Travelscope: Opticron IS 60 R or Hawke Endurance 12-36x50 (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone, a new one here

Hopefully I haven't gotten the forum wrong, and if so, many thanks to the moderators for any help!

My case is one of the clichés: I'm searching for my first low-budget scope and I have some options, would gladly have some opinions on two of the scopes - Opticron IS 60 R (most probably in a bundle with the IS eyepiece) and the Hawke Endurance 12-36x50. Both of them are the same price (around 330 euro), include eyepiece and case.

First of all - has anybody had experience with the IS R model? It's pretty new and I couldn't find much around the net. The body looks a bit improved compared to the IS WP, and supposedly the optics are better. The same goes for the Endurance, it didn't have that many reviews. Anyone that has tried them both? Thanks!

As for my choice - I've considered Nikon ed50, opticron MM3 and Celestron Landscout (50 and 60), but the price range (380 euro tops for body and eyepiece only, 450 for a full kit), optics quality, and availability (in Germany and Bulgaria) has left me pretty much with the two discussed options. I would gladly hear any other opinions on this matter though, I'm not a complete novice when it comes to optics but scopes aren't my strong point. I'm aware that at this price either optics or body will be compromised, but as a first scope for emergency situations that will probably do.

Again, thank for all the help!

T

Hi,

getting a good new scope is hard in your price range. I would prefer sth used - btw there is currently an older Optolyth TBG-80 with 30 wide EP and a tripod & head on german ebay for 360€ plus the seller (not me) accepts offers.

It's probably not the fluorite version (which back then was not always clearly marked) but even the normal version will offer a bright and wide view at 30x.

PS: welcome to Birdforum!

Joachim

Hi,

thanks for the information, I'll keep it in mind. I would still prefer to find a good travelscope though.
I thought about buying a secondhand one, but other than Ebay I don't really know where to find good deals. Can anyone with experience recommend sites or dealers? Much appreciated

Teo

Hi,

sorry, I though the small size was budget-related - if you want a travelscope, Kowa 501/502 50mm scopes can also be found for 150-250€ on ebay and ebay-kleinanzeigen.de (the latter has no buyer-protection though, I would only consider personal pickup there for more expensive stuff).
Very small and light and are good up to 30x.

I don't know a good dealer for used optics on germany. There is one person operating on german ebay under the name weitsicht-limburg who is obviously flipping optics for profit, but I haven't found a store or website beside the ebay store... I'd rather get a scope off ebay (and payed for with paypal for buyer protection) directly from some private seller than get the same scope with quite some markup from that person...

Joachim

Hi everyone,

judging by the number of views and lack of comments the aforementioned 2 models aren't that known. Thanks for the heads-up Joachim, I checked the Kowas but I'll probably pass.
Luckily in the next one month I'll have the chance to try out both of the models and once I've done it I'll post my impressions of the two.
In the meantime I also had a chance to try out the Vanguard Endeavor XF 60a. Front lens 60mm, 15-45 zoom, 35cm length. Not exactly the most compact scope, but surprisingly light, I seriously expected it to be a bit heavier. Good rubber coating, didn't collapse or turn, none of my fingerprints stuck too hard. The body felt sturdy and left a good overall impression. The zoom was ok and the focus wheel didn't leave a bad impression either. I first tried it a bit after sundown - bit of aberration on the edges, progressively darker picture while zooming up, but not too bad, the colours were ok (no Swaro of course). My Nikon Monarch 5 8x42 was a bit sharper in the low magnification. At midday though - the picture at 45x was practically blue, the aberrations were stronger than the original edges. I'm not sure whether it's from the particular scope, the only sure thing is that I had the same one. On the low 15x there was still a lot of blue. I would seriously recommend to check the scope before you buy it, might be better but can't be sure for that price (around 300 euro new, depends on the dealer).
After I check the other two I'll post it here.

Teo