You traded in a big spotter for a compact…your feedback please

[Macintosh]

I just sold my razor hd 27-60x85 spotter, which is my benchmark. I use it at the range to spot bullet holes on paper out to a couple hundred yards, and I only occasionally use it hunting. I just don’t live in an area where spotting scopes are relevant, so it’s only every other year or so on a western hunt that it even gets considered. This one is just too big, too heavy, so I’m not using it even when I travel. I would like to get into a compact, lightweight spotter that maximizes value, i.e. best optics for the money. My goal is to be able to see deer antlers in a general sense out to about 2000-2500 yards, maybe a little more. I don’t need to score, I just need to see “antlers: yes or no, big or little”. I can’t do this with my 10 X binoculars on a tripod. I’ve used a few pairs of 15s and while they’re close, I don’t think they’re quite enough to see what I want to see, at least for my eyes. Im really focused on size and weight, I’d rather go without entirely, than have a spotter thats too big and heavy.

So, what are your suggestions for good/better/best options and reasoning, on either spotters or high magnification binoculars, to accomplish this? Money is a concern, but rather than specify a budget I’d like to see the range of options that people think are truly good, and decide from there.

 

[Antares]

I’m trying answer the same questions, antlers yes/no, big/little. So sounds like similar uses.

I’ve settled on RF 10x Leica Geovid Rs on my chest and a Kowa 554 (with Outdoorsman pan head and a Slik 632) on my pack.

I love the 554. It’s light. The glass is super bright. The image is usable all the way to the top end (45x). I keep it on the tripod, wrapped in my sitting pad, on the outside of my pack. Super fast to set up to get a quick look at something. After I found this combo 4ish years ago, I quit analyzing my optics setup. This works.

I have an 884 too but that stays in the truck.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Had a few razors, gen 1&2 65 & 85, they were okay. Pretty marginal at top end zoom. Went with an atc, fantastic FOV, fantastic clarity edge to edge at all zoom levels. Also have a meopta S2 I picked up for a big spotter, it is older but far better clarity than any of my razors. Baby comes with in most situations. The big spotter is for bigger country 3+ miles of glassing. Baby spotter had me clearly looking at antler details at a medium 3x3 last year at a 1500 yards or so, I can get a good idea of frame out to probably just shy of 2 miles

 

[TaperPin]

My old school fixed 30x (60mm) Leupold spotter gets used much the same way. It’s only 26 ounces and goes everywhere with me, usually rested on a pack without a tripod just to confirm antlers unless I know there’s a good spot to sit and glass at long range. A 85 mm Razor is shown at something like 66 ounces, so that extra 2-1/2 lbs would be a big difference, like carrying around an extra quart of water.

I’d like to get a Kowa 554 (28 ounces) to see how much better the image is at a higher magnification. The Nikon ed50 also seems interesting at 23 ounces.

Magnification is a funny thing. With things like old school surveying equipment you’d think they would use high magnification for better accuracy, but rarely was anything over 30x.

 

[Macintosh]

Sounds like the “best” options are either the swaro atc/stc or a kowa 553/554. Are there other similar-quality options in this top tier?

Then what’s the next step down in optical capability? And realistically what are you giving up? I’ve heard people mention the nikon ed 13-30x50 before, but Im not clear where it fits in. Im seeing other compact spotters such as the razor hd 13-39x56 , maven s2 12-27x56, and maybe others. Not sure what else is out there and where these fit in the hierarchy of things. Anyone able to lend their experience?