Spotting Scopes

[Xstream Outfitters]

Can anyone recommend any good spottings scopes? Essentially, best bang for the buck with a maximum zoom of about 60 to 80x. I'm willing to spend $$$, but paying less is always better.

[SmallGameStalker]

It's been quite awhile since I looked into spotting scopes. My 40mm Bushnell zoom scope has served me well for what I need.

60-80x seems like quite a bit of magnification, for best image quality, you're going to want the objective lens on the spotting scope to be somewhere in the 50-90mm range to give you nice crisp images at that level of magnification. You're also going to want a very sturdy and stable tripod (not one of those tabletop jobs) to mount this scope on.

My astronomical telescope is a Meade and I've been quite pleased with its performance over the years. Like I said, my Bushnell spotting scope is also good, but it was bought by my grandfather in the 1960's, so I can't really speak about Bushnell's current level of quality. Check out Orion Telescope center on the web at www.telescope.com (http://www.telescope.com) they might have something suitable for you.

Hope this helps,

[7MM Magnum]

here's another link you can look through,... they've got some pretty good prices on optics of all types. :D


http://www.opticsplanet.net/spottingscopes.html

[Swamp Monster]

Size and weight are obviously not a concern if you truly want that kind of power. And if you plan to try to use that kind of power, top quality is an absolute must and you are not going to get that in a bargain. Go with the Pentax ED line up......not cheap by any standards but awesome. They have numerous eye pieces and magnifications to make these very versatile.

You'll find, that unless your looking at stars and planets, 60-80x will be almost useless under most conditions. Sunny warm days, forget it, mirage will make everything blurry. Snowy conditions...same thing, especially on bright days. Dark overcast days, brightness will be an issue at those power ranges etc. In the end you'll be paying more for little effectiveness. Course not sure what the intended use is either

I would go with a top end of 60x (but you'll use 20-30x far more often) with an objective in the 70-80mm range. And the Pentax ED line up of scopes imo, even before the Swarovski's and Leicas. But look at each of them.