Struggling with spotter decision

[Freedombyforce]

I've really been struggling with this decision on which spotter to buy. I'm going to be bow and rifle hunting elk in CO. I had settled on the leupold GR 20-60x80, but then discovered apparently it isn't HD. At least it doesn't say its HD. So now I'm hung up between it, the smaller GR 12-40x60 HD, and the Razor HD 20-60x85. I'm planning on taking photos and video from an iphone 6 or a go pro with it. I only backpack so weight is an issue but I'm willing to look over it for the better glass.


I'd appreciate any advise from experience.

 

[Freedombyforce]

I also found a discontinued Leupold GR Boone and Crockett 20-60x80 for $1300 but not many reviews on it. Anyone have experience?

 

[Colberjs]

Sorry I can't help with your decision. But I'm interested in knowing what setup you plan on using with the GoPro.

Thanks.

 

[Freedombyforce]

The phoneskope adaptor.

 

[maverick]

I own the Razor 85 and the Leupold 12-40 non HD. I bought the Razor for digiscoping because the Leupold is a pain even with the adapter. Its because of where the scope focuses. The Razor with the digiscoping adapter works great. That said I've had my Leupold for probably 16 years and use it for longer back pack trips and on a window mount in the truck. The eye relief can't be beat and the 12x is great for general glassing. I think a 65mm Razor would be a good compromise. In my digiscoping experience I would skip the Gopro mount and stick with the IPhone 6. The Gopro is to wide and you will always have the black circle and there is no way to zoom in.
Good Luck, Doug

 

[Freedombyforce]

Good info. Thanks Doug.

 

[Cindy]

Just curious, what is HD?
Are you looking for a "High Definition" label on your scope?

The Leupold gold ring 20 - 60X 80mm is "High Definition"

But, what does that mean?

This is what the Leupold site says about the gold ring spotters.

"High Definition
Look for extremely vivid color, life-like clarity, and higher overall performance thanks to the calcium-fluoride lenses. Another added advantage of these non-lead based lenses is that they’re lighter in weight."

I assume you are talking about ED lenses. Extra low dispersion.

For example, a television receives a rating of "High Definition" when it screen resolution meets a certain criteria.
720, 1080, or now 4K.
It would be false advertising to market your television as a 4K set, when the screen resolution was only capable of a lesser resolution.

As there is no rating system for spotting scopes, that I am aware of, all companies can label their offerings as "HD" and that could mean one of many things, high density, high definition, whatever.
But as there is no industry standard for the HD label, what does it mean?
Is it just a marketing gimmick?

According to Swarovksi, they believe HD means the same thing as Leupold.

"HD-OPTICS

Our HD optics feature fluoride-containing lenses, which virtually eliminate color aberrations. The scatter is considerably less with fluoride than with even the best types of optical glass. This enables maximum color fidelity and leads to a significant improvement in resolution and contrast."

I could be wrong, but I believe that you could label anything HD.

I see no reason to shy away from the Gold ring if that was your initial desire.
It has the same "HD" characteristics as the Swarovski.

Interestingly enough, "HD" means something different to vortex.

"HD Lens Elements Premium HD (High Density) extra-low dispersion glass delivers the ultimate in resolution and color fidelity, resulting in High Definition images."

Their definition contains the reference to ED glass and makes no mention of the fluoride containing glass that the other two did.

See what I am getting at?
If there is no industry standard, it can easily be manipulated into an advertising gimmick.

I would not get caught up in the HD craze.
There is more to understand than jus the labels that the companies put on their products.

You wanna see how bad the "HD" thing gets?
Go to Bushnells web site, click the legend ultra hd spotter, and see what they call "HD".

"RainGuard® HD water-repellent lens coating"

Yep HD means water repellent lens coating.

HD means whatever the heck you want it to.
Anything you do to improve the quality of the view can be called the new HD version.

I would stick with the Leupold Gold ring.
Its a good scope. Too bad they have to label it HD, its quality should stand on its own, without the gimmicks.

 

[realunlucky]

Just curious, what is HD?
Are you looking for a "High Definition" label on your scope?

The Leupold gold ring 20 - 60X 80mm is "High Definition"

But, what does that mean?

This is what the Leupold site says about the gold ring spotters.

