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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sirius Birder" data-source="post: 1106438" data-attributes="member: 60842">David,I used to have an older Celestron C5 which I used as a spotting scope. I used it with a cheap 90 degree erecting prism.  Was not totally happy with that setup.  I sold it and bought a new Celestron C6.  I have it mounted on a very sturdy tripod with a massive fluid head, and use the Baader Amici Prism as an image erector.  I am very pleased with it.  With this scope I use a Siebert Black Night 22mm clear aperture binoviewer and a pair of Siebert's 24mm Ultra eyepieces.  These eyepieces would give about 62X without the binoviewer, but with the extra focal length I actually get about 100X.  The views of birds with this scope are awesome.  The binoviewer and Siebert eyepieces give a very relaxed view with excellent eye relief.By way of comparison, I recently bought a Kowa TSN 883 -- the best spotter on the market today.  It is obviously much easier to carry around, and gives a very bright, very crisp image at 60X through its zoom eyepiece.  I even have equipped my Kowa 883 with a homemade astro eyepiece adapter (see thread under Kowa).  Using a 5mm TMB Planetary eyepiece with the adapter, I can get a nice 100X with the Kowa 883.  However, the Kowa is not in the same leage with the Celestron C6 when it comes to raw power.  At the same 100X, the C6 with binoviewer is much brighter and clearly has the edge in  resolving power.For those who think that only a Maksutov Cassegrain like the Questar 3.5" is a worthy birding scope, let me tell them that the Schmidt Cassegrain Celestron 6" blows away the little Questar.  By the way, I have made several improvements to the Celestron C6.  I have "flocked" the inside of the tube to reduce stray light and improve contrast.  I have also sealed the scope to keep out dust.  I have made a removable protective cap for the front of the scope made from 1/10 wave optical film (called turbo film).  This allows me to use the scope in bad weather or at the coast (salt spray) without getting the corrector plate dirty.Now, is this big scope portable enough for birding.  It depends on your definition of portable.  I have carried it a mile or two from the car when necessary, but usually use it much closer to my vehicle.  Total weight of the scope and tripod is about 25 pounds.  The Celestron C5 was much more portable, but I found that the binoviewer gives much brighter images with the larger aperture of the Celestron C6.  The cost of this big birding combo is very competitive with the top end spotting scopes.  The Celestron C6, bought as an optical tube only, is not expensive.  The greater expense comes from the Baader erecting prism, the  binoviewer and eyepieces.  But don't try to put this outfit on a lightweight tripod.  It needs more support.John Wright</blockquote>

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