What is this scope? (1 Viewer)

Balego · Sep 23, 2004

I'm looking for a new scope for digiscoping, and pretty much settled on the Nikon ED82, but in the meantime I noticed a local ad for a Bushnell Spacemaster scope with 45x eyepiece, for sale quite reasonable, including tripod and camera adapter setup. I have heard of Bushnell, but it isnt one that is used here in this forum, from what I can tell? Apparently its a discontinued one.. the fellow said its ED and 80mm, but I cant find any info on these scopes at all, other than a few for sale on Ebay quite cheap (dont know if its the same model?). He said he could read a licence plate at 2km away, and he was in the military so knows its 'one of the best'. However, how this will be for digiscoping I have no idea. He says he gets amazing results, but he isnt photographing birds.. but scenery from his highrise (I didnt ask....lol). Is anyone familiar with this scope at all, and should I take a look or stick with my plan to get the Nikon?

Even though the price is right.. scope, what looks to be a good tripod and adapter (looks in the pic he sent to be one that can be swung away from the scope).. $600 Cnd for the setup.. with a case included.

Should I look at it, or steer away? I want good results with the scope I purchase.. I dont want to toss money away and I dont have the experience to be able to judge.. only the recommendations I see here for good scopes. This aint listed as one of them..

Bev

SimonC · Sep 23, 2004

Bev,

My first 'scope was a Spacemaster, and mine definately wasn't ED or 80mm!
Unless they did more than one model, they are 60mm and quite low-end to be honest.
I'd stick with the Nikon plan if i were you!

Balego · Sep 23, 2004

SimonC said:
Bev,

My first 'scope was a Spacemaster, and mine definately wasn't ED or 80mm!
Unless they did more than one model, they are 60mm and quite low-end to be honest.
I'd stick with the Nikon plan if i were you!

Thanks for the heads up, Simon
I was kind of suspicious that an apparently older discontinued model would have ED glass and I couldnt find any listed on Ebay that were, and none that were 80mm either. I asked specific questions, such as exactly which model, and what kind of tripod, but didnt get those answers. I'll stay clear. I did like the look of that camera adapter, tho. lol.

Bev

normjackson · Sep 23, 2004

Seems to exist OK, though probably not as good as alternatives you've been looking at (and Mr. Ingraham didn't rate the supplied 22x eyepiece). Here's a trip down memory lane with a page from betterviewdesired with contribution from "our 'enry" :
http://betterviewdesired.com/Scope.html

Balego · Sep 23, 2004

normjackson said:
Seems to exist OK, though probably not as good as alternatives you've been looking at (and Mr. Ingraham didn't rate the supplied 22x eyepiece). Here's a trip down memory lane with a page from betterviewdesired with contribution from "our 'enry" :
http://betterviewdesired.com/Scope.html

Thanks for the link, Norm. It isnt opening for me at the moment so I'll check it out in a bit. The person selling the scope did just send me an email saying it is the Spacemaster Ed Prime Optics scope, so I did a search on that and came up with the Bushnell Elite here;
http://www.kendrick-ai.com/astro/spt_bushnell.html

In the photo he sent me of his setup, it doesnt look exactly like the ones in that link, but then again, I'm seeing it from the back end. I dont know if I can (or should) post the photo he sent, for the purpose of someone here recognising the setup? I'll hold that thought.

He did say that if I want to come see it, he'll set it up with my camera and let me try it out. There's certainly no obligation to buy it, and until I see it in person, I guess I wont know what exactly he has there. If it indeed is a Bushnell Elite, I did look through a Bausch and Lomb Elite ED 80 recently.. and apparently Bausch and Lomb is Bushnell, according to the store I viewed it in?

Bev

leetar · Sep 23, 2004

I have the Spacemaster and it is a 60mm with a 15 to 45 zoom and is ED. You can find it on many US web sites. Eagle Optics carries it. (There is also a collaspible one.) the Elite is the 80mm.

It is an excellant beginners scope that I would put against many higher priced 60mm range scopes. US price is $250 to $300

I don't know that I would use it for sigiscoping though.

For general birding it has been great for me.

Balego · Sep 23, 2004

Thanks for your input, leetar.

I cant figure out exactly which model it is.. he said it was ED and 80, the Prime Optic, but it doesnt look anything like it. It doesnt look like any of the ones I've found online, so it has to be older- the shape isnt right for what he told me it is. He did say it was metal. Here is a small pic of it.. not easy to make out the details, though.
(gosh.. this is like the 'id this bird' posts... 'please id this scope?'

I'm sure its a good birding scope, and probably can make a license plate readable at 2km, but you're correct.. it may not work very well at all for digiscoping.

