1st budget scope

[billy]

looking to buy my first scope but have a very limited budget. have seen a kowa 611 with 25x eyepiece, case and tripod, and a opticron hr 60 with 20-45x eyepiece plus case for same price ( i have a tripod anyway ). any advice or opinions would be most welcome

[alan_rymer]

Billy

It would help us to know what the maximum price you could/would pay would be!.

[IanF]

i started off with a Kowa 611 myself with a 32xWA. It was an excellent scope with good optics and light enough to carry on holiday. My only reservation would be be that I found it of little use for digiscoping, but for normal viewing use I thought it was ideal.

[billy]

both were in Warehouse Express (http://www.warehouseexpress.com/) online at £260ish, could maybe manage to run to £300. theres no place to try them out so i have to buy online. digiscoping will be far down the line as i only have a wee 1.3 mp camera.

[alan_rymer]

Billy

I use a camera which only produces pictures of 640x480=307,200 pixels, but I still use it for digiscoping. I have only taken about a dozen which I thought were good out of over a thousand. Having a 1.3Mp camera doesn't stop you digiscoping!. When you get your scope try puting the camera too the lens, you may be surprised!.

[AndyC]

Billy

If you're on a tight budget, it might be worth checking out secondhand equipment.

You could try www.at-infocus.co.uk or www.acecameras.co.uk

Both list used scopes and eyepieces and all the items should carry a warranty.

AndyC

[alan_rymer]

Billy

I see you are living in Scotland.
Have a look at the Opticron Imagic 65 and 80 on the Infocus site under reviews using the link from AndyC above. Both are Nitrogen filled and waterproof.
We can all offer suggestions, but your best bet would be to visit a shop with several models and look through them, or, are their any reserves which have optics field days near you?.

[billy]

thanks all, will see if there is something on at lochwinnoch or vane farm in the near future

[Geoff Brown]

Billy, Don't forget the Nikon spotterscopes I recently got one for digiscoping with a coopix4500 and was surprised how good a scope it is considering the low cost.

[alan_rymer]

Billy

If you're still interested, there is a good review of small scopes ( 50-66mm ) in this months ( September ) Birdwatching Magazine.

[billy]

alan

picked up last months birdwatching mag couple of weeks ago ( first time i had seen it ), must say it's quite good. will check it out, thanks
billy

[SteveClark]

G'day all

I have a Kowa TS 501 with an angled 20-40X zoom which cost me about $550 Australia a year or so ago. It suits me! Even works for digiscoping with a Ricoh Caplio RR30 digicam.

Cheers

Steve

[smallblueplanet]

Hi, also thinking about buying a first scope too. but not as much dosh to spend......anyone got any details on this scope?

DOWLING & ROWE 15-45x60 water proof.
Rubber armoured , angled eyepiece. Carry case. £118

Do they just screw-on to a tripod (got an old slik88) or is some sort of mount needed?

Been looking for a website for D&R but can't find one, anyone know who makes them? On another thread there was talk of certain "generic similarities" and not many different manufacturers.

Sorry for repetition if there's an faq on this, or an earlier topic.

[Geoff Brown]

Dowling & Rowe,

Do a search in "google" or a similar search engine, you will be surprised what turns up. (at least 1,410 hits)

[smallblueplanet]

thanks :t: but the one I'd already done in google.co.uk (firstly for uk sites and then webwide - narrowing it down by using quotes round DOWLING & ROWE) didn't bring up much of interest, also checked other search engines......

thought maybe someone had personal knowledge?

[AndyC]

A friend of mine has an 'all in one' 15-45x60. I can't remember what the make is, but I'm pretty certain that it is a piece of badge engineering. I have seen very simalar scopes with different labels - I think Swift and Praktica. Try searching on Google images using "15-45x60" and see if any of the pictures look the same as your scope.

AndyC

[postcardcv]

Don't know about the scope you mentioned but if you are looking for a good first scope it may be worth checking out the Kowa 500 series and the Opticron IS scopes. Both come in under £175 (the Kowa under £150) - optically they are excellent and are small and light. It is also worth checking out secondhand optics as you will obviously end up getting more for your money.

Main thing though is to make sure you try before you buy - ideally test everything in your price range - that way you'll get the right one for you.

[smallblueplanet]

thanks guys, still surfing, looking for bargains.....and as I prefer to Net shop, does it really matter that much if I don't try 'em out? I'm sure my eyesight isn't 20-20 anymore! and if I've got an idea of weight how wrong could I get it if I can't pre-test?
I'm still on my 1st pair of bins, (the only ones I tried in the shop) but I don't know if that was good luck or judgement!

oh ps zoom or fixed mag. eyepiece?

[billy]

eventually settled for a kowa 611 with 20-40 eyepiece, stay-on case and a hide clamp all for £300
thanks again all

[alan_rymer]

Originally posted by billy
eventually settled for a kowa 611 with 20-40 eyepiece, stay-on case and a hide clamp all for £300
thanks again all
Hope you see lots, that you wouldn't have seen without the new scope.
Enjoy it!

[Karl J]

Hi there smallb...

I suppose it's like anything else - you don't know it's actually going to work at all if you don't try it. At least with buying from a shop you can take it back .... but on The Net ???

Having said that, there are several perfectly good online optic retailers.

As for Fixed v Zoom, I've read somewhere before that a Fixed mag. works better for any given magnification, but obviously isn't as versatile - something to do with the way the lens is made ( ??? ). I'm sure someone can give a full technical reason for it.

But exactly how much difference in performance there is I don't know ..... maybe another reason to test it out before you buy it !

[smallblueplanet]

Ok had a small rethink (its always like this start with the cheapest and work your way up!)....

Living in Essex (nr Chelmsford), does anyone know any good places to go to check-out some scopes? preferably with some birdies too cos with credit card in hand I'm likely to buy!

You see what I was frightened of was by comparing scopes I'd end up paying lots more than I intended :eek!: (but as I said, thats what always happens when I go shopping for "toys"!!!;))

[Karl J]

Sorry but others will have to help with the local knowledge.

But if you're on a budget, get a list of makes you won't be able to afford. Don't even look through them.

[Dave Sherry]

Hello Billy,

A couple of years ago I got an Optolyth TBS80 HD with a 20x60 zoom secondhand through LCE. I paid about £350 for the lot and it has been absolutely excellent. Everything I had hoped, and more. I would highly recommend looking at the secondhand market. It is not like optics (good ones anyway) go off. If you were worried about warranties most retailers offer a guarentee.

Good hunting.

[Leif]

I agree that second hand can be good, but it does seem that retailers sell second hand goods at absurd prices eg. 10% less than new price. Buying from a dealer does not even guarantee that the binoculars/scope will be properly collimated. Excellent used gear from private sellers can be found with a bit of searching at much much less than shop price. Of course you need to know the basics of how to check out equipment to spot for defects. I guess it is that uncertainty that dealers trade on: a good one (such as SW Optics) WILL thoroughly check out gear before buying it to sell on.