Straight travel scope help/recommendations (1 Viewer)

[Mother_of_birds]

I am driving myself mad trying to find the right travel scope so someone please please help me! I have owned a travel scope before; a Celeston Hummingbird ED which I was very disappointed with and ended up selling it. But now I'm going to coastal reserves more often and find my 8x binoculars are not quite enough.
A couple of things that are important to me are that it is straight and small/light so looking primarily at 50mm objectives.
I would prefer it to start at a relatively low magnification (i.e. 12-36x rather than 20-40x) and have a good field of view.
Its also important that the focus and zoom adjust aren't too stiff since I want to be able to use it off a tripod - when I tested a couple out I found the Kowa zoom was so stiff that the scope was going all over the place and would cause me to loose my target in a real life situation. The store only had angled ones and I actually did find one I really liked (Viking Swallow 50), came home thinking I could find a straight version online but apparently Viking only do angled scoped. Was gutted since I can get the angled version for only £100!
As for my budget I don't have a huge amount to work with, would like to keep it under £250 but would be willing to stretch a bit for the right scope.

 

[wllmspd]

Why straight? It may be easier to sight along them, but you need a taller tripod which will be less stable and looking out of lower level hide windows can become a little tricky.
Good field of view in a zoom is a tricky ask as almost all zooms get narrow at the low end.
Peter

 

[Mother_of_birds]

Why straight? It may be easier to sight along them, but you need a taller tripod which will be less stable and looking out of lower level hide windows can become a little tricky.
Good field of view in a zoom is a tricky ask as almost all zooms get narrow at the low end.
Peter

I thought a straight would be easier to use in terms of finding the bird. I struggled with the angled, I know I'd probably learn in time but also thought the straight would be more suited to hand-held use? I think I would most likely use it either hand-held and in hides, rather than standing with a full tripod and even if I did end up going down the full tripod route I am pretty short anyway lol. But please tell me if I am wrong.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

That is a tight budget, but you may just be in luck:

Used Hawke Endurance 12-36X50 Straight Eyepiece Scope

www.harrisoncameras.co.uk

HAWKE ENDURANCE ED 50MM

If you want a bit more reach than your bins provide, but don’t fancy lugging a large scope around, this is a great option. Optical performance is more than adequate for most situations, and this is a scope that genuinely does fit in your pocket, if you’re birding around the world.

www.birdwatching.co.uk

 

[DMW]

I know this is all ultimately personal opinion and preference, but I would say that an angled scope generally makes more sense for the reasons articulated above. Once you get above a certain magnification, hand-holding a scope is more or less pointless in my experience. You are always better finding something to brace your scope - a tree, a branch, a fence, a hide sill, car door etc. With an angled scope, comfortable viewing is possible at a range of heights, whereas a straight scope has to be just the right.
I know everybody fixates on the optical quality of scopes, but having decent support is just as important if not more so. A $3,000 Swarovski on a wobbly tripod will give a far worse image than a far cheaper scope on a rock solid mount.

 

[Mother_of_birds]

That is a tight budget, but you may just be in luck:

Used Hawke Endurance 12-36X50 Straight Eyepiece Scope

www.harrisoncameras.co.uk

HAWKE ENDURANCE ED 50MM

If you want a bit more reach than your bins provide, but don’t fancy lugging a large scope around, this is a great option. Optical performance is more than adequate for most situations, and this is a scope that genuinely does fit in your pocket, if you’re birding around the world.

www.birdwatching.co.uk

That looks like a good find, thank you!

 

[Mike Crawley]

I imagine that you would be able to look at those Hawke 'scopes fairly local to you. Their website shows 4 outlets in Norfolk.

I have owned a few pairs of Hawke binoculars and they were great value for money (my current pocket binoculars are Hawke). A good mate had a Hawke 'scope for his first and it performed well.

 

[Mother_of_birds]

I imagine that you would be able to look at those Hawke 'scopes fairly local to you. Their website shows 4 outlets in Norfolk.

I have owned a few pairs of Hawke binoculars and they were great value for money (my current pocket binoculars are Hawke). A good mate had a Hawke 'scope for his first and it performed well.

Yes I just had a look too and one of the stores is only a mile away. They don't have the straight version on their website but do have the angled so hoping they have it in the shop so at least I can check out the image, field of view, how stiff the zoom/focus is etc. Just waiting for them to open =)

 

[Essex Tern]

There is nothing wrong if you prefer straight scopes, I have only ever used straight scopes, but I am not especially tall at 5ft8 so don’t struggle getting a support high enough.

The learning curve to an angled shouldn’t take long though.

Incidentally a straight scope can be better if viewing windows are on the high side, and also if you are able to set it at the right height there is no need to bend your neck/back, so that can be a big plus.

 

[Mother_of_birds]

There is nothing wrong if you prefer straight scopes, I have only ever used straight scopes, but I am not especially tall at 5ft8 so don’t struggle getting a support high enough.

The learning curve to an angled shouldn’t take long though.

Incidentally a straight scope can be better if viewing windows are on the high side, and also if you are able to set it at the right height there is no need to bend your neck/back, so that can be a big plus.

I'm only 5'3 so I can't see a tripod being an issue either, but to be honest I'm going to see how I get on without any support first, see when and where I use it the most then I can decide on what sort of tripod to get, either table, full, monopod... I was looking at shoulder pods also.

 

[Mother_of_birds]

That is a tight budget, but you may just be in luck:

Used Hawke Endurance 12-36X50 Straight Eyepiece Scope

www.harrisoncameras.co.uk

HAWKE ENDURANCE ED 50MM

If you want a bit more reach than your bins provide, but don’t fancy lugging a large scope around, this is a great option. Optical performance is more than adequate for most situations, and this is a scope that genuinely does fit in your pocket, if you’re birding around the world.

www.birdwatching.co.uk

Thanks again for the find, I just ordered it =D

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Thanks again for the find, I just ordered it =D

Welcome, enjoy it. Not too many user reviews for that scope, so could be worth posting your thoughts once you've had chance to use it a while 👍🏼

 

[Hermann]

I thought a straight would be easier to use in terms of finding the bird. I struggled with the angled,

Make your own simple sight (aiming) device for telescopes: illustrated instructions

Here are instructions and illustrations for making an effective, simple, quick and cheap aiming device suitable for any angled-view telescope. The instructions consist of an article which I originally wrote for Alula and which were later also published in Birding, and a series of illustrations...

www.birdforum.net

Hermann