What's a good "beginner" scope? (1 Viewer)

[HouseFinch]

I just got out of the binoculars forum...seems I'm going to have to promote myself from binoculars to a scope, to identify the ducks across the slough that is viewable from my backyard(ducks and geese just love that flooded island); Home

I've never worked with a scope before, much less owned one, though I've seen them in sport supply stores. Any good recommendations for scopes in the States?

 

[mooreorless]

You can buy a Nikon Sky&Earth 80mm scope for about $325 or so shipped.Makes a good but sort of heavy first scope.I just this information today,but my wife deleted it so I can not tell you the rest,I think she was afraid I would order one.The site says $349 but I think there is a sale.
Steve

 

[mooreorless]

There is more information on this scope and others on here- "interesting scope review" scampo.It is by 6mm Benchrest fellows and I know they don't look for CA and color true but is interesting read and it does take a very good scope to "see" bullets holes in black at 300 to 500 yds.Actually they do go over CA a little with a talk on getting all the color light rays to focus for a better image.
Steve

 

[Adam C]

Have a look at the Burris landmark 20-60x 80mm scope. Awesome value for money!!

I compared it to the Leica 77 and yes the leica was better but not that much.

Its a great scope for a first scope, sharp all the way through although a bit tight at 60x.

Costs around $300.00 US

Heres one at Cabelas. (very long link)

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...ew&cm_ite=netcon&hasJS=true&_requestid=118112

 

[jcwings]

My first scope was a Bushnell Spacemaster. Way back when it was all I could afford and it served my purposes well. Even the eyepieces are affordable. I used it for many years (and still own it but have upgraded to a Zeiss). There are probably many more entry level scopes that the Spacemaster can be compared to, but I don't see where the price has gone up much in several years. One thing to keep in mind- don't compromise on a tripod.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp?pid=608
http://www.optics4birding.com/item.aspx?cid=13092

 

[Adam C]

Sorry just thought I should mention that although the Burris is a cracking scope for the price, be aware that the tripod mount is set way back so that the scope is very front heavy. Being a photographer I got around this by using an extra long plate between the foot mount and my tripod head but unless you have a tripod with a dovetail clamp this will pose a problem for you. The Burris is an excellent scope except for thos one major floor.

Good luck with your new scope which ever way you go and happy birding~

 

[HouseFinch]

Hi again, everyone, thanks for the suggestions; they've helped a lot. I'm looking at this scope on Eagle Optics;
Bushnell Multi-Position 20-60x60 Spotting Scope

I have one question; what's the difference between 60mm and 80mm? The Burris Landmark is 80mm, and I'm wondering if that would make it better quality than the Bushnell scope. I know that the more mm's you have with a camera, the closer you can get to the subject. But, I don't know how the mm's work with scopes.

I was going to go with the Burris, but free shipping on Eagle Optics is attractive, hence why I'm struggling between these two.

 

[mooreorless]

Outdoor Life sporting gear test[2003] had the Burris Landmark 20-60x80mm spotting scope as one of many scopes they tested.They listed resolution as excellent,low light very good and they did say what Adam C said about the scope being poorly balanced,also said has "lots of veiling flare".
I couldn't find anything on the Bushnell Multi-Position 20-60X60 scope but they did have a[Outdoor Life 2006] Celestron 20-60x60mm "multi-position" spotter that looks just like the Bushnell model.They said image quality was so so but good for the price.
Outdoor Life 2001 issue has the Nikon Sky & Earth 20-60x80mm in it and in this issue they list resolution as 1.8 SOA,in comparison in this same issue they have the Swarovki CTC 30x75 Collapsible "telescope" and the resolution is listed as 1.6 SOA.[Whoops forgot to say Bill McRae uses 1951 USAF resolution charts,magnified testing,"line pairs" Dawes Limit]They do pick the Nikon Sky & Earth 20-60x80 as their "Editor's Choice"and say that it has outstanding resolution and low-light performance.You can look up this stuff on their site.The one thing that always bugs me about Outdoor Life Optics test is that they change the rating system,one year they list resolution,next year it is 1 through 4 stars and fair through excellent.But they have used birds as subjects of the test sometimes.Steve BTW how do you get double space between paragraphs on this site to make for easier reading?Double shift then enter?

 

[HouseFinch]

I would get the Nikon, but with my budget I'm aiming for a scope between $100-$300. The Burris sounds like a grand deal...any web sites out there that offer free shipping?

Also, is the Burris front-heavy on any tripod, or just the tripod that is supplied with it? I thought maybe I could buy a different tripod if it would help.

