I look forward to seeing further comments ..............
My Bresser Spektar 15-45X60 spotting scope arrived a week or so ago (delivered by the brown truck) and it turned out to be a great buy. Thanks Frank!
For that price, one would expect the cheap plastic lens junk found in a department store to use as a Christmas Season stocking stuffer. This not the case at all for this Besser. It is the real deal, just on a lesser scale than the expensive stuff.
I compared it with a Zen-Ray Prime 25-50X82 spotting scope. As one would expect, the Zen-Ray wins in all areas to varying degrees but at the cost of more size, more weight and a much higher price (currently listed by Cameraland at $1,300).
Build Quality: In one word, solid, and way above the price point. The armor fits well and has a feel and look in line with other non alpha products. The mechanics work as expected, but slightly on the stiff side. The zoom and focus are a little stiff but not to the point where adjusting them moves the scope off the aim point when on a tripod. The lens hood and collar rotating ring work as expected without the problems as described in a couple of other posts. Overall, the optics look clean with only a couple of very small specs.
The focus adjustment is just one speed compared to many scopes that have a fast and fine adjustment mechanism. I think the speed used is a good compromise. It is fast enough to go between distance extremes without having to turn and turn and turn, yet it is still slow enough to get a sharp focus without a lot of hunting. I think the stiffness actually helps in reducing over shooting the fine focus point.
A comment was made above about the ring at the base of the eye piece. Turning it counter clockwise allows the eye piece to be unthreaded from the body. Once off, the eye piece rotates within the ring. The machining of the threads was fine and I had no trouble in getting the eye piece back on. Since the eye piece rotates within the ring, center the red dot showing the power setting just before finally tightening the ring. It is best to have it off about 10 degrees before tightening the last little bit and the dot will align right in place. I took a look inside the body with eye piece removed and did not see anything unusual (for an non expert like me).
Optics and the View: The scope does not have quite the brightness and contrast of the Zen-Ray, but it is more than adequate. Sharpness is good, but does fall off toward the edges, to some degree and that is more noticeable at higher powers. I had no problem distinguishing and enjoying the fine feather detail on close birds dining on some feeders. Color balance is close to neutral, much more so than many optics at the lower price points. The photos posted by Frank demonstrate that it does provide a legitimate view.
The view holds up well through most of the power range. I start to become consciously aware of a drop off in the view somewhere between 35 and 40X. I suspect most of my viewing will be done at 40X or below, but 45X is still usable if that last bit of magnification is needed.
Eye Relief: The eye-relief is fine throughout the full power range when viewing without eye glasses. However that is not the case with glasses on. I suspect most will be able to see the full view at the lowest power but not at full zoom when wearing glasses. The eye piece has an eye cup that turns out and is rubber coated on the edges. I have it turned all the way out at lower power without glasses and turned halfway in at full power. However, at full power with glasses and with the eye cup turned all the way in, I am unable to get the full view.
Other Comments: The scope comes with a nice nylon case with snap on rings for an included shoulder strap. The case should do a good job in protecting the body. There is a long zipper opening on the side to allow for the removal of the case. Once you figure out how the case goes on and off, it is not that difficult to do. My only complaint is the case is loose and does get in the way of operating the focus knob on the side. I suspect over time I will adjust to it.
I am not a big scope person and in a way, consider them a necessary evil when more detail is desired. I find them heavy, ackward, and time consuming to set up and use. Scopes to me do not add to the aesthetics of a view as do binoculars, such as a Nikon 8X30 EII. This is true for the Besser. However, it does a good job in providing that detail to id a target or to enjoy the detail of something close range such as the feather patterns of birds on a near by feeder. It provides a good quality center view that gets the job done, but not at quite the same level of a $1,000 plus scope.
My primary use for this scope will be to keep it in the rear seat of the truck and pull it out for long range id's, primarily ducks on the far edges of ponds that I view in the Arizona high country during the summer. The small size and light weight should be a good fit for my application. I suspect I will also carry it on short walks for some of the long range viewing areas.
If I did not know the price and someone said it was in the $300 to $400 price range, I would accept that. At $39, it is an absolute steal! Again, thanks Frank for taking the risk in purchasing the first one and then sharing your find with the rest of us.
Frank - How do you think it would work with a monopod with the zoom set at about 20 to 25 power? Seeing it is s small light weight scope, the smaller size and weight of a monopod may be a good combination for when the goal is to get a short look at something.
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As mentioned above in the first part of this post, I sometimes like to use a scope for long range spotting of ducks on the various ponds during summer mountain trips.. The Zen-Ray does a great job, but it is rather time consuming and a pain to set it up multiple times when going from pond to pond. My plan for the small light weight Besser is use it on a monopod so that I can quickly get it set up and make the id.
Below is a photo of the Besser on an inexpensive monopod from Cabelas's. I have been playing around with it at the house for the last few days and it seems to work just fine.
There is beauty in simplicity. The pole screws directly to the base of the scope. There is no moving head unit. Setup is just a quick full extension of the lower two leg sections and about a 2 inch extension of the top leg section. The exact amount for the top section will vary depending on the height of the user. Actually, the top extension of a couple of inches can be left as is to eliminate one step.
There is no moving head unit so aiming the scope is as simple as changing the angle of the pole by moving back a step or so to aim higher or moving forward a step or two to aim lower. Changes to the left or right is done by just turning the pole. Everything pivots on the foot of the pole resting on the ground. Simple!
The view is fairly steady for me up to around 30-35X power on good solid level ground. Steadiness is similar to to that of a 10X - 12X binocular at that power. It is still usable at full zoom, but it takes more concentration and effort to hold steady.
The length of the assembly from the foot of the pole to the top of the body is about 25 1/2 inches (62.2 cm) and total weight of the scope, pole and case is about 3 lb 7 oz. (1560 grams). The small size and light weight of the complete package is such that I intend to keep it assembled when storing it on the rear seat of the truck and when carrying it in the field.
One change I would like to make is to add a gripping foam shoulder pad to the shoulder strap. I need to check out Op-Tech to see what they offer.
So far, all looks good. I guess I will find out next summer if everything works out as expected.
Here is a link to the pole on the Cabelas's web site (currently backordered)......
http://www.cabelas.com/product/cabe..._l=Header%3BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=cab-100
I bought mine on sale a year or so ago for around $11. The "V" rest piece (as shown in the Cabelas's picture) on top of the pole screws off exposing the screw to attach to the base of the scope.