Spotting scope advice (1 Viewer)

[LRL]

Hi
Recently ,ive picked up
birdwatching again , and i think i want to invest in a mid price-range spotting scope + tripod + the attachment to the scope itself . Usually , the observations i tend to do are in the ranges between 50 and 300 meters, mainly waders and seagulls by the seashore, but also some other birds , like hawks , eagles , ducks ....
The observations will tend to be static , but sometimes i would take some longer walks to changes spots .
I tend to do birdwatching beetwen early morning and midafternoon, but normally with the sun already up in the sky.
I live in the northwest part of spain , so the water resistance of the scope is quite relevant to me . Also , this part of the country tends to have a cloudy weather and mid light conditions during great chunks of the year.
I would like a 20-60x80 or something in those lines .
Previously, ive used the Vanguard endeavor 82A , and honestly i would like a scope with a little bit more image quality, if possible.I know that i cant expect a magnificent image , the only thing i want is a good enough quality image fo bird ID , nothing fancy strictly needed at the moment (obiously it would be highly aprecciated)
Ive been looking at the new Diamondback HD 20-60x85 , but ive seen in a post here that the brightnees isnt good enough for birdwatching
My total budget for the scope is around 700€ or less.
Greetings and thanks in advance .

 

[KevinL]

Whats your budget?

 

[LRL]

Around 700 € for the scope

 

[jring]

Hi,

stretching the budget a bit, but with some patience and luck you might be able to get a classic Nikon Fieldscope 82ED with the MCII zoom somewhere not too far off the 700€ limit.

That combo has two disadvantages, which is why I normally don't recommend it, but you want a zoom and 300m need some magnification - the first being a quite narrow apparent field of view on the low mag end (and not super wide on the high mag end either) and not a lot of eye relief for use with glasses. If you have to wear glasses while observing with a scope due to astigmatism, don't use classic fieldscopes with zoom EPs.
On the flip side, it's waterproof, can be used with a 30w for really bright wide field scanning and you can crank the zoom up to 75x and there's a good chance that the body will actually deliver a useful image at that magnification, provided the light and seeing play along.

Joachim

 

[LRL]

Thanks for tour reply jring.
I didnt new tgat model , so ill be taking that into consideration.
Two options that i did look were the celestron regal m2 and the hawke endurance ed , but ive never seen them in less that 800€ , and i did look extensibly for a good price on them .
Other option in a much lower price range is the Svbony 406p (the 20-60x80). Ive seen good opinions about it in this forum . How does compare with the vanguard endevor hd 82a , as far as image is concerned?
Thank you in advance

 

[Gypa]

Hola. Yo te recomendaría que mirases un poco el mercado de segunda mano pues hay aficionados que cambian a un telescopio superior y venden su equipo a buen precio. He revisado un poco Wallapop y hay un Kowa 82SV en tu presupuesto, incluso un Zeiss diascope 85 (modelo anterior al actual) por unos 900 con trípode (yo suelo indagar un poco también en las opiniones que tienen los vendedores)
Un saludo y mucha suerte
Pedro

 

[LRL]

Hola Gypa
Graciñas por tu respuesta . El problema para mi con lo de segunda mano es que no tengo ni idea de ópticas , por lo que comprar telescopios usados me da bastante reparo la verdad .
Un saludo

 

[Gypa]

Hola. Entiendo que desconfies de la segunda mano. Lo decía porque para la idea que tienes de un telescopio de 80 mm o más, un producto nuevo se te irá de presupuesto, exceptuando que te inclines por marcas menos conocidas (como Svbony). Te adjunto algún enlace de telescopios de marcas conocidas cuyo precio está dentro o cerca de lo que quieres gastar. El viking lo comercaliza SEOBirdlife, que creo que ofrece buenos productos a un precio ajustado ( y la confianza de la asociación). Otras marcas con buena relación calidad precio son Kite, Opticron y Kowa

Telescopio Viking Swallow ED 80mm con ocular 20-60x. TiendaSEO

Telescopio Viking Swallow ED 80 mm. Incluye ocular variable 20-60x con y funda acolchada protectora en color negra de regalo. Peso 1633 gr. Garantia 10 años

tienda.seo.org

Telescopio Terrestre Kite Optics SP-82 + 20-60x

Kite Optics SP-82 + 20-60x Telescopio Terrestre Factor de ampliación 20-60x Diámetro frontal 82mm Pupila de salida 4,05-1,4mm Distancia mínima de enfoque 4,7m Campo de visión 35-21m Distancia ocular (eye relief) 20-18mm Longitud 385mm (sin ocular montado) Peso 1400gr (sin ocular montado)

fotografiarte.es

Telescopio Kowa 82SV + ocular 20-60x

LA combinación de Telescopio Kowa 82SV + ocular 20-60x con el mejor de la gama, conseguiras unos resultados fantasticos calidad de cristales y acabado del cuerpo

fotografiarte.es

Yo creo que en tu área, excepto en días muy muy nublados puedes desenvolverte perfectamente con un teles de 60-65 mm. En este caso te recomendaría

