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Scopes - Angled or Straight? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Krispo
- Start date
cheshirebirder
Well-known member
Personally I prefer straight. Three reasons ; I find it easier to get onto the birds ( probably because you are kind of looking along the length of the scope - like a gun.) , you can position the scope higher which can an advantage looking over walls/a crowd etc. , and finally I find it less tiring because you aren't bending your neck looking into the eyepiece.
Sure someone will soon give the advantages of angled - there seem to more of them around so people must like them.
Sure someone will soon give the advantages of angled - there seem to more of them around so people must like them.
busyb
Keith Lugg
Hi Krispo,
I,m in the same camp as Cheshire birder, I prefer straight, much depends on the main type of birding you do. Much of mine is along the coast, estuaries, mudflats, marshes etc. and I find straight better. However on the occasions I have tred to `scope in woodland angled would have been better, as to look high in the canopy you have to have to have a straight scope high so you can get below it to look through.
Best bet is try both & see which you are more comfortable with.
I,m in the same camp as Cheshire birder, I prefer straight, much depends on the main type of birding you do. Much of mine is along the coast, estuaries, mudflats, marshes etc. and I find straight better. However on the occasions I have tred to `scope in woodland angled would have been better, as to look high in the canopy you have to have to have a straight scope high so you can get below it to look through.
Best bet is try both & see which you are more comfortable with.
Gavin Haig
Well-known member
Angled for me. My first scope was straight, but all subsequent have been angled. I am pretty tall, and a big plus is the fact that I can have the tripod lower = more stable. When I had a straight scope I was also twitching alot, and it was handy being able to stand at the back of a crowd, jack the tripod right up, and see over everyone's heads. Was very handy on Scilly. That's not an issue now, but if i was still twitching I'd just barge to the front and get in everyone's way like a regular oaf..... 
So, main issue for me is stability, but if you're not tall....?
So, main issue for me is stability, but if you're not tall....?
Krispo
Newbie Birder For Life
i'll be buying it from in-focus at martin mere, and andy bunting isnt the kind of guy who would take you for a ride, he usually gives good advice. i think he does a deal where you can buy a tripod worth 110 pound when you buy a scope for 40 pound (sorry if that sounds confusing, but its late and i'm half asleep, and there isnt a key on my keyboard for a pound sign)
thank you for your responces by the way.
thank you for your responces by the way.
Mickymouse
Ubuntu Linux user
What I would like to know is when will some enterprising manufacturer is going to come up with a good scope that has a swiveling eye peice, so you can have the best of both worlds.
Mick
Mick
bobnarlyne
Member
angled a little better for me
I prefer angled scopes for a few reasons: If there are other people around that are shorter than you, you can more easily adjust the scope for them by just lowering it. With a straight one, you can adjust down for them but then you can't use it. With a straight scope lowered too much, no one can use it. I use my scope for both birding and wildlife viewing. On a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, it was very useful to see things high up in the mountains for all heights of people. The angled scope is a bit more troublesome when packing it back in the car because I have to take the eyepiece off before putting it back in the box. The angled scope is easier, however, when I attach my camera to it, letting me see into the camera viewfinder more easily. And, finally, with practice, I have no trouble finding the object I am am looking at with the naked eye.
Regards, and good luck
I prefer angled scopes for a few reasons: If there are other people around that are shorter than you, you can more easily adjust the scope for them by just lowering it. With a straight one, you can adjust down for them but then you can't use it. With a straight scope lowered too much, no one can use it. I use my scope for both birding and wildlife viewing. On a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, it was very useful to see things high up in the mountains for all heights of people. The angled scope is a bit more troublesome when packing it back in the car because I have to take the eyepiece off before putting it back in the box. The angled scope is easier, however, when I attach my camera to it, letting me see into the camera viewfinder more easily. And, finally, with practice, I have no trouble finding the object I am am looking at with the naked eye.
Regards, and good luck
MSA
I may be relaxed but I'm not drunk....
For seawatching and general use I find the straight scope best - easier to line up with fast-moving birds, and more comfortable when seated. However, whilst watching overhead raptors in Israel I had to kneel on the ground! M Mouse is right, a swivelling eyepiece would be ideal, I'm sure microscopes had them when I was at school, so why not telescopes?
My scope is angled.
Kowa 25x50, immaculate, bought off Ebay half price, with immaculate cover, and with basic tripod, with the advice of a friend of mine who is a proper birder, and also really knows his optics (thjough not camcorders).
