very close look at the Kowa 55mm spotter if you're hauling it up mountains. Gets very good reviews and I may swap to that someday.

My tripod is a pawn shop special and I frankly don't know what I'm missing compared to a high end tripod. I'm guessing the first time I use a good tripod I'll be out some more money.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

I second (or third) pc3. Extremely happy with my used meopta s2 from classifieds paired with pro master 525c and va-5 from cameralandny. Heard to beat that for the money.

 

[SD Hunter]

I have been running the Maven and I am extremely happy with it.

 

[Napperm4]

I currently have a Swarovski STX 65/95 spotter set up with the 1.7 extender. Planning to add the ATX eyepiece this year.

I wanted the modularity it offers. I use spotters year round and in different situations:

Scouting
Hunting
Shed Hunting
Digiscoping
Bird Watching
Range / load development

I hunt back country and front country. It’s either on a Slik 634CF tripod with Outdoorsmans pan head or window mounted with the Outdoorsmans head. Not particularly a fan of the panhead, but I like the quick attach feature and modularity of that too. Seriously considering the VA-5 panhead to try out. Had a benro S2 and it was great. Tried to use the vanguard ph-111v I had but it couldn’t handle the 95.

The 95 is incredible and the 65 is on par with other Swaro spotters which is what I wanted.

I started going on a Nikon set up using the same eyepiece on the 50 and 82 mm spotters but I just haven’t found a 50mm +\- spotter that I liked yet. My favourite was the leupold 15-30 GR that I still regret selling at times.

The Kowa 88 was really close to Swaro to my eyes. I debated a kowa 66/88 combo (this was before the 55) because they are great spotters too and much more lightweight. I bought the 884, amazing glass but I really couldn’t decide if I wanted angled or straight because it’s almost 50/50 benefit for my uses.

The final deciding factor was that I could get both eye pieces for the Swaro and have the ideal spotting scope for any and every situation. It’s going to take some serious leaps and bounds in glass for me to ever feel the need to buy another spotter for the rest of my life. I’m tempted to pick up a 55 kowa because of the great reviews just to try it out but I know after many many 50mm it’s just not going to replace a 65mm for me.

The other driving factor was the field flattened in the swaro. I use EL’s with the field flatterers as my primary glass for everything. I really like that the TX spotters have the same image as my binoculars.

 

[Lionhound1975]

I use a Meostar S2 82 HD (straight) with wide angle 30-60x for glassing at ranges of anything more than 1 mile. I love the glass and the view.

Tripod is a Manfrotto 290 aluminum with a fluid video head - not light but rock solid.

Alpen 786 - 20-60x80 (straight) - a great full size scope for the money that i take to places overseas where i would be worried of having my S2 stolen, ( South America birding, Africa, etc.) Not as good as the S2 but much better to my eyes than many scopes costing up to $800.

Vortex Razor HD 11-33x50 (straight) - good small scope. i use it with a small Bushnell tripod. I usually take this scope if out hiking or scouting but don't plan on using it very much. if i am planning on glassing for a while i will bring the S2 or the Alpen.

Bushnell Elite LMSS 8-40x60 with Horus 32 reticle. i use this scope for long distance shooting since the reticle is very similar to the reticle in my rifle scope and having a spotter call out exact corrections in 0.2 MILs is better than "two plates low and one half plate to the right". Also, the lowest 8x of the scope is great for days when even 20x leaves you looking at nothing but mirage.

 

[JaredJ]

If Money was no object, I would have chosen;

Swarovski ATX 95mm
Outdoorsman Medium Tripod and Outdoorsman Pan head


Money is an Object so I chose;

Meopta S2 82mm with 20-70 eye piece
Promaster 525 Carbon fibre tripodand scph 20 promaster pan head.


The glass on the s2 is VERY nice, I cant comment on how inferior it might be to the 95mm Swarovski ATX as I have never looked through one.

In all reality it might be fair to say that I would be able to spot most things I need to with this equipment and I doubt I am losing that much compared to the Swarovski/Outdoorsman combo. I felt I'm better of the with the cost difference invested in Vanguard at this stage.

I feel that with the above equipment I have achieved good value for money for the performance level and bought the best optics that I can afford/justify. And the reality is even the second tier optics and gear is expensive when you have a family/kids/saving etc. to consider.

Camera Land have great deals and service on the items I bought.

I will be using my gear for targets and scouting for game......yet to really try the gear out only initial getting used to it etc. But gee that s2 is clear !

Thank you for the reply, I wanted to know what are you using any why?

 

[bowhuntrben]

Up until a few days ago I was determined that I was going to get a Swarovski ATX 65. I re-evaluated what I’m really wanting to get out of it, and have changed my position so that I’m going to get the ATX 95. I’m just waiting for higher cash back than is currently being offered. My main reason for going this route is that I want to use it for digiscoping and don’t want to be wishing I got something better. With the ATX system, it has the benefit that I can always add the 65 later if I want too. My biggest concern with the 95 vs 65 is overall size (not weight). I will always be hunting with either my dad or sons when they’re big enough, though, so I’ve decided that size difference won’t matter for my situation...even if we’re packing in.

For tripod, I will be running the Slik 634cf with Sirui VA-5 head. I may get a beefier tripod in the future...we’ll see. I know this one will be too flimsy with all the legs extended, but it is plenty sturdy with minimal legs extended

 

[pc3]

Thank you for the reply, I wanted to know what are you using any why?

