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Spotting Scope Advice ..... (1 Viewer)

vja4Him

Member
I need to get a Spotting Scope (Angled) for observing birds and whales on my 3-4 week trip up the Pacific Coast from Fort Bragg, California to Astoria, Oregon, this summer ....

I'm hoping to spend around $1,000.00 total for a scope, head, tripod, digiscoping adaptor. Also, can you recommend a backpack to carry the tripod and additonal equipment (35mm camera, film, batteries, etc. ....) ?

I would like to do some digiscoping, hopefully connect my old Pentax K1000, and also my Samsung Note 8 smartphone to the scope for good shots .....

I have no experience with this type of equipment ... so I would greatly appreciate your input and suggestions .... I will be spending lots of time in many spots up the coast observing birds and whales and other wildlife, and want to take lots of pictures and videos .....

I would like to get this equipment soon .... the sooner the better ... so I can go birding with our local Audubon Club to practice using the scope and digiscoping .....
 
How are you traveling? Car, bus or backpack? That will determine how heavy and bulky your gear can be.
Scopes are tiring to look through unless they are pretty big and high grade, because you'll be peering with one eye at a small image. Get an eye patch, it helps some.
Consider getting used items. Optics don't drop dead just because they aren't the latest. Anacortes is in your neck of the woods, they are reputable and a good place to start your search.
My $0.02 would be a mid size scope, maybe 60-65mm aperture. That allows you to use a moderate size tripod, which you can also use for your camera if you need long exposures. The stability of the tripod will be less as it folds more compactly (more joints means more wiggle), but carrying a big tripod on a backpack is a hardship.
Amazon has plenty of options and deals abound, but again used is worth exploring.
You might also consider a simpler alternative, get a superzoom camera such as the Nikon P900 instead.
At full zoom, it is about a 40x equivalent, much more portable and also takes photos and movies, without breaking the bank on your budget..
 
vja, We just bought two scopes and there was a third I was considering that may suit. For a large 80mm scope this Alpen 788 is very nice. The other one I would have picked (without an opportunity to see) is the Omicron MM3 60mm. ...I am sure there are many more good candidates within your budget.

I would look for them on Ebay, CL and here - used. The sorts of people who carry this gear are usually very careful. Omicron has a particularly nice/simple cell phone adaptor. I wish they made other sizes.

We did a slow run from LA to SF years ago and 'saw the whales'. Nice trip; maybe next time N-to-S. Good luck.

Jim
 

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This is the equipment that I want to order .....

I want to make sure that I have the correct equipment before I place the order .... Any suggestions ... ?

>> Celestron Regal M2 100ED Spotting Scope
>> Manfrotto MT055XPRO3 Aluminum Tripod with 502HD Fluid Head Hybrid Video Kit (rated to hold 15.4 pounds)
>> Novagrade Digiscoping Phone Adapter
>> Celestron Universal T-Adapter for 1-1/4" Eyepiece Mounts
>> T-2 Adapter
 
Hi,

first of all. welcome to BF! And please don't post everything in two threads...

The Regal M2 series can be quite nice if you get a gopd example, it would be a great idea to read up on star-testing telescopes and do a star test while you can return it.
In bad weather you can put piece of aluminum foil on flat glass surface and make a tiny hole with a needle (so you can just see a bright spot against light. Put this in front of a LED flashlight, secure with some sciotchtape and place 100ft or more away from the scope. Then observe the bright little spot at maximum magnification at focus, and a little bit out of focus in either direction- not as good as a real star but better than nothing.

You want to see a bright dot in focus and round discs with some concentric rings in them out of, ideally the same in either way.

The 100mm is not exactly light, the tripod and head are adequate but add some more pounds - I hope you are not going to carry this for any distance...

I cannot comment on the digiscoping stuff as I don't know these.

Joachim
 
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