"High Definition
Look for extremely vivid color, life-like clarity, and higher overall performance thanks to the calcium-fluoride lenses. Another added advantage of these non-lead based lenses is that they’re lighter in weight."

I assume you are talking about ED lenses. Extra low dispersion.

For example, a television receives a rating of "High Definition" when it screen resolution meets a certain criteria.
720, 1080, or now 4K.
It would be false advertising to market your television as a 4K set, when the screen resolution was only capable of a lesser resolution.

As there is no rating system for spotting scopes, that I am aware of, all companies can label their offerings as "HD" and that could mean one of many things, high density, high definition, whatever.
But as there is no industry standard for the HD label, what does it mean?
Is it just a marketing gimmick?

According to Swarovksi, they believe HD means the same thing as Leupold.

"HD-OPTICS

Our HD optics feature fluoride-containing lenses, which virtually eliminate color aberrations. The scatter is considerably less with fluoride than with even the best types of optical glass. This enables maximum color fidelity and leads to a significant improvement in resolution and contrast."

I could be wrong, but I believe that you could label anything HD.

I see no reason to shy away from the Gold ring if that was your initial desire.
It has the same "HD" characteristics as the Swarovski.

Interestingly enough, "HD" means something different to vortex.

"HD Lens ElementsPremium HD (High Density) extra-low dispersion glass delivers the ultimate in resolution and color fidelity, resulting in High Definition images."

Their definition contains the reference to ED glass and makes no mention of the fluoride containing glass that the other two did.

See what I am getting at?
If there is no industry standard, it can easily be manipulated into an advertising gimmick.

I would not get caught up in the HD craze.
There is more to understand than jus the labels that the companies put on their products.

You wanna see how bad the "HD" thing gets?
Go to Bushnells web site, click the legend ultra hd spotter, and see what they call "HD".

"RainGuard® HD water-repellent lens coating"

Yep HD means water repellent lens coating.

HD means whatever the heck you want it to.
Anything you do to improve the quality of the view can be called the new HD version.

I would stick with the Leupold Gold ring.
Its a good scope. Too bad they have to label it HD, its quality should stand on its own, without the gimmicks.

Cindy thanks for typing this out I really learned allot about industry standards or lack of. Marketing is focusing on key phases wither they mean what we think they should or not

 

[Freedombyforce]

I also thank you for bringing this up. Since I have done my own research and what you are talking about really opened my eyes on the lack of standardized features. I ended up with the Leupold GR Boone and Crocket. Its a discontinued model for a very heavy discount, but after speaking to Leupold multiple times, they assured me the only difference between it and the current GR is the paint job. Thanks for the help.

 

[Bighorse]

After setting up my Spotter Swarovski (non-HD) 20-60 for GoPro and my iPhone 6 plus. I will take both for my hunts. The GoPro will likely be used more for wide FOV scenery shots and action. The iPhone for photos and digiscoping. The limited FOV issue for the GoPro while digiscoping is a deal breaker for me. How it compares in regards to resolution on a big screen needs to be tested. It's possible the GoPro may yield better video in regards to resolution and color fidelity albeit with vignetting.

 

[Freedombyforce]

After setting up my Spotter Swarovski (non-HD) 20-60 for GoPro and my iPhone 6 plus. I will take both for my hunts. The GoPro will likely be used more for wide FOV scenery shots and action. The iPhone for photos and digiscoping. The limited FOV issue for the GoPro while digiscoping is a deal breaker for me. How it compares in regards to resolution on a big screen needs to be tested. It's possible the GoPro may yield better video in regards to resolution and color fidelity albeit with vignetting.

That is also now my plan. I picked up a phoneskope and am very pleased. They now have a iPhone 6 with life proof adaptor and it works good. Also, I mentioned it in another thread but want everyone to know, With the new iPhone update (8.4), the gps now stays on while in airplane mode. So if you are in the backcountry you can put the phone in airplane mode to conserve battery and still geotag photos or run cached maps from other apps. Keep in mind though that since the gps is on other apps can use it and drain the battery, so turn those off when heading out of cell range. privacy - location

 

[duckhunter175]

If weight/size is a factor and you are already willing to step down to 12-40x why not look at the 16-48x razor HD? I've seen a number for sale recently across several sites and as mentioned above they do well with the phone skope.