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Angled vs. straight-through EP on spotting scopes (1 Viewer)

Neck pain with a straight scope means your tripod is too short (which of course is a downside of a straight scope). But you should have the EP at eye level to look straight into it ... no neck bending needed (or wanted).

Same to some extent with angled scopes except there is a head tilt though not a neck crik to a slightly lower EP.
 
I chose the angled scope. It took a few days to get used to location birds quickly but now it is second nature. I chose it because of the height distance between my wife and myself. With the swaro scope I can just roll the eyepiece to the side and she can look right in. No fiddling with the tripod and we can both view comfortably. It is a little awkward when viewing from the truck but I do not do that very often.
 
stbear,

What many people don't think of doing with an angled scope when viewing from a vehicle is precisely what you describe doing with your scope to allow your wife to view comfortably.

If you rotate the eyepiece toward you it will allow you to look straight out of your vehicle's window without needing to turn your head the full 90 degrees. This actually makes the angled scope more comfortable to use than a straight scope.

I personally use a straight scope, almost exclusively from a tripod. My first scope was a straight model and I guess I got used to it.

I find that for the majority of my viewing I am more comfortable with a straight scope. When birds are high in trees or flying overhead an angled scope would be nice, but that is a small percentage of my viewing.

If I am somewhere that there may be other people viewing with my scope I will set my tripod with the legs not fully extended and raise the center column to bring it to a comfortable level for me. Then if I want to lower it to allow someone to look through it I need only drop the center column. Doing this doesn't change the view and allows them a comfortable look.

Sometimes I will attach my digital camera to let a large group view the image on the camera's display. This also is a good way to protect expensive optics from the accidental smudges that surely come with many viewers, particularly inexperienced ones.

Mike
 
I have a straight Nikon ED82 - for me holding my head at an angle for any length of time = neck pain. I chose and use the scope primarily for observing from a fixed position for periods of time - mostly seawatching, waders, and waterbirds - and find it does the job very nicely [the big zoom is very good for this, but that's another discussion! ;) ]. It was my first proper scope, and I partially chose straight as I knew I'd have trouble getting on stuff [I'd tried out a few scopes and realised just how big a difference it makes being able to point straight at a moving bird, rather than line up with a sighter, then look and find you're already off-target]. Another advantage of straight not yet mentioned is being able to look down on things [from a hilltop/cliff etc.] much more easily.
I also have an ED50, which is straight too, and is my 'mobility scope'. I don't even use a tripod with it - either in the Grippa case in the top of my rucksack when walking, or on a shoulderpod for close terrain - great for treetop warblers! Again the straight helps with handheld, as you can pretty much look down it [though the eyepiece is slightly offset, its easy to compensate]. A factor with the ED50 is that due to the different prisms the straight body transmits a few % more light than the angled [I'm waiting to be corrected here, aren't I?], but I'm sure that's not the case with all scopes [again awaiting correction!].
After babbling on, I'm going to conclude with the famous birding optics cliche - try out both, and see what works best for you, and what you want to do with your scope.
 
I use an angled scope. It is a big advantage when more than one person share a scope. Dunne is understating it when he says, "Two or more observers of slightly different heights can easily share the same scope with less physical stain, fuss, or tripod manipulation." We have 3 people, heights 6', 5'5" and 5'2" all comfortably sharing the same scope.

Only trouble I've ever had is when trying to see over a wall that is almost the height of the scope. Even here, you can raise the scope and rotate it sideways to bring the eyepiece to the same level as the scope barrel.
 
It's not only the scope, it's the tripod

The discussion about straight vs. angled scopes arises from time to time. There's one point about straight scopes worth to consider I miss in most of these discussions. The height of a straight scope needs to be adjusted to the nearest millimetre at the observer' s eye. Once done this a comfortable use should work for horizontal views without any problems. But if the user wants to watch at something up like for example a flying bird the eyepiece of the scope turns down. Now the scope needs to be lifted up to meet the users's eye height again. For this purpose a tripod with a very good working center column is essential. Height adjustment should work fast and easy and without any judder. IMO the work and precision of center columns adjustment mechanics is something that don't get the attention it deserves in most reports about tripods. Among conventional tripods I found best working columns with tripods made by Gitzo and Berlebach. I also think that a tripod with crank column is worth to consider for straight scope use. So if you have problems with neck pain with a straight scope check your tripod first.

Steve
 
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I wish I was one of the above who are so certain that they've worked it out and got the right 'scope.

I often bird with a friend, one of us straight and one angled (edit: sorry I've just re-read that - I mean the 'scopes! not us!) and I like different scopes at different times of the day. At over 6 foot tall anything above the horizontal needs a huge tripod with a straight 'scope - too heavy. However in hides I often need to be 7 foot tall to see through the angled 'scope.

In a hide I want a straight scope, everywhere else I want an angled scope - but I bird a lot from hides. Can I afford two of the new Leicas?
 
