My wife and I have been into bird watching for about 18 months and having fun.
We do a lot of bird watching by water where there are birds on an opposite shore, several hundred years away, that we can't identify. We have a selection of binoculars. Her favorite are Nikon 10-22 zoom binoculars. But now she wants more reach, more magnification.
So we are looking at spotting scopes.
I would put the budget at $300 or less. Not looking for top of the line. Something with a zoom around 20-60. Nice if it can take my astronomy eyepieces but that is not required.
I have two that I have been considering and curious if anyone has experience with these:
Celestron C70 Mini Mak. Under $100
I did not expect to see a 70 mm Mak in this price range. Main interest in this is small size and no CA issues. Also has an adapter to take 1.25" eyepieces in place of the included zoom. 25 to 75X. Not really concerned about the mini tripod as I will put this on a full size tripod. One concern is that it is not waterproof.
https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-52...pID=31-j0dkxHOL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
C70 manual
https://s3.amazonaws.com/celestron-site-support-files/support_files/1220558461_spotterinstc705.pdf
Celestron Trailseeker - 65 ($250) or 80 mm - $266
The 65 got a pretty good review at Audubon.
http://www.audubon.org/news/good-value
Standard eyepiece seems to be the same Celestron zoom I use in my telescopes. I can use my astronomy eyepieces in this one too.
https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-52...pID=31WHiy6-LiL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Celestron site
https://www.celestron.com/collections/spotting-scopes
So, any experience with these?
What else would you suggest, under $300.
We do a lot of bird watching by water where there are birds on an opposite shore, several hundred years away, that we can't identify. We have a selection of binoculars. Her favorite are Nikon 10-22 zoom binoculars. But now she wants more reach, more magnification.
So we are looking at spotting scopes.
I would put the budget at $300 or less. Not looking for top of the line. Something with a zoom around 20-60. Nice if it can take my astronomy eyepieces but that is not required.
I have two that I have been considering and curious if anyone has experience with these:
Celestron C70 Mini Mak. Under $100
I did not expect to see a 70 mm Mak in this price range. Main interest in this is small size and no CA issues. Also has an adapter to take 1.25" eyepieces in place of the included zoom. 25 to 75X. Not really concerned about the mini tripod as I will put this on a full size tripod. One concern is that it is not waterproof.
https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-52...pID=31-j0dkxHOL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
C70 manual
https://s3.amazonaws.com/celestron-site-support-files/support_files/1220558461_spotterinstc705.pdf
Celestron Trailseeker - 65 ($250) or 80 mm - $266
The 65 got a pretty good review at Audubon.
http://www.audubon.org/news/good-value
Standard eyepiece seems to be the same Celestron zoom I use in my telescopes. I can use my astronomy eyepieces in this one too.
https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-52...pID=31WHiy6-LiL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Celestron site
https://www.celestron.com/collections/spotting-scopes
So, any experience with these?
What else would you suggest, under $300.