Sub-$300 scope? (1 Viewer)

I am looking for a scope on a tight budget. I realize that quality will be compromised, but is there anything worthwhile that can be had on such a budget? I would want waterproof. Otherwise, I'm pretty open.

I was thinking:

Bushnell Trophy XLT 20-60x

or

Celestron 52250 80mm Ultima Zoom Spotting Scope

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

I'm in a similar situation, and have been scouring the web to see if I can find a hidden gem of a scope in this price range. I'm sure this is basic info for you, but I'm finding that it all depends on what kind of viewing you want/need from your scope vs. how portable & convenient you want it to be.

I had a chance to use an Alpen 728 (Angled, 15-45x60) birding this weekend. Everyone was very impressed with the brightness and clarity of image at ~40x compared to the Swarovski, Leica, and Kowa scopes of various sizes others had. It can be found for ~$150 USD and has received some pretty solid reviews from lots of reliable sources. It also has the Alpen lifetime, no fault warranty - if you break it, they fix or replace it for life. Alpen also has a 20-60x60 angled scope for less than $200, but it's a different body, and I haven't had a chance to look through it.

I posted a thread here about a cheap scope/monopod setup I tried out to fill a gap between 10x40 glasses and a larger, heavier scope/tripod setup - something inexpensive, light, quick & easy to give me just a slightly better view than my field glasses when I don't have time for a tripod setup. After using it this weekend, I would agree with folks who say it's hard to hold steady enough on a monopod, and I'll be buying a Stedi-stock to give that a try before I look at other small scopes for this kind of use.

There are lots of posts here about other budget scopes that sound promising, but everyone has varying opinions about them, and I'm finding it to be true that nothing compares to actually looking through the scope and comparing it to other makes/models side by side - a difficult thing to do if you don't have a shop nearby.

I'm going to bring my mother in-law's Leica with manfrotto tripod & head to my local shop and compare the Alpen scopes of various sizes, especially at 40-60x. After seeing the quality of their small, inexpensive scope first hand this weekend, I'm confident that I'll be buying one of the bigger Alpen scopes for my tripod mounted scope.

Good luck, please post what you find out there - I'm still looking

Hmmm... The Alpen 728 scope is intriguing and well within my price range.

I found a recent article at bird watching dot com reviewing travel scopes, and the 728 was named "best buy for those on a budget". Not sure if this is against the rules, but I'll try posting the link to the article, it's pretty informative - http://birdwatching.com/optics/2014travelscopes/review.html

This little scope is impressive at lower magnification levels, but I'm going to see how the bigger Alpen stands up at 60x compared to the Leica - The 20-60x80 angled Alpen can be found for just under $500, and I'm hoping it will provide a good enough 60x image for my uses at that price.

Hopefully you'll find one you can check out yourself first hand, and post your opinion on it!

Wow. Thanks! Here's a total newbie question: I'd like a full size tripod. Would any brand tripod be 'compatible' with the Alpen?

Yes. There are always exceptions for specialty tripods & equipment, but most all spotting scopes (and cameras) have a 1/4x20 female thread in the bottom. That is the standard size thread for most tripod heads, including any quick release plates you'll find for sporting optics, camera, and video use.

To be clear - tripods don't all come as one piece. Higher quality tripods (Manfrotto, Gitzo, etc) are sold as "legs" (with no head) that have a standard 3/8" thread to mount to the bottom of just about any brand/model head, which will in turn have a 1/4x20 male thread on top (where the equipment is mounted). This allows for a lot of choices.

Be aware that significantly lighter (and inexpensive) tripods are easier to carry and set up, but will vibrate from the wind and from touching the scope or tripod as you adjust it, making it hard to get sighted well. Many tripods have a hook in the bottom of the center post that allows you to put a weight on it to help stabilize the setup, and this is a very useful feature if you don't want to buy a heavier tripod. I've seen folks hang a small backpack from that hook at the bottom, or their optics gear bag, and it works well.

I tried putting my small scope on a very light SunPak tripod with pistol grip head that I use for my DSLR, but it is a PITA to use compared to the big, HEAVY Manfrotto Classic legs with Fluid head that my mother in-law uses for her Leica - solid as a rock when you pan around trying to get the bird in your sights, and doesn't vibrate when you focus. It's $300 combined, so I'm in the market for something in between, personally.

Thanks! Looks like the Alpen's the winner! Found a good looking Slik head/tripod for $45

The Alpen arrived today. Played around with and I'm pquite impressed. It's certainly not comparable to what I've seen with $2000 scopes, but for $150 the views I'm getting are pretty good.