Well, I looked up my scope in my "data" file, seeing as the scope itself is shy about its model number. Leif, it is actually the lesser RA, the RA II, aka Sky & Earth. The Sky & Earth name was really just a sales name, I remember now, and, because the scope is often bought as a spotting scope, I think Nikon wondered if they'd chosen the right name.
And, also like Leif, I bought the scope partly for the cost factor. I spent more on my binoculars, which I wanted to be the best for me that I could find. The scope was supposed to be lightweight enough to carry a long way in adverse conditions, plus I wanted it cheap enough to not be a devastating loss if it were stolen in Costa Rica.
As far as the optical quality, it is very good; perhaps the most cost efficient in terms of quality.
There is one problem with any spotting scope; and it is not really so much a problem with binoculars:
You can spend a zillion dollars on a scope that will show you the best definition and the best lighting at the greatest distance--and your shorebird will still insist on feeding ten feet beyond that distance just after sunset. Of course the better scope will see more shorebirds for you, but you'll ALWAYS be straining for light and definition, even if the bird you're viewing is only showing its head and neck above the curvature of the earth!
-- This obvious constraint works as an argument for getting the best scope that money can buy. Of course, it works just about as well as an argument for getting the most cost-efficient scope, that is easier to carry. I suppose, if I were very rich, I would own both scopes, just as I own both tripods [above].
Binoculars come with a real advantage: the birder's own feet! You can WALK CLOSER, an absolutely amazing advantage that opens up all sorts of possibilities. I shall always see my very best with binoculars, although I just love those pretty-as-a-picture scope views too.
As for "Toothpick Birds," as I call those so distant in your scope that they look like stick-drawings, I find them hard work and not so much fun. Don't misinterpret that; I still enjoy stretching my skills to match what the scope might see. But there are no Toothpick Birds on my life list; I write them up but I don't number them.
Good optical equipment might be rainproof and fogproof. It seldom comes wishful-thinking-proof. The most powerful scope, and a birder's ability to resolve Toothpick Birds, are a useful team in a technical bird study, where aesthetics are less an objective than is the gleaning of every scrap of data possible. In the Auto-DNA-Checking-Enhanced scopes of tomorrow, should a field biologist succumb to wishful thinking, the scope will automatically open a little door through which a large boxing glove will emerge very quickly to ensure our birder's imagination should never exceed the telescope's cool & VERY precise resolving powers.
These scopes will be available as your basic DNA model, and your top-of-the-line DNA (WTP) model. WTP, for Wishful-Thinking-Proof, is the one that comes with the airbag-like boxing glove.
-- A steady tripod is recommended, so, should the wishful thinking be on your part, it is not your girlfriend, standing next to you, whose nose should suffer for it.
