I doubt that there is any such thing as the “perfect” all-purpose spotting scope…regardless of price. So I think that it’s important to decide how a scope will typically be used, and then buy a style of scope that maximizes utility for the most likely use cases, without eliminating the possibility of other likely use cases. Jody, and Melissa and Wade described a couple of different use cases for which different styles of scopes would be preferred.
Oh, and there really is a difference between scopes whose optics include “ED” (or “high dispersion” or some other “special” glass), if a company makes models with and without any “special” glass. Images are just crisper when special-glass elements are included. I’ve seen this in side-by-side comparisons of scopes even from high-end companies like Swarovski. I’ll second Jody’s suggestion that it’s important to budget for a good tripod and tripod head (with a decent quick-release system for removing the scope), in addition to the scope. One thing to consider regarding the combination of scope + tripod is that (in my opinion) an extendable center column of a tripod a the devil’s own invention, because an extended center column is a lever arm that magnifies any vibration caused by wind, or touching the scope or tripod. It’s better to get a scope up to the desired height by only extending the tripod’s legs than to have to raise a center column in order for the scope to be raised to a suitable height for use. That’s another reason why an angled-eyepiece scope can be better (assuming that angling would meet other requirements): the scope doesn’t have to be raised as high in order to look into the eyepiece. Wesley From: bounce-124587702-3494...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-124587702-3494...@list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of Gone Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2020 10:27 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> Subject: RE: [cayugabirds-l] Spotting scope question My wife and I use straight 60x 80mm scopes, hers is a Vortex Optics Viper HD and mine is a Clestron Ultima 80 with a BAADER PLANETARIUM Hyperion zoom 8-24 mark III eyepiece. I found my Celestron lacking after looking through my wifes Viper with the ED glass so I added the BADDER eyepiece to mine which made a world of difference putting my scope on par with hers. We found the angled scopes did not work for us because looking in a close tree the angle was good but the field of view was limited so our 10x42 and 12x42 binos worked just fine for that. Another reason for straight, for us, is that we scope more than 75% of the time with car window mounts and the angled scope will not work for that. Melissa and Wade From: bounce-124586701-26966...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-124586701-26966...@list.cornell.edu> [mailto:bounce-124586701-26966...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Peter Saracino Sent: Monday, April 27, 2020 8:45 PM To: Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu<mailto:Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Spotting scope question Hi folks. I'm in the market for a relatively inexpensive (but halfway decent)spotting scope (straight barrel), and am wondering if anyone out there can recommend one. Thank you. Pete Sar -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
