What was the Leica Scope that you were using in Cairns Phil (1 Viewer)

A couple of moths ago I was in Cairns and met a birder from England Phil and his wife Sue. I looked through his Leica scope on the Cairns foreshore, in Queensland Australia and was able to view shore birds out on the far edge of the mud flats. If you are viewing this Phil, could you please tell the size and model of your scope and the zoom range. Sadly I bought a good scope on the recommnedation of the store manager but it has got a 16 x 48 zoom and I'd be dreaming if I thought it had the remotest chance of doing the same as your Leica. It is such a shame in this modern world that the people who work in the binocular and scope shops are often not birders and as such are a bit clueless as to meeting our needs. The scope I bought is called an Olivon T-64 ED. I am hopeful that I may be able to attach a 20 x 60 zoom. If this could then have a more distant range, then I'd be greatly relieved, but I suppose life ids the "school of hard knocks". If your reading this Phil, good luck in reaching your goal of 4000 birds on your world list,
Regards,
Patrick

Hi Patrick,

I suspect that the couple you met were Phil and Sue Gregory. Although a native of these shores - I should know as we went to school together! - Phil is now lives in Australia near Cairns. As he's not a member of BF he won't see this, but if you 'google' his name you'll quickly find a photo to confirm that he was the guy to whom you chatted. If so you will be able to contact him via Cassowary House (a birding B&B - a qucik google should find full details) to ask him directly. I happen to know, though, that he has a Leica 77mm scope,

Patrick,

Just to make sure, it's not the tripod you use with the Olivon scope that could be the cause? A lightweight, cheap, wobbly tripod would spoil ANY scope image, no matter how good the quality of the scope is. I learned soon enough that my heavy Televid 77 is next to useless on a flimsy tripod.
Recently on an outing I met someone with the small Nikon 50ED, mounted on an awkwardly inadequate little tripod; that spoiled the view so badly, that I almost found compelled to say to him that the ED50 was a waste of his money. I didn't, to not spoil his day out.

Maybe I'm all wrong here, but had to post this to rule out all eventualities.
Just trying to help.

Kind regards,

Ronald

Thanks John Cantelo,
Actually, I do know Phil's surname but I was not sure of the Forum protocol. His surname is Beaver and he told me that as he uses the Forum and that he had arranged to meet up with a fellow Forum member while he was visiting Cairns. This may have been the friend that you mentioned having moved to Cairns. He is a lucky bloke, but I imagine that at some times of the year the heat and humidity would be a little unbearable. If you ever get a chance to visit him, Cairns and most of Queensland is a great biding spot.
Ronald,
I appreciate your comments. As a beginner user of scopes, I've got lots to, learn and it was interesting to know that there is much more than just a good scope, that the tripod has to be up to scratch.
Best wishes,
Patrick