[SAFM]

Hi everyone,

I was thinking about getting scope and am working on a budget of around £250 any ideas???

Thanks

Scott

[Lee Rogers]

Scott,

Hi, if your total budget is £250 to get up and running (scope, tripod, cases etc..) then your only option will be the "buget" scopes offered by Jessops etc.. their Centon 62 CENSS206062 c/w 20-60 zoom retails at £160, this plus a £50 tripod and a £10 case for carrying the tripod will get you going for £220, and Jessops staff are quite happy for you to try it out in shop or on the street outside. This is how I started and to be honest considering I use it once a month and my kids swing off it it's very reasonable for the price. But don't ever be tempted to look through a Swarovski, you'll just spend the rest of you life pining away or working out how to sell a kidney to pay for it :)

Other budget scopes are available, Meade Kestrel 60 c/w 15-45 zoom £280, Swifts spotting scopes from Warehouse express are: Leopard 50 x25 £100, Scout 50 c/w 12-36 £120 zoom, Lynx 60 c/15-45 zoom £175 most of these are supplied with a low level tripod (height 30" approx), which is frankly useless for birding even for sat down sea watching you'll struggle if you're over 5' 10'

If however you're looking for a scope at £250 then something like an Opticron HR66GA which retails at around £245 for a straight body, that's just a straight body, no eyepiece £100, no tripod £75-100, no case £50 etc..all these when added will probably bring the total cost of getting going to £500 approx.

Check out warehouse express to see what's available or on offer, budget scopes are much more popular than they used to be, and there is now a wider range.

Alternatively find what you want and then wait patiently for someone to sell it second-hand on eBay, or here on BirdForum.

Hope this helps,

Lee

[steve55]

Originally Posted by SAFM

Hi everyone,

I was thinking about getting scope and am working on a budget of around £250 any ideas???

Thanks

Scott

how about...

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread....971#post583971

[SAFM]

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the help, I would need cases etc.. but not a tripod as my dad already has one that I could use.

Scott

[Richard D]

Originally Posted by SAFM

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the help, I would need cases etc.. but not a tripod as my dad already has one that I could use.

Scott

If you've got a tripod, something like the angled Nikon RAII 60mm with 20W eyepiece would be a good starter scope for £248 from
www.warehouseexpress.com. Secondhand you might pick something up even better.

[dbradnum]

If budget is tight, then I reckon you're far better off looking for a good secondhand scope - try phoning round (or browsing websites for) the likes of Ace Optics, Focalpoint, Focus Optics, InFocus, SW Optics etc etc to see what they can offer.

They're all run by birders, so should be able to give you sound advice.

Also search BF for similar threads - I'm sure I've contributed to this type of topic before.

edit: options out there now, from a 5 minute search include:

• (Ace Optics) Kowa TSN 611 + 27x - excellent little scope only £199
• (Ace Optics) Kowa TSN614 + 30x - the fluorite equivalent, more expensive but better optics - stretches the budget at £299, how good are your haggling skills?!
• (Focus Optics) Optolyth TBS 80 c/w 30x - excellent optics, big scope light gathering + case for £250. This sounds superb to me - get in there quick

[SAFM]

Hi everyone,

another thing that I would like to know from those of you who have already got scopes, is what size of magnification would you recommend.

Scott

[Andrew Whitehouse]

If fixed then something between 20x and 30x is best for all round birding. I don't often need more than 30x and in a cheaper scope, optical quality isn't likely to be great at much above that.

[ardnasx1]

Hi Scott

There is some advice on the RSPB website:http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/birdwat...nification.asp
I have just ordered a budget scope from Optics Warehouse, it is a Hawke Endurance 70mm 23-70 zoom. Steve55 recommended it to me. It cost me £180. I should have it within the next few days and I'll let you know what it's like.

[SAFM]

Cheers guys and thanks for the help, thanks for the link ardnasx1 and I look forward to you letting me know what its like.

Thanks Andrew.

Scott

[ardnasx1]

Originally Posted by SAFM

Cheers guys and thanks for the help, thanks for the link ardnasx1 and I look forward to you letting me know what its like.

Thanks Andrew.

Scott

New scope arrived, tried it out yesterday in very bad weather conditions and I was extremely pleased with it. I tried it alongside an expensive Swarovski and it actually compared very well considering the money spent. I don't have experience of other budget scopes so I can only say that I am extremely pleased with what I have bought. I will need to buy a new tripod though, I only realise now just how important a good one is.

Best of luck in making your decision, I know how hard it is!