Spotting scope advice please (1 Viewer)

I am posting this on behalf of my father who wishes to start birdwatching and purchase a budget level spotting scope. Can any one advise what spec he should be looking at as well as budget makes?

Thanks:news:

hi andrew,

Magnification - Most scopes have the option of changing eyepieces - 20-30x is good, or you could go for a zoom. Zooms are generally not as good quality at respective magnifications of fixed eyepieces, and have a smaller field of view ( see below )
Field of view - The wider the field of view, the more you will be able to see through the scope. Ie if viewing a heron really close, a narrow FOV eyepiece may see half the bird, while a wide one may see 3 quarters. It is measured in metres at 1000 metres or degrees
Objective size - the bigger the objective lens, the more light you get, however, the bigger it is, the heavier it is ( usually ). A 60mm scope is good for general use and usually lightweight.
Angled/straight - only the user can decide - straight easier to find birds - angled - tripod doesnt need to be so high, so steadier.

Some good models to look out for are the opticron IS60 with a IS 25x eyepiece or IS pro zoom ( new ) or a kowa ts611 or 12 with a ts27x eyepiece or TSN 30X ( no longer in production, so 2nd hand.)

http://www.opticron.co.uk
http://www.greenwich-observatory.co.uk/ts610.html