Well okay, partial round-up. 
This is by no means a complete round-up of all $200-ish scopes, but I've been looking at this range with some interest for general bird watching to complement my Swift 10x42's.
All of these are reported to have:
rubber armor (or rubber painted) except perhaps the Eagle Optics Denali
multi-coated optics (no doubt of various quality)
waterproof/fogproof/nitrogen purged. Note that it is unclear if the Celestron is nitrogen purged / fog proof, although a call to their technical support line said it *is*, even in the non-ED model. Were they trying to get me off the phone right b/f the holidays? hehe
For me is is down to the following two:
Eagle Optics Denali 15-45x60. I like the Eagle Optics mostly on the merits of the brief mention here: http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/optics/scopes03.aspx
Meade Kestrel 15-45x60mm. Has a pretty short focus (14' vs 32' of the Eagle Optics) eye relief a bit less than the Denali.
I'd love to get a 77 or 80mm, though!
I had noted a concern about the Celestron Ultima 80 re: some shaky reviews, but others do seem pretty positive given the low-low cost.
The Meade Red Tail 77mm, which also looks promising, has a narrow-ish FOV and short-ish eye relief (11/7.5).
Are there other scopes in this range I might be missing? Any thoughts on the Kestrel or the Eagle Optics (is the latter armored?).
This is by no means a complete round-up of all $200-ish scopes, but I've been looking at this range with some interest for general bird watching to complement my Swift 10x42's.
All of these are reported to have:
rubber armor (or rubber painted) except perhaps the Eagle Optics Denali
multi-coated optics (no doubt of various quality)
waterproof/fogproof/nitrogen purged. Note that it is unclear if the Celestron is nitrogen purged / fog proof, although a call to their technical support line said it *is*, even in the non-ED model. Were they trying to get me off the phone right b/f the holidays? hehe
For me is is down to the following two:
Eagle Optics Denali 15-45x60. I like the Eagle Optics mostly on the merits of the brief mention here: http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/optics/scopes03.aspx
Meade Kestrel 15-45x60mm. Has a pretty short focus (14' vs 32' of the Eagle Optics) eye relief a bit less than the Denali.
I'd love to get a 77 or 80mm, though!
I had noted a concern about the Celestron Ultima 80 re: some shaky reviews, but others do seem pretty positive given the low-low cost.
The Meade Red Tail 77mm, which also looks promising, has a narrow-ish FOV and short-ish eye relief (11/7.5).
Are there other scopes in this range I might be missing? Any thoughts on the Kestrel or the Eagle Optics (is the latter armored?).
Code:
brand / model name object magnif relief prism FOV short pupil wt length
Eagle Optics Denali 60mm 15-45x 15/14 bak4 148/80 32 N/A 23.6 oz 13.9in
Meade Kestrel 60mm 15-45x 13/11 bak4 131/68 14 4/1.3 35.5 oz 12.7in
Alpen 728 60mm 15-45x 20/17 bak7 115/59 N/A 4/1.3 23.0 oz N/A
Acuter 80mm 20-60x 18/15 N/A 110/ 4.1/1.4 45.8 oz 16.0in
Celestron 80mm 22-60x 18/ N/A 105/53 27 N/A 56.0 oz 16.0in
Zhumell 60mm 20-60x 32/15 bak4 90/52 16.5 3.0/1.0 40.0 oz N/A
Meade Red Tail 77mm 20-60x 11/7.5 bak4 78/35 37/46 3.85/1.3 44.5 oz 16.9in
Meade Red Tail 65mm 15-45x 11/7.5 bak4 95/51 34/38 4.3/1.4 31.0 oz 13.7in
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