 

[eitanaltman]

Hi again, everyone, thanks for the suggestions; they've helped a lot. I'm looking at this scope on Eagle Optics;
Bushnell Multi-Position 20-60x60 Spotting Scope

Hi - I have the Bushnell Multi-position 20-60x60, which I recently replaced with a Pentax PF-65ED. All I can say is, you get what you pay for on that one -- it's not very good. It's better than no scope at all, but above 30X the image starts degrading rapidly, and the field-of-view is very narrow. Above 40X it's almost unuseable, the image gets so mushy and dark.

You'd be better off with the simple Busnell Spacemaster suggested above.

I have one question; what's the difference between 60mm and 80mm? The Burris Landmark is 80mm, and I'm wondering if that would make it better quality than the Bushnell scope. I know that the more mm's you have with a camera, the closer you can get to the subject. But, I don't know how the mm's work with scopes.

The mm's refer to the size of the objective lens, which is the big glass at the front of the scope. The bigger that front lens, the more light gets into the scope. All things being equal, the 80mm will outperform the 60mm (because of the extra light) but will be larger and heavier (because of the larger glass).

On a cheap 60mm scope, you will not be able to use anything above 30X or 40X power anyway, so don't be dissuaded by the 14-45X power of that Spacemaster.

If you're just going to be using your scope in your backyard to look at the slough, you'd probably be happier with a decent 80mm scope. At your price range, the extra light will help offset the non-premium optics. Buy the best scope you can afford -- there's a big step up from the crummy sub-$200 scopes to the "decent" $300-400 range.

Can't provide any specific suggestions beyond the two I have, but at birdwatching.com they highly recommend the new Vortex Skyline 80mm scope.

http://store.birdwatching.net/store/-strse-947/Vortex-Skyline-20-dsh-60x80-Spotting/Detail.bok

A little pricier at around $400, but they say it's better than the old Raven which used to be their "best budget" scope.

 

[mayoayo]

Pass on multipositions!!!!

Hi again, everyone, thanks for the suggestions; they've helped a lot. I'm looking at this scope on Eagle Optics;
Bushnell Multi-Position 20-60x60 Spotting Scope

I have one question; what's the difference between 60mm and 80mm? The Burris Landmark is 80mm, and I'm wondering if that would make it better quality than the Bushnell scope. I know that the more mm's you have with a camera, the closer you can get to the subject. But, I don't know how the mm's work with scopes.

I was going to go with the Burris, but free shipping on Eagle Optics is attractive, hence why I'm struggling between these two.

Hi friend!...i would definitely pass on multi-positions or any other gimmic...is you want a Bushnell Spacemaster,go for their classic all-time 60mm ,Although ...there are more inexpensive quality optics out there this days....thr Burris is a good scope in the 250$( i wouldnt pay more than that for one,and that wouldnt be that hard in Ebay),i used to own one ...even Steven ingraham,mentione in an article in birders world as a good budget option.....he also mentioned that this days,with the chinese optics all over,probably many good values are available in the bidget market......maybe the old spacemaster is a bit overpriced after all!!!..Wat about a budget ED scope...maybe the Celestron Ultima 65ED...?that shouldnt be too expensive...i suspect similar quality control ,compared with the burris,you can get an angled version,(burris is fixed straight)can change eyepieces(burris is fixed)..actually you can even upgrade in the future to the fancier new BAADER ZOOM eyepiece..I suspect that a decent ED objective ,with a decent eyepiece..(maye that baader)can be really nice........there is a lot about budget scopes in this forum...NC STAR is another brand mentioned here often....keep looking ..a month of research is worth it...and fun!!!!!!good luck

 

[Jaeger70]

Although I don't have experience with the Bushnell Elite 80mm, I have heard genuinely superlative words about it. It is a very interesting glass in that it offers an ED lens element (apparently the same element used in Nikon's FieldScopes), a large aperture, water/fog proofness all at a very attractive price (well under $1000 dollars). Several merchants have indicated that although it isn't quite on par with the likes of Zeiss, Leica and Swarovski, it is on par with the more expensive Pentax PF-80. One individual even suggested that it is a better optical instrument than the Pentax.

I mention the Bushnell Elite because it would appear that you can acquire a great scope for well under $1000 dollars that would conceivably last a *very long time.* You didn't mention what your budget is; however, if it is < $500, I would save the extra $200-$300 and at least try the Bushnell. Eagle Optics out of Wisconsin offers a generous return policy - plenty of time to put a scope through it's paces so as to decide what is best for you.

Again, from what I've gathered, nothing beats it at the < $1000 price mark.