Opticron ES 80 GA SD or Hawke Endurance ED 85 (1 Viewer)

Hi all

I'm looking to purchase a new spotting scope and my budget is £500 to £600. After doing a bit of research online I have narrowed it down to the following options:

Opticron ES 80 GA SD Angled Spotting Scope with HDF 20-60 Zoom Eyepiece

Or the

Hawke Endurance ED 20-60x85 Angled Spotting Scope

Obviously I would like to go for the Opticron ES 80 ED but it's a little out my price range. Can anyone who has used these scopes before please give me their advice or possibly suggest an alternative?

I have used the Frontier ed for a while now. Done quite a bit of testing on other scopes of similar price range and to be honest the hawke was by far the best scope i looked at. Not sure about the Endurance but Hawke are fast becoming a good name in optics. On the flip side i have a friend who is looking for an Opticron scope as he thinks they are better.
My advice would be try a few scopes out, see how you feel about weight, length. How easy is it to get replacement eye peices etc. After all it will be a big purchase that would hopefully last you many years so getting the scope that feels right for you is the most important thing. Other brands to look at are Viking, Nikkon , Celestron. all within the same price range as the hawke scope you are looking at.

Thanks binfield.

I prefer the Opticron scope since I own a pair of Opticron Countryman 10x42 bins and I've always been impressed with their products, but I'm unsure because this scope uses standard belies, whilst the Hawke scope uses ED glass.

I'm not sure if this will make a significant difference but obviously I plan to keep this scope for a number of years and I don't want to make the wrong choice.

Find a good retailler who has both the scopes you are looking at. Invest a few £££ in fuel and go and look through them. You will discover which is the best scope for your eyes quite quickly. Do not be swayed at the final decision by what others might prefer. By all means use other people's opinions to narrow down your choices but in the final analysis, it is what you think of the scope and how it works for you that counts - that said, I worry endlessly about whether I have made the right purchase decision. But really, it is about what you think of each scope that matters.