Ofertas en sets completos de telescopios terrestres

Nuestros kits presentan una gran compatibilidad entre sus componentes, siendo así, las combinaciones con mayor rendimiento y los precios más

www.weboryx.com

Saludos

 

[BKoh]

Thanks for tour reply jring.
I didnt new tgat model , so ill be taking that into consideration.
Two options that i did look were the celestron regal m2 and the hawke endurance ed , but ive never seen them in less that 800€ , and i did look extensibly for a good price on them .
Other option in a much lower price range is the Svbony 406p (the 20-60x80). Ive seen good opinions about it in this forum . How does compare with the vanguard endevor hd 82a , as far as image is concerned?
Thank you in advance

I have a friend who bought the Vanguard Endeavor 65a and was dissatisfied, he returned it. I let him try my 80mm Svbony SV406P, he bought his own and is happy.

Amazon reviews of the Vanguard scopes are not flattering, so if you buy the Vanguard make sure you can return it. Besides here on BF, the Svbony SV406P also has some good reviews on Amazon ES and Amazon JP (auto-translate works well).

 

[LRL]

Thank you all for your answers .
This last days ive been looking for a tripod , and i have to main options:
-Manfrotto mt055xpro3
-Manfrotto mt190xpro3
The only difference i could see between both of them is the weight . Other than that , which one would you recommend?And would you recommend the four section ones over the three section tripods?

 

[MartinH80]

Thank you all for your answers .
This last days ive been looking for a tripod , and i have to main options:
-Manfrotto mt055xpro3
-Manfrotto mt190xpro3
The only difference i could see between both of them is the weight . Other than that , which one would you recommend?And would you recommend the four section ones over the three section tripods?

The main spec difference between the 055 and the 190 is the height - the 055 being taller. And yes, this does also mean extra weight. Advantage of the 055 is you're unlikely to need to raise or partially raise the centre column in order to achieve a comfortable viewing position, even if you're quite tall, meaning greater stability. Downside is the increased weight and bulk.

Similar thing with 3 or 4 leg section options. 3 leg sections is inherently more stable, but means the tripod doesn't fold up as small so it's less easy to carry.

As you see, there are tradeoffs either way. Either sacrifice some stability and/or height for greater portability, or vice versa

 

[CMB]

We have both three and four leg section tripods. If the tripod is well made we have found the four section tripod to be as stable and sturdy as the three section tripods.

The advanatage of a four section tripod collapsing to a smaller length is very nice.

 

[LRL]

Hi
Thanks to everyone for the much appreciated advice . At the end ,ive purchase de 055 + mvh500ah + sv406p.
I think that this combo fits my needs quite well at the moment . But I have one doubt . The fine focus wheel feels to lose or "soft" , so its somewhat hard for me to adjust focus when im using high magnification (40-60x). Is this something common with this scope ?

 

[jring]

Hi,

congratulations to your new kit! Please make sure to do a star test with the Svbony and let us know the results.

As for your fine focus wheel - it should not be actually loose as in you can wiggle it around - that would be a mechanical defect.

But fine focus wheels usually rotate quickly when you use the coarse focus, so they have to be able to rotate without much friction - otherwise the coarse focus with 10x the friction (for a 10:1 fine focus) would be impossible to move.

Also the view should not be soft at 60x - a crisp view with an easy to find point of best focus at 60x is the minimum requirement for an instrument - if your example does not provide that, chances are that your example has optical defects - please do a star test soon and let us know the results.

But make sure to test your scope on a cool and overcast morning to avoid heat haze aka bad seeing.

Joachim

 

[Troubador]

Hola. Yo te recomendaría que mirases un poco el mercado de segunda mano pues hay aficionados que cambian a un telescopio superior y venden su equipo a buen precio. He revisado un poco Wallapop y hay un Kowa 82SV en tu presupuesto, incluso un Zeiss diascope 85 (modelo anterior al actual) por unos 900 con trípode (yo suelo indagar un poco también en las opiniones que tienen los vendedores)
Un saludo y mucha suerte
Pedro

Hola Gypa
Graciñas por tu respuesta . El problema para mi con lo de segunda mano es que no tengo ni idea de ópticas , por lo que comprar telescopios usados me da bastante reparo la verdad .
Un saludo

Birdforum is an English language website. Please only post in English. Thank you and welcome.

Lee
MODERATOR