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Aldi Spotting Scope (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Irvo52
- Start date
Liquid Len
Well-known member
Don't bother would be my advice, not even for £24.99! A friend of mine bought one when he started birding and he used it once. Optically - which is what matters after all - its like looking through a bottle of dirty dishwater.
LL
Archie Opteryx
Well-known member
If you run out of something for the sweet peas to climb up, yes.
Johnny1
Well-known member
On a whim I bought one to set up in my living room so I could digi scope any visiting birds to save me having to set up my decent scope, anyway it's completely useless for anything! It is now rotting away(I hope!) in my shed. You can have it if you want but I think the postage would cost more than its worth.
Marmot
Well-known member
We have had one for quite a few years now and it works fine, on far distance you sometimes get an orangey coloured ring. But what do people expect for £25, if you bought Binos for £25 you know they are not going to be top notch so why think a scope is going to be any different.
It is handy just to stick in the boot of your car for just if you see something on the off chance.
It is handy just to stick in the boot of your car for just if you see something on the off chance.
nigel mockridge
Member
As people so rightly say , you get what you pay for in life !! .
Ghostly Vision
Well-known member
Haha
See the other thread I started before I noticed this one.
Bought one yesterday and think it is perfect for taking on holiday!
Maybe they changed supplier, because it is definitely not as bad as the "reviews" above.
See the other thread I started before I noticed this one.
Bought one yesterday and think it is perfect for taking on holiday!
Maybe they changed supplier, because it is definitely not as bad as the "reviews" above.
Fozzybear
Ich bin ein Vogelbeobachter
It looks like the one I have from a couple of years back (similar styling, same tripod) that I bought to try out using a spotting scope - I'd not used one before and was out of work at the time so £25 was the very most I could afford to pay for one! If you don't have high expectations* and don't try to use the high magnifications much then it's not too bad for light use (and when you consider the price it's astonishing how well it actually works!) but it is very low in detail, can be tricky to focus, has poor contrast and the view can be quite, well mushy is the best way I can describe it. I took mine to norfolk on holiday and struggled with it at Titchwell where other people were seeing lots of different birds in a flock of knot but all I could see was a blurry mess. Looking through the volunteer's scope (admittedly a top-flight one!) I was amazed how gorgeous the view it gave was. I bought myself a nice little Opticron (a small GS52 that I can fit in my camera pack) when I was in work again and that made the Aldi one look like something out of a christmas cracker, the difference is night and day, but you'd expect it given the vast difference in price!
If you really cannot afford anything more and it's that or nothing then it's worth getting one, but if you can afford something like a Mighty Midget or something similar then you should get much more benefit from it.
* BF optics freaks need not apply.
If you really cannot afford anything more and it's that or nothing then it's worth getting one, but if you can afford something like a Mighty Midget or something similar then you should get much more benefit from it.
* BF optics freaks need not apply.
I had two examples, the first one having gone back for a refund which the store refused but gave me a replacement instead. The second example was no better and was taken back to a different store and this one refunded without quibble.
I found that the FOV at the 20 end is too narrow (like looking down a tunnel) although the view was reasonably bright. It does get rather dark at the 60x end though and you get fuzzy edges from vignetting caused by zooming of the eyepiece. Magnification at about the middle of the range (30x) seemed to give the best performance. At higher magnifications, the image shifted from left to right and vice versa as the focus knob was turned. Checking through the objective end (both examples) confirmed that the optics were visibly slopping about from side to side in the tube assembly as the focusser was being turned in and out. There was also a distracting reflection around the outer edge with one scope having this problem on the left while the other had it on the right. The tripod is also poor and cannot properly hold the weight of the scope.
Bear in mind, of course, that this is a £25 scope so you get what you pay for. If you want a toy then the scope is functional and gives a reasonable view for a £25. Its a wonder they can make something that actually works at that price.
If you are after a 'proper' spotting scope, then you will be disappointed.
I found that the FOV at the 20 end is too narrow (like looking down a tunnel) although the view was reasonably bright. It does get rather dark at the 60x end though and you get fuzzy edges from vignetting caused by zooming of the eyepiece. Magnification at about the middle of the range (30x) seemed to give the best performance. At higher magnifications, the image shifted from left to right and vice versa as the focus knob was turned. Checking through the objective end (both examples) confirmed that the optics were visibly slopping about from side to side in the tube assembly as the focusser was being turned in and out. There was also a distracting reflection around the outer edge with one scope having this problem on the left while the other had it on the right. The tripod is also poor and cannot properly hold the weight of the scope.
Bear in mind, of course, that this is a £25 scope so you get what you pay for. If you want a toy then the scope is functional and gives a reasonable view for a £25. Its a wonder they can make something that actually works at that price.
If you are after a 'proper' spotting scope, then you will be disappointed.
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