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Spotting scope advice (1 Viewer)

Bwana1

Bwana1

Well-known member
I'm in the market to upgrade my spotting scope, like to stay in the $500-$600 range. Reviews are difficult to access, but I've narrowed it down to these models...any other advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

1)Vortex Viper HD 15-45 x 65 .........................$599
2)Vanguard Endeavor HD 15-45 x 65....................$489
3)Vortex Viper HD 2-060 x 80 NIB(private owner).......$675

The Vanguard sure looks like a great product at the price point, reviews on all spotters are very mixed...and the reviews are from owners only.

After a fair amount of reading it appears the higher magnification models, don't deliver the performance until you go alpha in grade.....so 15-45 should work fine for me.

Has anyone used/owned these models, or have any others to consider ?

Thank you,
Eric
 
If you are at all in the market for a smaller lightweight spotter, I am going to be putting up for sale my 11-30x50 Nikon ED50 scope.

Will be listing it for $375 shipped in US.

** for the ones you mentioned above I would either go with the Vangard, or as mentioned above the Celestron Regal. I personally was not real impressed with the Vortex Viper spotters.
 
Last edited:
Cosme said:
Celestron regal m2 65, none of those are better and the regal can take astro eyepieces.
Click to expand...

Great,
Do you know what stay-in-case fits it ? The specs look really good.

I should have mentioned water "proof" and rubber coated, would be preferred.
 
stephen b said:
If you are at all in the market for a smaller lightweight spotter, I am going to be putting up for sale my 11-30x50 Nikon ED50 scope.

Will be listing it for $375 shipped in US.
Click to expand...

Appreciate the offer, I have a 11-32 x50 now...I need bigger.

stephen b said:
** for the ones you mentioned above I would either go with the Vangard, or as mentioned above the Celestron Regal. I personally was not real impressed with the Vortex Viper spotters.
Click to expand...

The specs are real close on both, the Vanguard is rubber coated and includes a case.
 
I would personally choose the Celestron over the Vanguard. I have owned both versions of the Celestrons and have compared them with the Vanguard. I thought the optics were close but the mechanics of the Celestron were better plus the Astro eyepiece interchangeability can make a good scope great.
 
FrankD said:
I would personally choose the Celestron over the Vanguard. I have owned both versions of the Celestrons and have compared them with the Vanguard. I thought the optics were close but the mechanics of the Celestron were better plus the Astro eyepiece interchangeability can make a good scope great.
Click to expand...

Thanks Frank,
And advice of the Celestron 65 vs Viper 65, any advice ?,,,,or the Celestron wins easily.
 
I owned a copy of the celestron regal 65 first version,and was an amazing scope...the prism housing is rubber armored ,but the tube is aluminum painted with a rubbery coat..nice to the touch,but scratches easily..I personally dont care about cosmetic or looks ..the new version is lighter and also comes with a case,..a quite nice redesigned case..is a quality scope and a great value
 
Another person chiming in for the Celestron Regal M2. I'd personally say the 80mm, but the 65 is fine too. The case that comes with the scope is pretty mediocre. Celestron sells a "deluxe" case for like $20 that's much better though. Use any leftover money to buy a fixed eyepiece that will get you somewhere in the 30x range and 60 degree field of view. Once you look through a wide angle eyepiece with good eye relief you'll never want to go back.
 
I think that currently the regal sells with the "deluxe" case included.I personally thought that optically the celestron zoom was a good eyepiece to start,but with the wide array of astronomy eyepieces available at moderate prices (and good quality¡),your options are many.
 
They may have changed it, but the M2 I bought in Dec 2013 contained a much simpler case that I lost pretty quickly when it fell off as I was carrying it.
 
Yes,for what i know they upgraded the package with the new case...now i am curious..Did the case fall off the scope when you were carrying the scope?...the 65 model had a case that was way too tight ,and i forgot if it was a stay on case...
 
Josh Exmoor said:
They may have changed it, but the M2 I bought in Dec 2013 contained a much simpler case that I lost pretty quickly when it fell off as I was carrying it.
Click to expand...

Another fan of the Regal M2 65. I got mine in Spring 2013 and it came with a simple black case which I thought was fine. I was able to close the zippers even with my long Manfrotto plate attached. I think it could be used as a stay on case but access to the focus knobs would be a little inconvenient.

If you plan on trying some digiscoping then I suggest the 80mm.
 
mayoayo said:
Yes,for what i know they upgraded the package with the new case...now i am curious..Did the case fall off the scope when you were carrying the scope?...the 65 model had a case that was way too tight ,and i forgot if it was a stay on case...
Click to expand...

Yea, the original case was a black "stay-on" case, but the design was really mediocre. I can't remember exactly why, but it wasn't completely secure when it was attached to scope (unlike the deluxe case). It fell off when I was doing a big day on a couple hours sleep and I didn't notice until a few days later.
 
Update: I ordered the Celestron Regal M2 16x48 65ED, per the great advice here, it will be here tomorrow morning...pretty pumped, I'm heading out deep woods on Tuesday for 6 days...got to get a good tripod now, time for another thread I guess.

Thank you all for the great help & advice,
Eric

Note:per Celestron the M2 body is NOT rubber armored. Now looking into a Custom made neoprene stay-on case for the M2.
 
Last edited:
Great choice, I had the original Regal 65 FED and with a fixed Baader Hyperion 13mm eyepiece (68 degrees), 30x magnification, it gave a wide, bright clear view. I now use the original Regal 80 FED with the Baader 17mm and love it.
 
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