[mntentman]

Hi, all,

I am primarily a photographer, and generally find birds from my vehicle before exiting to photograph them. To help spot them (generally owls), I decided to purchase a spotting scope, which I will most times attach to the window of my vehicle. I bought an Alpen 788, which has great optics (given my limited experience) but seems way too big for easy use on the window. I'm wondering if someone could recommend a smaller angled scope in the same general price range (up to about $325) that would work for this purpose. I'd like to go up to 45x or 50x if possible.

Thanks much!

[lmans66]

Hey, welcome to the forum.... Hope your days in Minnesota are warmer than the NW part of the country as of late! Since you are just using the scope to ID. (not digiscoping)... a few things.

First, why not use just a pair of binoculars since you are trying to photo and the extra length a scope will provide you with will do not good with photography.

Second...for a window mounted scope, I would look at a straight scope, not an angled. To view from an angled eyepiece which is 'up' ...and considering the window is 'up' a bit... and the car mount raises the scope 'up' more... you either have to be pretty tall or turn the scope etc...

The Alpens are just plain big in size especially the 80mm scopes. Have you thought 50mm or 60mm? That would save you some of that girth associated with scopes within that price range.

Bushnell Legends 50mm... Vortex Nomads 20x20x60mm both would fit the bill in terms of length and both fit under your budget of $325. Best of luck, jim

[mntentman]

Thanks for welcome and the info, Jim.

I am looking for a scope because there will be times when I can use it outside the vehicle. And I thought it might be handier at times to have one attached to the window for quick use, rather than needing to constantly grab the binocs.

A 50mm would be just fine. I just took a quick look at the two you suggested... Vortex looks only about 4 inches shorter than the Alpen, but the Bushnell would be the right size. I will check it out further.

Thanks again.