Newbie to scopes.

[Simmo1111]

Hi everyone,

My birding is currently split between visiting a reserve with hides which are obviously tailor made for scopes but the rest of my time is taken with trudging through woodland and over open heathland. I am interested in buying a scope but was wondering if they are suitable for both hides and travelling around on foot. I would hate to spend 5 or 6 hundred pounds to find out that I can only benefit from my posh new scope for half of the time. Obviously setting up a tripod to spot a nuthatch flitting all over the place isn,t really practical but I was wondering about the possibilities of 'hand holding' a scope or using a monopod ?

Does anyone have any advice ?

Thanks very much.

Dave.

[Wachtel]

My experience is that I usually lug my scope with me in all but dense woods. I like to use the scope a lot, even when close to the bird. Details are interesting!

But I doubt that you could use a scope hand-held. I've thought about a mono-pod but the problem with this would be the need to hold it at all time. I want to be able to use the scope and bins alternating and that requires a tripod.

[Enji]

I'm also one to lug around the scope most of the time, unless I know I'm going to walk in dense wood or taking a very long walk. This is mainly because in my experience I always manage to see something interesting far away that I can't ID using just the bins when I don't bring the scope! ;) I also love watching birds through the scope even when I'm close, picking out all the small details. Spend almost 20 minutes just looking at a Song Thrush through the scope a few weeks ago, noting every little detail of the bird.

However, it can sometimes be a hindrance when walking in the forest, in that it means I can't get the bins to my eyes as fast as when I'm not carrying a scope, and thus might miss something. It's not easy to decide whether to carry one or not!

I agree that holding a scope without a tripod or monopod is almost impossible. It's just not steady enough.

Of course, if you plan to lug around your scope a lot like me it's a good idea to get a scope and tripod that is light-weight. There's a huge difference in carrying something from the car to a observation point and carrying it around for many miles.

[horukuru]

Same with me working as a bird guide required me to bring my scope where ever I go and used to carry big 82mm scope in the forest.

Recently I bought a compact scope from Nikon, ED50 and the weight only around 700g with my 13-40x zoom eyepiece and using tripod too. After using it for a week, it is possible with to hand hold the scope for few minutes following smaller and stationary birds up to 20x.

But when I'm with group, I need to use tripod hehehe.

You can try the scope in the shop either straight or angled body. Some of my friends who are using big lens now planning to get this scope and attached on another bracket together with the Gimbal or simply by attaching the scope with Joby Gorillapod on the tripod. If opportunity arise, the scope can be use for IDing birds :)