I will be using it for;

hunting
targets
digiscoping down the track.

 

[bowhuntrben]

I mentioned digiscoping as my reason, but see other folks listing other things separately so I will too. I will use it for hunting, scouting, and bird watching as well. Digiscoping goes along with these things. I will also use it for family vacations.

Our terrain where I live doesn’t lend itself to shed hunting with a spotter so I won’t use it for that unless I start making special trips out west.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

I chose a Kowa 88 for its superb glass and quality, and to save a few bucks over Swaro. After having this for a year, I did buy a Kowa 55, thinking it would come in really handy if I wanted to go in with less weight. The thing is, however, I learned that I never wanted to sacrifice the amazing light that the 88 captures. And the times that I would want to go in extra light, for sheep hunting, I want the bigger scope. I ended up selling the 55. If I need a scope . . . I want the best look at an animal possible.

If I were on more of a budget, I would have saved up for the Meostar S2 that others have spoken of here and been very happy.

If I were more challenged just locating the animal, I may have gone to Swaro for the BTX eye piece, but hunting where I do (Alaska), finding the animal is actually quite easy with binoculars.

I use a Promaster 525c and Outdoorsmans panhead, though I will now be using a Jim White 2.0 head if I'm bringing a camera to mount on the tripod.

 

[easilyamused]

I picked up a kowa 88 last summer and have been very happy with it. My buddy got a 55 at the same time and he’s already looking at selling it for something with a wider FOV and better low light performance. I went for the kowa over some other options for the cost savings over an atx and lots of options for the kowa when it comes to digiscoping. Ive looked through the 88 next to an atx 65 and the 88 could resolve more detail on a radio tower a couple miles away but it was very close in performance for sure and not too different in weight between the 2 either.

 

[Pronghunter]

Promaster XC-M 525 Tripod with Sirui VA 5 Head.
Holds the big 95 ATX just fine.

I should go into detail but it would take hours. I went through this about 3 years ago. I was so tired of always hearing which was better. All these opinions. This vs that. Glass vs glass, which brand had better edge to edge, least amount of distortion, better resolution and so on. So, I went a little nutz if you will. I can dig up some old pics of all my comparisons and phoneskope pics. I can honestly say I’ve owned them and compared them. Like I mentioned, it would take hours to go over everything. So if you want the very best as far as glass goes, quality control, overall build.......and of course this is my opinion.

Kowa TSN 883. The absolute best glass period. It is the very best.
Swaro ATX/STX 95. Just has everything you could want

Leica APO 82. Prob my favorite overall picture as far as pop or color.
Meopta Meostar S2 82. Best bang for the $$$$. The S2 is pretty amazing and one really has to know what he’s looking at to see a difference between it and the Swaro or Kowa. If money is limited, the Meopta cannot be beat. Beautiful spotter!
ZEISS Harpia 95. I really wanted to like this spotter but the way the magnification works is beyond me. IMO, very poor design. BUT it does have the best field of view. Very nice on the low end mag. I will say overall resolution, CA control and brightness was better than the Meopta UNTIL you turned up the magnification. Then the Meopta took over. Meopta also had much cleaner edges. If you’ve ever looked through ZEISS HT Bins, that’s what the Harpia looks like.
I’ve looked through the Maven and Vortex. Meh. They are considerably behind the above mentioned. Maven though was much clearer edge wise than the Vortex.

At the end of a year process I stuck with the Swaro only due to its modular design. Brilliant being able to swap out objective ends. If you really wanna dive deep into the optics world, join a BirdForum.

 

[easilyamused]

If you really wanna dive deep into the optics world, join a BirdForum.

This is excellent advice if you really want to go down the optics rabbit hole. Theres less of the “I looked through X brand scope in my buddies basement and its the best, as good as the swarovski I looked through in the store” that comes from hunting sources, and a lot less of the “my production company and I are working with brand X this year cause theyre the best, and here’s a promo code to go buy them”.

 

[elkstabber]

I'll address the OP's concerns from a different angle.

I'm more of a backcountry guy and rarely use optics from roads. I'm also a big believer of using the right tool for the right job. So a few years ago I decided after reading a lot of threads here on Rokslide that I wanted a small/light spotter and a bigger/heavier spotter. This way I could choose each tool for each job.

I took the little scope on trips in steep rugged country above timberline chasing bucks with a bow in CO. Then I used the bigger heavier scope for more mild country also bowhunting bucks, but in NV.

The smaller light scope was the Vortex 50 and the heavy scope was an older Leica 77. As the days went on I found myself choosing the bigger scope most often. The smaller scope was simply disappointing, and numerous times I had to hike further because of its limitations. The bigger scope was simply a pleasure to look through, which made me use it more. This resulted in finding more bucks. But, man, that Leica 77 was a big heavy beast at almost 4 pounds.

Ultimately, I sold both and bought a great 65mm that does it all. Don't make the mistake that I did. First, choose a reasonable size for your use then, go buy the best quality you can the first time.

Tripods vary according to your use also. For casual looks I'll bring a 1-1/2 pound Slik aluminum that only extends up to a sitting height (bought as refurb for $50). For serious glassing I'll bring a 3 pound Promaster 325 carbon (roughly $250) that I can stand behind. I've been happy with the Outdoorsmans Mini head, because it is solid and lightweight (but expensive).