Roger P said:
I wish I was one of the above who are so certain that they've worked it out and got the right 'scope.

I often bird with a friend, one of us straight and one angled (edit: sorry I've just re-read that - I mean the 'scopes! not us!) and I like different scopes at different times of the day. At over 6 foot tall anything above the horizontal needs a huge tripod with a straight 'scope - too heavy. However in hides I often need to be 7 foot tall to see through the angled 'scope.

In a hide I want a straight scope, everywhere else I want an angled scope - but I bird a lot from hides. Can I afford two of the new Leicas?
Click to expand...
Roger,

You can rotate an angled scope in its mount...
http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/scopes_angled_straight.html

John
 
I agree, you can rotate the angled scope in its mount to get by the hide problem. It feels a little weird at first (you are looking into the scope sideways), but just as you get used to looking down into the eyepiece in the normal orientation, you'll quickly get used to looking into it sideways in the rotated orientation.
 
In

http://featheredgeoptics.com/considerscopes.htm

Peter Dunne (whose comments started the thread) adds another comment (not in his book).

Advantages of Scopes with Angled Eyepieces:

1. More restful long-term viewing because your free or subordinate eye is not trying to intrude by bringing the horizon into focus.
Click to expand...

Of course there are other workaround for this e.g. I'm left eye dominant but right handed so I use my focusing hand/arm to block my right eyes vision for a straight through scope. And one can use eyepatches and bits of card to block the vision too too (on both).
 
If you have a problem with images picked up by your other eye when looking in a scope, try switching eye. You should use your dominant eye, that way it's much easier to ignore the images from the other eye.
 
Wachtel said:
If you have a problem with images picked up by your other eye when looking in a scope, try switching eye. You should use your dominant eye, that way it's much easier to ignore the images from the other eye.
Click to expand...

I already do that but the image from the non-dominant eye is still intrusive. I think from other comments here (and observations in the field) others have the same problem too.
 
Kevin Purcell said:
I already do that but the image from the non-dominant eye is still intrusive. I think from other comments here (and observations in the field) others have the same problem too.
Click to expand...

For me a solution that works well is to place a grey/black obstruction in front of the idle eye, some 1-4 inches away. In my former scope I had a plastic 50mm binocular objective cover attached to the eyepiece with some ungainly wire to take care of this. My current scope, the Fieldscope 82 ED A, does not need this since the eyepiece hood of the S.O.C., which fastens in place with velcro strips, can be velcroed to point to the side when viewing so that it blocks most of the field of view of the idle eye. I modified it a bit by turning the eyepiece hood inside-out and gluing velcro on the 'outside' of the fastening tabs. So, now the hood is black instead of green and works perfectly. Variations of this system can be used with many other scope/S.O.C combinations, such as Swarovski ATS or Kowa 883.

Kimmo
 
Steve,

Eye-patches have been suggested before, although never with as convincing-looking model wearing one. The trouble is that since they block a lot of light from the idle eye, the eye dark-adapts while one views with the scope. It will then take a while before viewing with binoculars is natural and color balance between the eyes is restored again. Therefore it is better to have an obstruction placed a little ways in front of the eye, to allow the eye to receive enough light while idling.

Kimmo
 
One eye view

kabsetz said:
Steve,

Eye-patches have been suggested before, although never with as convincing-looking model wearing one. The trouble is that since they block a lot of light from the idle eye, the eye dark-adapts while one views with the scope. It will then take a while before viewing with binoculars is natural and color balance between the eyes is restored again. Therefore it is better to have an obstruction placed a little ways in front of the eye, to allow the eye to receive enough light while idling.

Kimmo
Click to expand...

Kimmo,

for me such an obstruction in the view is pretty bothersome. But each to his own. When I started use of a spotting scope I had some trouble like Kevin, too. But I quickly adapted and had no trouble since then. At that time it was a help for me to relax my eyes before looking through the scope. To relax the eyes means here to prevent the eyes from accommodation and fusion by looking at infinity without fixation of anything. This needs some practice but if you try it should be possible in a short time. Anyway with the eyes prepared like this my trouble with one eye views stopped. Now I do this automatically without further thinking about, every time I use a scope.

Steve
 
Fujifilm s8000fd-adapter for spotting scope

Chris Oates said:
I bought a straight scope and endured 2 years of terrible neck pain (don't know why I put up with it) - angled copes might be harder to aim but you soon learn how to compensate automatically...or use the cable tie trick.
Angled scopes are so much more versatile, easy to share, work on a small tripod.
I went on to buy an angled Opticron ES80ED and traded my MMII straight for an angled MMII ED - excellent little scope which takes nice pics with my Fuji F30 & S8000fd.
Click to expand...

Hi Chris
I found this thread from 2009.....hope you are well.
Did you use an adapter with your Fujifilm S8000FD - if so, what and where from.
I have an Opticron GS665GA straight with HDF 38ww & 22 ww HR2 eyepieces.
Hope you can advise.
Regards....Ian
 
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