Thanks for sharing. I'd like to peak at & through that scope.
I checked SN w/Bushnell they confirm production date of 2016. No ocular cover but does have objective cover w/stretch arms, locked into side posts, allowing cover to come out/up/back. Small square cut out of the bottom in case you mounted scope on a rail. This model, w/o reticle, is still in production. At 8x, viewing chainlink gate 100 yds, sharp in focus 85-90% w/40X sharp 95%. CA center low-med/low, some conditions worse than others/some folks more sensitive than others, picking up intensity last 15-10%.[ETA: This morn completely overcast looking up at trees 100 yd away SSW the M5 20x56 handles CA better than the LMSS at 20X. The LMSS at 8.5X handles center CA better than the HG Minox 8.5x52. The LMSS under such extreme CA conditions shows CA faster, before reaching the halfway point to the edge, than I noticed yesterday. Being in exact focus is crucial for controlling CA. Looking through a series of trees at various distance makes it hard to dial in. Again, all that I see is handheld.]
At 30' 8X cardinal perched on feeder bright showing minute water droplets. As I zoom out to 25X I walk forward to 25' to stay in focus[measurements roughly]. I could barely keep the male cardinal in the FOV. I detect no pincushion the globe effect/rolling ball is obvious though nothing is spinning. Centering a large tree trunk too close to focus at 8X in static view the center comes towards me. The globe effect is not as pronounced as it is in the riflescope. Even then in the riflescope it's only full blown, which for me is more of a half-globe/hemisphere rollin', from 3.5X to 8.5X then tapers off by 9X[right eye]. After that power I know it's there though there's no more spinning. More as a ripple. It's possible if the spotter went to a lower power that I would see the same as the riflescope. Perhaps I cannot pick up the spin starting at 8X.
The two-click eyepiece extends around 10mm beyond the ocular. That's an eyeball measurement plus I have to rest the eyepiece on me nose. I see no problem wearing glasses w/eyepiece fully extended. I would've preferred the eyepiece to extend the full 30mm away from the glass so I could rest it against the eye socket.
There were eight male-female attachments at various points for mounting accessories. I unscrewed all of them. Handheld the weight isn't bad in part due to the short overall length. I noticed a checker/diamond cut around the ocular. CCW brings the ocular all the way back/out. At that point close focus drops to 20'. I'm not sure if I can see infinity in focus because of the clouds. Adds/subtracts from the focus ring range as a mini-focus ring though instead of going around on the same plane it moves in or out. Perhaps this is an adjustment for varying strengths of prescription glasses. [ETA: perhaps that adjustment for for a reticle that this model doesn't employ. I'll call Bushnell & inquire.]
The view is slightly wider/significantly brighter, at the 100 yd gate, than the M5 20x56.[Bear in mind I have a mild cataract in me left eye whilst the dominant right sports an aspheric IOL] At 15X nowhere near the width of the Vulture 15x56. I had to drop down to 10X for reasonable facsimile of the Vortex FOV. I had to guesstamate 12x, but it was right there close w/Conquest 12x45. Nowhere near as wide as Conquest 10X40 at 10X. The mag dial is marked 8/10/15/20/25/30/35/40. I didn't try to be that accurate. I'd throw up some bins, look at the woods, then follow w/scope set, according to the dial, to the same power. Evah so roughly.
The eyepiece movement is junk. If you go all the way in it's hard to grab/twist bringing it back out. Not smooth or anywhere near say the Leica Trinovid HD quality that I previously returned. It isn't nearly long enough anyway, so I'll just leave it out. Those are the only complaints to date. Body colour is sand. Looks as a dull medium tan w/hint of green hue to me. [I pulled off the rubber eyepiece from a broken zoom, turned it around making A snug fit w/enough length. It'll take some more work, yet for the time being it's better than the original].
The focus & Mag ring are w/o play, smooth though not silky smooth. No fingertip manipulation. Wrapping index finger w/thumb works well. They may loosen w/time, yet finger w/opposing thumb wrap will surely always be required. Setting the focus at 25-30' worked well from 8X up. Allow me to imitate a white house press secretary or two.
"Look! For the price this is the biggest/brightest view ever. Period!"
Well, perhaps in the moment a mite carried away though overall for the weight/view & 540 clams new TTD 'tis hard for me to find fault. Now all I need are clear skies. That might take a few days.
As always YMMV ...
ETA: I would prefer magnesium body over aluminum for less weight. As well I have no use for eight threaded spots to mount rails or the armour that is formidable. As Mick Jagger yelled in the '60s, "U Kant all-ways get what ya waaaaa-nt".
Howevah, the mag ring turns CW the power of 8-40 is appealing w/25X being brightest/highest/5X over the M5 20x56, it allows me to use the new/improved dominate eye w/o mixing the mild cataract/amber tint eye. It also has a slot behind the tripod mount molded into the body for a shoulder strap bandolero style though a harness could easily be adapted.
Kudos to Bushnell. They list */FOV at both ends of magnification. As I snoop around I see others that list only the lower mag specs. I wonder why? For those bothered by rolling ball note that as magnification goes up/FOV shrinks I do not perceive the same movement. [As edited above under extreme CA conditions the center shrinks considerably to less than halfway to the edge. Yesterday was also completely overcast, yet it was darker overcast. Plus, I haven't mounted the scope to a tripod.]
http://8541tactical.com/images/bushnell/Elite Spotter/spotter_5125_HDR2_1080.jpg
There it is, for all intents & purposes, minus the bottom rail/carrying rail & tripod.
ETA II: Mounted on tripod didn't help. First off there's no secondary pin to maintain alignment & the mount is about an inch back of balance. If anything it should be an inch forward due to the weight of the objective at the end of the barrel. Under harsh conditions it doesn't handle CA any batter than the HG Minox 8.5X52. Anything within 100 yds was hard to focus on the sweet spot. Beyonf 100yds, at 8.5X, the CA was well behaved. As soon as I started to go up the ladder in magnification that polite control went out the window. Even looking towards the north was no improvement. Bright, thin layered full overcast is a CA dream. Making it hard to find the small CA free sweet spot. Not being able to securely mount the scope didn't help though even if it were it could not contribute much to the cause. Four hundred dollars will buy you a Kruger Caldera 8x42 that has no problem under these conditions.
At the original price that these scopes sold for it is ludicrous that this glass is called ED Prime. Unless they ditched that glass for some plain-Jane/cheaper offerings down the road. I still want to try it during a sunny day if nothing else to see how well I adapt to using the zoom on the fly handheld.