Spotting scope (1 Viewer)

[mickbe74]

'Er indoors has agreed to me forgoing my weekly beer allowance and saving for a scope(we're saving hard for a summer wedding).I'm thinking about £350 i know i'm not going to get a great scope for that type of money but i think i can get an RSPB 80mm scope with the 20-60 ep for about that or should i go for a better quality second hand one ? any advice would be appreciated or anyone wanting to upgrade and sell on their old scope.Thankyou.

 

[kristoffer]

I recommend a second hand then. Really spend as much as you can. A good scope will help your birding so much, and a poor scope will annoy you. If you can´t get a premium scope, you probably should stay away from zooms. Celestron Regal does make a good zoom though, and is kinda cheap. The 65mm version costs about £350. It´s weak side is that it is quite heavy.

 

[Marmot]

If you can sweetheart her today then get one from Aldi who are selling them £19.99
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/2827_12865.htm [are todays special and will have limited stock in stores]

Yes they are not Leica Swaro etc, but you could always use this as a temp stopgap here is a link to a thread about them from previoius offer
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=106929&highlight=aldi

 

[hollis_f]

Yup, I'd get the Aldi £20 scope and use that while you save a bit more cash or wait for the right second-hand bargain. And when you do get another scope, it sounds like you might be able to sell the Adli one for a profit on Ebay.

 

[mickbe74]

Thanks for the replys guys,i had a cheap scope before and i didn't use it because my bins were better,i think i'll hold out for the best 2nd hand one i can afford,i've seen Kowa TSN 2's and the like going for £300ish on E-bay,any tips on this type of scope ?

 

[black kite 1964]

Buy the aldi scope. Save up and get a TSN 3 and put one of the newer kowa lens.

A cunning plan.

Regards.

Baldrick!! :cat:

 

[David Smith]

'Er indoors has agreed to me forgoing my weekly beer allowance and saving for a scope
I'm thinking about £350 i.

Is that just 1 weeks allowanceB

 

[Middy24]

Hi

Im looking to buy my first 'scope has anyone got any good suggestions please? I have around £350-400 to spend.

Cheers

Middy

 

[etudiant]

Hi
The scope is really two decisions, the body and the eyepiece.
The bulk of the improvements in scopes are in the eyepiece, so you would be better served imo to get a good scope that accepts standard 1.25" mounting astronomy eyepieces. Celestron and Pentax are among the brands that are so fitted.
You can get the Celestron Regal or Ultima with a decent 30x eyepiece on your budget and it should serve you well for years.
If the optics bug bites, there are masses of great eyepieces for sale used on sites like Cloudy Nights or Astromart
There are lots of threads on this topic on this site, so you can get up to speed easily.
Note that changing eyepieces may mean compromised or absent waterproofing, although Pentax for instance seals the body irrespective of the eyepiece with an optical glass barrier in some models.

 

[mickbe74]

Is that just 1 weeks allowanceB

In my younger days maybe

 

[Baron Birder]

There is a 2nd hand TSN 2 FOR £349 Kay Optics see

http://www.kayoptical.co.uk/cat.asp?cat=Terrestrial Telescopes&catid=9

You can go and try them out there or at their field days or have it posted as Birmingham is a bit far

 

[mickbe74]

There is a 2nd hand TSN 2 FOR £349 Kay Optics see

http://www.kayoptical.co.uk/cat.asp?cat=Terrestrial Telescopes&catid=9

You can go and try them out there or at their field days or have it posted as Birmingham is a bit far

Good site,thanks.

 

[Russ Jones]

I think seconed hand 50mm Nikon scopes go for around that. Iv never used one but I here they are fantastic... and very portable! Might want to check ebay, or the classifieds on here for one of those.

Russ

 

[James Thomas]

Hi

Im looking to buy my first 'scope has anyone got any good suggestions please? I have around £350-400 to spend.

Cheers

Middy

A bit over budget and don't know this company but they are selling Hawke Frontier ED 80's at £580, about £70 cheaper than anywhere else. Haven't seen the scope but assuming they are as good as the bins, thats a bargain.



http://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=hawke_frontier_ed_spotting_scope_20x60x80

http://www.hawkeoptics.com/spottingscopes/frontier_ed/index.php