HazelWebster
New member
hello i am a newbie here and what a lovely site it looks. I am thinking of buying a scope , hoping some one could help me , not got a lot of budget to spend on one , so whats the best one to look for , have about 200 pound
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scopes (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter HazelWebster
- Start date
Hi Hazel and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.
I've moved your post to the dedicated Telescope forum and subscribed you to the thread so that you can find it easily. You will receive an email with a link to click on which will bring you straight here.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
I've moved your post to the dedicated Telescope forum and subscribed you to the thread so that you can find it easily. You will receive an email with a link to click on which will bring you straight here.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
Welcome to BirdForum Hazel. Something to keep in mind in terms of budget is that to use a scope effectively you will need to mount it on a tripod. If you don't already have a tripod, you should factor that into your budget too. For the scope, it may be worth looking for used options at that price.
Total agreement.... get the most quality for your money and you will be happier. 200 pounds isn't very much when considering a tri-pod and a scope.
Get an angled scope would be my suggestion.... depending on what you are going to do with the scope and how you will scope (walking around with it or just taking it out of the car to view), either a 65 or a 80 will work.
Do your research and that might mean actually going into the store or looking thru others to see what you like and don't like about certain characteristics. Chances are at 200 pounds new, you will get a good beginning scope.
Start with Nikon Pro-staff scopes would be a good suggestion. Pro-staff 3 is in your price point and maybe a pro-staff 5 for a used. I have looked thru these and for the money/ quality, these are the best place to start. good luck, jim
dwatsonbirder
Well-known member
Welcome to the forum Hazel.
As others have said, used will always give you better value. You may also want to consider the type of birding you do to inform your choice - for example, if you walk a lot and bird within a variety of habitats a smaller 50-60mm scope may be best, if most of your birding is at a large waterbody or on the coast, a larger 70 - 80mm scope will allow for higher magnifications to be used.
It is also worth considering whether an angled or straight scope is best, angled are more popular and arguably more flexible, but if you only bird from a hide or car, a straight scope would probably be a better option.
£200 is a significant outlay for many, but not a huge budget for a scope sadly; in terms of a new scope, you could consider a package such as this little Viking scope, which would comfortably be in budget, but I have no experience with this scope and don't know how it performs.
If you are happy with secondhand, this old Kowa for £99 would be a good buy, and if you called Cley Spy directly, I'm sure they'd do you a deal with a decent tripod (Velbon Sherpa or similar).
If you could push your budget a bit, this Opticron would also be an excellent buy, particularly as it used ED glass - higher quality for a clearer, brighter image. Opticron also have good customer support and their products are generally excellent value for money. Pair the latter with something like this, and for £245 you'd have an excellent set up that will last a while - you can add another eyepiece later if you want.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
As others have said, used will always give you better value. You may also want to consider the type of birding you do to inform your choice - for example, if you walk a lot and bird within a variety of habitats a smaller 50-60mm scope may be best, if most of your birding is at a large waterbody or on the coast, a larger 70 - 80mm scope will allow for higher magnifications to be used.
It is also worth considering whether an angled or straight scope is best, angled are more popular and arguably more flexible, but if you only bird from a hide or car, a straight scope would probably be a better option.
£200 is a significant outlay for many, but not a huge budget for a scope sadly; in terms of a new scope, you could consider a package such as this little Viking scope, which would comfortably be in budget, but I have no experience with this scope and don't know how it performs.
If you are happy with secondhand, this old Kowa for £99 would be a good buy, and if you called Cley Spy directly, I'm sure they'd do you a deal with a decent tripod (Velbon Sherpa or similar).
If you could push your budget a bit, this Opticron would also be an excellent buy, particularly as it used ED glass - higher quality for a clearer, brighter image. Opticron also have good customer support and their products are generally excellent value for money. Pair the latter with something like this, and for £245 you'd have an excellent set up that will last a while - you can add another eyepiece later if you want.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
HazelWebster
New member
Thank you for your replies , i am quite new to bird watching and got it to it through my photography which has gradually grown , lol we are off to rutland water soon, sadly the hide i had booked is cancelled this year, but thought would take caravan down and hopefully see the ospreys. I am a avid Nikon photographer and know the weight of lenses , i already own tripods, so might look at the nikon ones as suggested above , hopefully find a good second hand one
Hi,
first of all, welcome to BF!
Old Nikon fieldscope ED versions might be found at around 200 quid or a bit above - with luck.
From the current offers at the usual suspects, this Kowa sounds very nice if the misting is indeed as negligible as they state... only way to find out is to try it unfortunately. It is also slightly out of focus, erm budget...
https://www.cleyspy.co.uk/kowa-tsn3-30x-eyepiece-ref-px11981.html
Otherwise it ticks the boxes - angled (which is a lot more flexible for visual observation), objective lens with fluorite back element - the expensive way to get good color correction and the only one before ED glass was available and the great 30x wide EP.
Or the plain glass version with the 30 wide inside budget:
https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Kowa-TSN-1-+-30x-Eyepiece-_278792.html
At 30x both should be great - the fluorite body can deliver a great image at higher magnifications with a current zoom EP.
Joachim, who uses a very nice TSN-3 with some Opticron zoom...
first of all, welcome to BF!
Old Nikon fieldscope ED versions might be found at around 200 quid or a bit above - with luck.
From the current offers at the usual suspects, this Kowa sounds very nice if the misting is indeed as negligible as they state... only way to find out is to try it unfortunately. It is also slightly out of focus, erm budget...
https://www.cleyspy.co.uk/kowa-tsn3-30x-eyepiece-ref-px11981.html
Otherwise it ticks the boxes - angled (which is a lot more flexible for visual observation), objective lens with fluorite back element - the expensive way to get good color correction and the only one before ED glass was available and the great 30x wide EP.
Or the plain glass version with the 30 wide inside budget:
https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Kowa-TSN-1-+-30x-Eyepiece-_278792.html
At 30x both should be great - the fluorite body can deliver a great image at higher magnifications with a current zoom EP.
Joachim, who uses a very nice TSN-3 with some Opticron zoom...
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There is this Nikon at In-Focus.
https://www.at-infocus.co.uk/product/nikon-prostaff-3-60-mm-16x-48x-wf/
On the face of it, this looks like a good buy and it includes a tripod.
https://www.at-infocus.co.uk/product/nikon-prostaff-3-60-mm-16x-48x-wf/
On the face of it, this looks like a good buy and it includes a tripod.
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mayoayo
Well-known member
There are a couple on Ebay. UK right now.. An old ED60 and also an ED78.. Both within the price range.. Both complete packages with tripod, case and eyepiece. I started some threads about adapting astro eyepieces to the Fieldscopes, and other members added to the subject even making available some adapters to certain astronomy eyepieces. Being on a budget this would be a good option to complement the scopes,if they come with older /lesser eyepieces.