Bev

Bluetail · Sep 23, 2004

I wouldn't have thought a Spacemaster at all suitable for digiscoping, but then I don't digiscope myself so I'm only guessing. On its own terms, though, I think Simon's being a bit harsh, though I know what he means. For nearly 20 years I used a 60mm Spacemaster with a 20-60x Opticron zoom eyepiece. Only about 6 months ago I upgraded to one of the best scopes currently on the market: a Nikon ED82 with 25-75x zoom. OK, the Nikon is way, way brighter than the Spacemaster, which now looks quite dark in comparison (it never worried me at the time), but while the Nikon's sharpness of image is exceptional (IMO) it is not a startlingly incremental leap ahead of the Spacemaster, which I found very crisp indeed (though it showed a distinct deterioration at high zoom magnifications, whereas the Nikon has little). So I'll stand up for the Spacemaster any day - it's a damn fine scope. On the other hand it's not necessarily the good value for money it was. For example, with Warehouse Express still offering a deal on the Nikon ED78 for about the same price, there's really no contest (they're a bit vague on what eyepieces are available though).

Bluetail · Sep 23, 2004

Hi Bev. Comparing your pic with my 60mm Spacemaster... I'm unsure! It does look pretty much identical to my 20-year-old model. Maybe there's a little more expansion from the narrow "neck" to the objective lens, so it may be an 80mm version, but I'm far from sure (I've never heard of an 80mm version). I feel sure our digiscoping experts could point you in better directions.

normjackson · Sep 23, 2004

Sorry. Somehow missed the bit about 80mm. BirdForum member Walther Loff uses a B&L Elite ED 80mm :
http://www.walther-loff.com (see Digiscoping -> Adaptor page)
The B&L/Bushnell name confusion could be accounted for by the brand name hopping that has occurred in last decade; but that scope has surely never been called a Spacemaster? And the picture does look like an old style 60mm Spacemaster
http://www.focusoptics.co.uk/Pages/TBushnel.html
Curiouser and curiouser

richard866945 · Sep 24, 2004

Spacemaster

Hi Bev. I've had a number of Spacemaster scopes through the workshop during the past 20 years and the scope in your picture looks very much like a Spacemaster. It was not made in a light weight plastic form but is a very solid ( & heavy ) metal instrument. Very tough. I have never seen an 80mm version and I can't find it listed in the UK price lists but that might only mean the UK importer did not bring any in to sell but it is listed with both a 60mm and a 70 mm OG and with ED glass prime lens as an extra. As Bushnell don't actually make anything you can also find the same scope with other brand names. I know that Swift sold identical models. When buying second hand binos or scopes, look through the wrong way and try to focus on the prisms/lenses inside. Any smokey haze will affect the image but it can be cleaned off to make a very noticable difference. Make an adjustment to the asking price to cover the cost of the cleaning - at least £25 but upto £45.

SimonC · Sep 24, 2004

Bluetail said:
.......On its own terms, though, I think Simon's being a bit harsh, though I know what he means......

You're probably right Jason, but I was thinking of Bev's digiscoping intentions and going on my experience with mine, i wouldn't have thought it at all suitable!
I had the late model (the same as in Bev's pic) with the Bushnell 15-45x zoom and at anything higher than 20x, the image was so dark it was useless!

On the other hand, however, my mates dad had a 20 odd year old model and that was a lot better (still is actually!).
Maybe the fact that, shortly after I bought mine, the "spacemaster" went through a complete "make-over" has some bearing on it? Not sure.......probably not!

My advice to Bev would be to go see the 'scope by all means, but don't take everything the seller claims as gospel

Hugh Clayton · Sep 24, 2004

I've had a 60mm ED Viking for the past seven years, and the performance of the objective with a 22X wide angle eyepiece is very good indeed. The scope is the Bushnell Spacemaster with a different label stuck on it. Brightness and contrast are far ahead of the ordinary Spacemaster (I don't think the ED was ever sold in Britain under the Bushnell label). I've never used it with a zoom, and the 40X Viking eyepiece is rubbish. It's happy up to 60X with astro eyepieces. The scope is light buy tough - highly recommended as a value option.

richard866945 said:
Hi Bev. I've had a number of Spacemaster scopes through the workshop during the past 20 years and the scope in your picture looks very much like a Spacemaster. It was not made in a light weight plastic form but is a very solid ( & heavy ) metal instrument. Very tough. I have never seen an 80mm version and I can't find it listed in the UK price lists but that might only mean the UK importer did not bring any in to sell but it is listed with both a 60mm and a 70 mm OG and with ED glass prime lens as an extra. As Bushnell don't actually make anything you can also find the same scope with other brand names. I know that Swift sold identical models. When buying second hand binos or scopes, look through the wrong way and try to focus on the prisms/lenses inside. Any smokey haze will affect the image but it can be cleaned off to make a very noticable difference. Make an adjustment to the asking price to cover the cost of the cleaning - at least £25 but upto £45.

Balego · Sep 24, 2004

Thank you all so much for your most helpful comments.

The scope sure does look like the one in the link Norm posted, and I believe it is one of the older ones. If I was only wanting a scope to help see distant birds I wouldnt mind it, but I do want to be able to use a scope for digiscoping and I do want a scope that I know is capable of producing the kind of results I see here in the gallery...(even if the scope operator wont be so accomplished!

The fellow did finally tell me the brand and model of the tripod, which upon looking can be had for $99 here, and it appears that the adapter he is using may be a handmade contraption, however well it might work.

I will hold out for the Nikon ED82. It seems to be the best choice in the general vicinity of my budget and I doubt I could ever regret such a choice.

Thanks so much again!

Bev

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