Recommendations for lightweight Spotting Scope (HD?) & Tripod (1 Viewer)

So I’m looking to buy my first spotting scope. This is for general wildlife viewing and I will not be using it for photography. I like to go backpacking in the mountains so one of the criteria is that it is somewhat compact and light. My budget is around $1,000 (scope only). If I can spend less, GREAT! If somebody can convince me a little more would get me something much better, then I’ll consider it. I prefer to buy new... but I'm open.

Right now I’ve heard some good things about Leupold Golden Ring Spotting Scopes, and they are reasonably compact and lighter than some. The 40x power is about what I’m looking for too. But I’m certainly not sold on it. Of course the Swarovski’s are amazing, but in addition to price they are rather large and heavy. I’ll be using this at the marsh/road less than 10% of the time.

Part of the reason I’ve come to you folks is that I’m open to the idea of a brand I may not be familiar with. And besides the ‘big’ name brands, I’m not that much of an expert on optics. I love my 10x Steiner binocs, but they don’t make scopes. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. That goes for lightweight tripods too.

Oh… and another thing: If I’m not taking photography and I’m not looking through the scope for a living, are the High Definition models worth the extra price?

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to BF! The Nikon ED50 is your ticket. Lots of info for you to read under the Nikon sub-group re: eyeypiece decisions and matching tripods.

have fun,
Rick

I second Rick´s recommendation. That (Nikon ED50) or an Opticron GS52mm.
You then have to make a few more decisions...straight or angled? Which eyepiece? Lightweight tripod, monopod, shoulder-pod or "stock"? All depends on where and how you´ll be carrying it, how far you´ll be walking, and what kind of viewing you want (low or high-mag wide-angle, or rather narrower "zoom" eyepiece). At the moment, Doug in Cameraland NY has a sale of various Nikon eyepieces that would suit the ED50 (I´ve no experience of Cameraland but they come highly recommended and I´ve seen the ad here on BF).

If you have any possibility for it, go to somewhere you can experience some scopes by looking through them. In other parts of the world, going to a hawk-watch location have allowed me to get a look through some other peoples scopes, and the same goes for Audubon outings. If any optics stores are near to where you live, a visit in store might also do the trick. A have personally decided that nest time I get to a place with a selection, I will look carefully at the Opticron GS52 (as my second scope, I also have a larger 80mm scope; that will not be the one you want to lug along), but that might be easier to lay your hands on in Europe than the US. For my larger scope, I have a 30x wide eyepiece, and have not really missed anything else. 40x sometimes are too dark.

Do not skimp too much on the quality of your tripod.
Niels