A lovely scope for the price, and I love it.
But!
It was bought without reference to the possibilities of digiscoping, or video scoping, and I think, in retrospect, things for those uses would be easier and/or cheaper with a straight scope.
If you have ( or might acquire) an interest in using the scope for photography, then my intuition says you you will be better with a straight one.
Perhaps those more expert than I (which doesn't take a lot) might disagree. But if so, I'd be very inteested in reading why they disagree.
David
Kowa 25x50, immaculate, bought off Ebay half price, with immaculate cover, and with basic tripod, with the advice of a friend of mine who is a proper birder, and also really knows his optics (thjough not camcorders).
A lovely scope for the price, and I love it.
But!
It was bought without reference to the possibilities of digiscoping, or video scoping, and I think, in retrospect, things for those uses would be easier and/or cheaper with a straight scope.
If you have ( or might acquire) an interest in using the scope for photography, then my intuition says you you will be better with a straight one.
Perhaps those more expert than I (which doesn't take a lot) might disagree. But if so, I'd be very inteested in reading why they disagree.
David
Colin
Axeman (Retired)
I prefer a straight scope and have always used them. However, more angled ones are sold than straight (ask any specialist dealer). There is one big disadvantage with an angled but which is easily overcome and the other advantages as outlined in other posts far out weigh it. The problem comes in some hides where you are governed as to the height of the scope by how high the slots are in the hide. A hide where the slots are high can mean that you cannot get high enough even on tip toes to see through the eyepiec. The answer is to make sure that the tripod you buy has a head which can be moved through 90 degrees and then you can use the scope on its side if you get my drift. Some scopes can be swivelled on their body with the same net effect.
If two people (wife/husband/partner) who are of different heights are going to share the scope regularly, get an angled. It is easy for the taller person to bend slightly and use the scope set at the height of the smaller person. Try bending down and looking through a straight scope - a few seconds and you will have a bad neck. You could even get stuck like it :-O
If two people (wife/husband/partner) who are of different heights are going to share the scope regularly, get an angled. It is easy for the taller person to bend slightly and use the scope set at the height of the smaller person. Try bending down and looking through a straight scope - a few seconds and you will have a bad neck. You could even get stuck like it :-O
jcwings
Well-known member
Mine is a straight Zeiss. Only reason is because of a bad back. I would rather stand tall and straight peering into the eyepiece of a straight scope than stoop over to look through an angled eyepiece. A few hours of that and I'm in hurting. My decision was based on this factor which doesn't suit everyone I realize.
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
I think there was one in the early 80s.busyb said:
If you are watching a high up raptor almost above your head a straight scope is almost unuseable.
I have had several of both and I implore you to buy an angled it might take a bit of getting used to but IMHO the raptor problem alone makes them much better as well as all the other advantages already mentioned here and on a previous thread on this subject - which is worth searching for. The fact that you can have your tripod lower and so more stable is another advantage. In fact being over 6 foot I'd have to have a different, even heavier, tripod with a straight scope I would literally not use a straight one if it was given to me.
Steve
Jane Turner
Well-known member
I think that the queation you need to answer for yourself first is...
"how am I going to use the scope (mostly)?"
If the answer is mostly from a car/hide - then go for angled. If more actively, then straight. I will only contemplate a straight scope. I am hidephobic and mostly use a small scope on a shoulder-pod.
"how am I going to use the scope (mostly)?"
If the answer is mostly from a car/hide - then go for angled. If more actively, then straight. I will only contemplate a straight scope. I am hidephobic and mostly use a small scope on a shoulder-pod.
Krispo
Newbie Birder For Life
Well i went to in-focus today at Martin Mere and tried a few out. I felt that a straight scope was best, i am only short so have it looking out of the slots with an angled i would have to stretch, looking up in woods etc. will be annoying, but i do MOST and i mean MOST of my birding at marshes and lakes. i bought an optolyth TBG 80, similar to this one , but older. it was made in West Germany lol. It was christened with great views of a Kingfisher and Marsh harriers (2 of them) from Ron Barker Hide.
I also got this tripod
I also got this tripod
scampo
Steve Campsall
An angled ED50 on a shoulder pod is ideal for active use. If you're tall, looking into a high tree with a straight scope is difficult - as is looking up into the sky. I think you'd probably get used to either - but if you're tall, or have a bad neck go for angled. Resale value of angled is always better, too.Jane Turner said:
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