Best scope upto about £300 (1 Viewer)

I’m looking to upgrade my Acuter st80a 20-60 scope which I bought second hand to see how I’d get on with carrying a scope around. I’m happy with it at 20 in a hide but it loses focus as you zoom to the point of the zoom being useless for the birds you’d need it for and it’s possibly a bit heavy for my tripod and therefore blurry in anything other than ideal conditions (it’s 1800g)

I probably have about £300 available for a (probably second hand) upgrade but going second hand brings in all sorts of older scopes that are hard to compare and when you get past a few brands it’s hard to really know what you’re getting

I know in scope terms that’s not much but with a part time job and a young child that’s what the budget is

I don’t mind waiting for the right scope if it means a decent upgrade

Anyone got any suggestions of what to hold out for in that range.

I think generally speaking I want picture quality, presumably from better lenses . A bit of a lighter scope to increase stability. I occasionally sea watch but I’m probably not going to be spending much time trying to differentiate shearwater species at maximum range.

I’m open to 60mm or smaller if they come with better glass and losing zoom if the set zoom is practically better than the zooms that work in the field but wouldn’t mind knowing some practical stuff of how far away you can get detail on different types of bird rather than scope statistics.

Anyone able to help. Or indeed have something for sale. (I’ll check the relevant sections)

Depending upon your usage, there are plenty of great options for used scopes. Within your budget, I'd suggest any of the older Kowa, Opticron, Nikon or potentially Optolyth scopes, and ideally with ED glass. One consideration is the difference a stable tripod will make to any scope - a £1000 scope on a £30 tripod is simply a bad idea.

Here are a few options within (or under) your budget to consider. They all have pros/cons, but all pretty solid options;

https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Opticron-GS-52-GA-ED-_224122.html
https://www.at-infocus.co.uk/product/nikon-ed50a-c-w-16xmc-and-case-mm/
https://www.at-infocus.co.uk/product/nikon-ed11-60-c-w-30xwa-mc-soc-t/
https://www.at-infocus.co.uk/product/kowa-ts614-c-w-20x-40x-zoom-and-case-slim/
https://www.cleyspy.co.uk/opticron-mm3-60-16-48x-ed-ref10454.html
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kowa-Pro...650084?hash=item2ce726f164:g:ikQAAOSwJm9ciXIS

My personal pick would be the Nikon EDii.

Good luck and happy hunting!

Perhaps the little Kowa 501? The 50mm has it's limitations if it's dull or near dawn, but it's light and from a well-known optics-brand. But don't look for the 553…

Or look for the Opticron MM3-60 with the HDF-Zoom: that yields for ~400£, but is in my opinion the more versatile option. I'm using the MM4 (with ED-Lens) as a light option for my Zeiss DiaScope 85 and am very happy with the quality - opics and mechanics are great. Look here for the review from binomania, you can translate it in english.


good decision
Manfred

Hi,

Daniel gave some good pointers for used - my choice would probably be the TSN-3 (if I didn't already have two...) and then save up for either a Kowa 30x wide or Opticron SDLv2.

Joachim

Thank you guys, I've gone with the Opticron as the price was just a lot easier to justify and the SDLv2 eye pieces look like an easy upgrade route afterwards

Hi,

congratulations then - I guess you mean the used 60 ED straight, right? That is indeed a great deal and a better zoom can be added later.

Joachim