1st budget scope (1 Viewer)

billy · Aug 25, 2003

looking to buy my first scope but have a very limited budget. have seen a kowa 611 with 25x eyepiece, case and tripod, and a opticron hr 60 with 20-45x eyepiece plus case for same price ( i have a tripod anyway ). any advice or opinions would be most welcome

alan_rymer · Aug 25, 2003

Billy

It would help us to know what the maximum price you could/would pay would be!.

IanF · Aug 25, 2003

i started off with a Kowa 611 myself with a 32xWA. It was an excellent scope with good optics and light enough to carry on holiday. My only reservation would be be that I found it of little use for digiscoping, but for normal viewing use I thought it was ideal.

billy · Aug 25, 2003

both were in Warehouse Express online at £260ish, could maybe manage to run to £300. theres no place to try them out so i have to buy online. digiscoping will be far down the line as i only have a wee 1.3 mp camera.

alan_rymer · Aug 25, 2003

Billy

I use a camera which only produces pictures of 640x480=307,200 pixels, but I still use it for digiscoping. I have only taken about a dozen which I thought were good out of over a thousand. Having a 1.3Mp camera doesn't stop you digiscoping!. When you get your scope try puting the camera too the lens, you may be surprised!.

AndyC · Aug 25, 2003

Billy

If you're on a tight budget, it might be worth checking out secondhand equipment.

You could try www.at-infocus.co.uk or www.acecameras.co.uk

Both list used scopes and eyepieces and all the items should carry a warranty.

AndyC

alan_rymer · Aug 26, 2003

Billy

I see you are living in Scotland.
Have a look at the Opticron Imagic 65 and 80 on the Infocus site under reviews using the link from AndyC above. Both are Nitrogen filled and waterproof.
We can all offer suggestions, but your best bet would be to visit a shop with several models and look through them, or, are their any reserves which have optics field days near you?.

billy · Aug 26, 2003

thanks all, will see if there is something on at lochwinnoch or vane farm in the near future

Geoff Brown · Aug 26, 2003

Billy, Don't forget the Nikon spotterscopes I recently got one for digiscoping with a coopix4500 and was surprised how good a scope it is considering the low cost.

alan_rymer · Aug 28, 2003

Billy

If you're still interested, there is a good review of small scopes ( 50-66mm ) in this months ( September ) Birdwatching Magazine.

billy · Aug 28, 2003

alan

picked up last months birdwatching mag couple of weeks ago ( first time i had seen it ), must say it's quite good. will check it out, thanks
billy

SteveClark · Aug 29, 2003

G'day all

I have a Kowa TS 501 with an angled 20-40X zoom which cost me about $550 Australia a year or so ago. It suits me! Even works for digiscoping with a Ricoh Caplio RR30 digicam.

Cheers

Steve

smallblueplanet · Aug 29, 2003

Hi, also thinking about buying a first scope too. but not as much dosh to spend......anyone got any details on this scope?

DOWLING & ROWE 15-45x60 water proof.
Rubber armoured , angled eyepiece. Carry case. £118

Do they just screw-on to a tripod (got an old slik88) or is some sort of mount needed?

Been looking for a website for D&R but can't find one, anyone know who makes them? On another thread there was talk of certain "generic similarities" and not many different manufacturers.

Sorry for repetition if there's an faq on this, or an earlier topic.

Geoff Brown · Aug 29, 2003

Dowling & Rowe,

Do a search in "google" or a similar search engine, you will be surprised what turns up. (at least 1,410 hits)

smallblueplanet · Aug 29, 2003

thanks :t: but the one I'd already done in google.co.uk (firstly for uk sites and then webwide - narrowing it down by using quotes round DOWLING & ROWE) didn't bring up much of interest, also checked other search engines......

thought maybe someone had personal knowledge?

AndyC · Aug 29, 2003

A friend of mine has an 'all in one' 15-45x60. I can't remember what the make is, but I'm pretty certain that it is a piece of badge engineering. I have seen very simalar scopes with different labels - I think Swift and Praktica. Try searching on Google images using "15-45x60" and see if any of the pictures look the same as your scope.

AndyC

postcardcv · Aug 29, 2003

Don't know about the scope you mentioned but if you are looking for a good first scope it may be worth checking out the Kowa 500 series and the Opticron IS scopes. Both come in under £175 (the Kowa under £150) - optically they are excellent and are small and light. It is also worth checking out secondhand optics as you will obviously end up getting more for your money.

Main thing though is to make sure you try before you buy - ideally test everything in your price range - that way you'll get the right one for you.

smallblueplanet · Aug 30, 2003

thanks guys, still surfing, looking for bargains.....and as I prefer to Net shop, does it really matter that much if I don't try 'em out? I'm sure my eyesight isn't 20-20 anymore! and if I've got an idea of weight how wrong could I get it if I can't pre-test?
I'm still on my 1st pair of bins, (the only ones I tried in the shop) but I don't know if that was good luck or judgement!

oh ps zoom or fixed mag. eyepiece?

billy · Aug 30, 2003

eventually settled for a kowa 611 with 20-40 eyepiece, stay-on case and a hide clamp all for £300
thanks again all

alan_rymer · Aug 30, 2003

billy said:
eventually settled for a kowa 611 with 20-40 eyepiece, stay-on case and a hide clamp all for £300
thanks again all

Hope you see lots, that you wouldn't have seen without the new scope.
Enjoy it!

1st budget scope (1 Viewer)

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