[mtrog]

Hi,

My wife and I are interested in getting our first scope. We really have no idea what scope would best suit our needs. Cost is not the primary concern, but does rank high. Basically, we are looking for a good scope that will deliver decent 60X magnification (or more???). We aren't initially going to do any digiscoping, but would like our scope to be able to do so in the fairly near future. Any suggestions?

[stevo]

Hi Mtfrog

Welcome to Birdforum,try looking at maybe a scope from Kowa/Opticron or possibly a good 2nd hand scope.

Regards Stevo.

[Lewis]

Happy with Nikon Fieldscope III non-ED angled thus far. My first scope as of a month ago. Anyone out there have experience with the the Fieldscope and the equivalent scope by Kowa? People often seem to compare the two for quality, price.

[mtrog]

Thanks for the great suggestions thus far. Anyone familiar with Fujinon scopes? We have considered both Kowa and Nikon, but still aren't sure.

[Colin]

Mtrog,
Not quite sure what background information you are requiring but the following thread from the 'Scopes' forum might be of use. There are lots of tips here when considering whether you want angled or straight, fluorite or standard glass, zoom or wide angled eyepiece etc and lots of other information



http://www.birdforum.net/forums/show...s=&threadid=73

[Darrell Clegg]

I'm not sure many birding scopes deliver decent 60x magnification. Some of the high end Leica/Swaro/Zeiss would with a zoom eyepiece, but birders wouldn't use it at 60x for long. The shake and heat haze would soon make viewing very difficult. By all means go for a zoom eyepiece, but stick somewhere around 20 - 30x and zoom in when necessary

Darrell

[mak]

mtrog.
In what conditions do you want to use the scope? If you insist on having the 60x magnification, you will have to think about the size of the objective lens. Because if you go for a small lens say 60mm or 65mm, and you use the 60x magnification, you will have a very small exit pupil, and this will mean that you will see very little, especially in poor light. If you are determined to have 60x mag then you should invest in a high end scope. IMO there are 4 manufacturers who have a decent variable mag eyepiece of 20x - 60x, Kowa, Leica,Swarovski & Zeiss (no particular order)

[aclewes]

Mtrog
As Darren has said, there are very few, if any birding scopes at present that deliver a high quality image at 60x. Although images given through the top quality zoom eyepieces at high magnification can be satisfactory, light gathering will greatly decrease & shake will also increase. With regard to makes of scope, although it will be nice for you to hear other peoples opinions I regard buying a scope as a very personal decision & just because someone gets on with a particular make/model doesn't mean that you will. The best piece of advice I can give you is, if possible, try out as many different scopes as possible before you make your purchase. In Britain there are a number of different specialist optics shops that allow you to try out different equipment (scopes, bins etc). This allows you to compare the performance of each scope in turn & thus choose the one that is right for you. I'm not sure if there are any similar shops in the US but it may well be worth your while looking in to.

All the best

Alan

[Tannin]

Hi Mtrog and welcome. I just bought my first scope a little while ago and went right to the top of the range, a Swarovski ATS80HD. I can't claim any of the vast experience that other members here have, but I can tell you this: even the Swarovski is only just good enough at 60X and - tripod or no tripod - I wouldn't want it to go any further. The reality is that I use it at the minimum zoom (20X) nearly all the time because what you lose in image size you more than make up in lack of shake and extra clarity. 30X is OK, even 40X, but 60X is pushing the limits hard.

I don't think this is a matter of optical quality - so far as I can tell, the ATS80HD is as close to optical perfection as it is possible to get, and I'm sure that the equivalent models from the likes of Zeiss and Leica are as equally good as makes no difference. No, it's simply that at 60X zoom and with any size of objective lens that you could reasonably hope to carry around with you, you just aren't getting enough photons bouncing off the bird and heading in your direction.

If I had my purchase all over again (and if Swarovski made such a thing, which they don't) I'd buy a 10 to 40 zoom. It would be much more useful. (Mostly, I'm digiscoping, but I use it for just looking through quite a lot as well. And yes, I am very happy indeed with it.)

Cheers,

Tony

[mtrog]

Wow...thank you for all the excellent suggestions. It seems the consensus is that higher magnification isn't often needed or desired. We'll keep that in mind. We will also try to get to a shop locally and try out some scopes. The wife has been using a few in the field lately (Pentax, Baush and Lomb, and Eagle Optics), but I really have no experience.

Thanks for all the great help.