Super Budget Spotter scope (1 Viewer)

Hi all

Need a bit of help

looking too get my first scope as a combined Birthday/Crimbo gift but things being as they are at present cost is a big issue

Have been looking at ebay and similar sites and the names Luyi, Nipon, HQ and Meade keep cropping up

With my limited knowledge the Meade 20-60 x60mm (and I have heard of Meade) seems best within the severely restricted budget (showing at £45 - £55 inc tripod plus post.)

Any thoughts and is anything sub £35 worth a punt

Currently using some very old Prinzflex 7 x 50's and my workhorse Optus 12 x 32's which I have to say perform prety well as well as being light a big consideration when yomping through woods etc. Just need to spread the net especially for coastal and moorland trips

Thanks

Dave :t:

Ok Dave,how you doing.
I was looking through ebay and found a 60mm Meade compleat with tripod. Defo worth a look for your budget. You should look at the Opticron Piccolo as well. I tried one of these little scopes in the summer and thought they were an exelent starter scope. Another option is the Jiehe 15x45x60 on sale at a reduced price from skys the limit on Ebay.
Any of these three will get you going reasonably well for the price. You should think about what you are going to mount it on though. A reasonably stable tripod is a must if you are going to make good use of your scope. If you use a cheap tripod and are willing to kneel down whilst using it then shortening the legs will often give you a more stable platform to view with.
There must be others out there for the price but these are what i would recomend for your budget. With a bit of luck other members might come along with better sugestions!!.
Have you thought about putting an add in our small adds wanted section. That could bring out all sorts of intresting kit to think about.

Cheers
daf.

Thanks Daf

Apologies for not acknowledging sooner but i have been on holiday in Glen Livet since the 24th
I will check out those you mentioned especially the Opticron as people seem yo speak highly of them

Are these of any use?


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultra-Zoom-...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1225499533&sr=8-1


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tasco-15-45...7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1225499533&sr=8-7

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-M...8?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1225499533&sr=8-8

The tasco Paul flaged up is not as good as the opticron for ultimate resolution at the bigger mags but it works realy well for digiscoping. You can see quite a few photos in my gallery taken with it and an equaly cheap camera. I used one for years for photos. Its advantage was you got quite low amounts of CA fringing on the photos. I would still recomend the wee opticron over it[the more light the better] if your more into bashing about and seeing birds.

Hi Dave.

I have the Meade 20-60 x 60, and I can recommend it.

I recently had the opportunity to compare it with all the 'proper' scopes at an RSPB open day, and was well impressed with its performance. The 'pros' there all rated it about on a par with scopes in the £250-£350 bracket, and the image is sharper than my old Leica 62. Performance tails off a bit above about 37x though, but its only a 60mm, so you can't really expect too much.

Really well put together, waterproof, and Nitrogen purged for about £50 - to my mind, you can't go wrong with that spec.

The bundled kit leaves a bit to be desired, and I would suggest you forget about the tripod, as its only small, and decidedly wobbly!

Steve.

I have seen many cheap scopes, and they all will give you a little benefit over binoculars, as long as you work at the 20x end of maginification. Good luck.

Another maker you might want to consider is Summit. Not well known, but they use Hoya glass, so can't be too bad. A 20-60x70 retails at around £100, (Bristol Cameras 'claim' to have them available at £59, but I've never know one to be in stock with them).

However, 2nd hand they do appear on ebay within your price range, eg, for £39:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320282849448&category=3636

...and the beauty of buying 2nd hand, is that in say 12 months time, when you want to upgrade, your scope will most likely still make the same price when you sell it on.

Hi folks

Thanks for all the info and recommendations

It looks like its going to be a toss up between the Meade and the Opticon Piccolo.
Similar price and both seem to do the job I require admirably

Thanks again

dave

Have a look at the Vortex web site before you buy anything.