Optics

[Archon]

Hi all, new here, great place!

Let me know if this is the wrong forum for this,

I am looking to get my father a spotting scope, MAINLY so that they can check out distant objects from their deck (They retired to a house on a cliff overlooking the Meramec River in Missouri) and there are a lot of pools people fish in, tons of wildlife etc, yadda yadda.

SO... the secondary reason for this purchase is that I do some shooting out there, and once Airgun Depot sends me my dern .22 Discovery, a lot MORE shooting.  It would be nice, when taking 50+ yard shots, to be able to spot the impacts without walking to the target each time.

That being said, I would like to get a spotting scope useful for both activities, and was wondering if any of you had any experience with such devices, and what your recommendations would be.

[fnash]

I am sure many of us use spotting scopes. But I find that most spotting scopes, except very expensive ones, are not very good for terrestrial viewing. I would suggest a small scope used for astronomy, around 70 or 80 mm refractor. I went thru this with a friend of mine who also just moved to a high point and wanted to  observe the distant.. If you want more information you can PM me.... FN

[dank]

I've not had much luck with inexpensive spotting scopes. They are just what they say Spotting scope as in you only see a small spot FOV is tiny. I have had much better luck with regular binoculars.  Larger the better. Impressed with a pair of Bushnell 16x50mm I took a chance on a pair of NcStar 16x60mm binoculars and I like them enough to recommend them. Field of view is fantastic.

[longislandhunter]

I don't own a spotting scope so I have no useful information regarding them but I"d like to comment on binoculars.  I probably own 4 or 5 different pair of  binoculars that I've bought over the years.  They were all cheap to moderate priced models and they work fine, however last year I finally broke down and bought an expensive pair, in my case it was a pair of high magnification "Nikon" binocs.  It killed me to shell out that kind of money for a pair of binoculars but I wanted to try a "good" pair for once,,, all I can say is OH MY GOODNESS,,,,  what  a difference.  What they say about about optics is true,,,, there's a reason the best ones cost so much  !!  I'm not pushing Nikon binoculars but my point is that perhaps a really good pair of binoculars, whatever brand you like, would work out well for your folks.  Just a thought.......

Jeff

[Archon]

Very cool!

Thanks a lot everyone, I think I will look into a nice fat pair of binos with a tripod.

[TCups]

Fujinon makes some very high quality binoculars.  Their astronomical models typically come with a tripod mount for celestial viewing.  If you would like a really nice pair of binos that could be used as a tripod mounted spotter scope, and to double for star gazing, chenk them out.

http://www.binoculars.com/binoculars/fujinon/7953+7954+8117.cfm

[rj conklin]

i have the fujinon fmtr-sx. it is an absolutely outstanding binocular. in this case, seeing is unbeliveable.

Delleted

i agree

in a book on optics i once read, the author made a very good point "if you want a cheap telescope for stargazing or terrestrial viewing, buy a pair of binoculars" and i have seen quite expensive large telescopes with plastic lenses, very soft images and with blinds fitted internally to reduce flare (which has the added effect of making a 100mm lens as dull as a 50mm) and on the other hand 40 euro 20 x 60 binoculars which were sharp right out to the edges

HTH

fin

[gamo2hammerli]

I don't own a spotting scope....but have 3 cheapie binoculars.  Those cheapie ones always give me a headache after 10 minutes of use.  If you have the money.....or wait until you have the money....get a $500.00+ one....it'll be worth it.  I've looked through a few of those high price ones.....and there's a HUGH difference between them and the cheap ones.

One thing I read on optics is; get something in the 5.?? diapoc (spelling error) range.....meaning  4X20mm = 5.0,   7X35mm = 5.0  or  10X50mm = 5.0.....that way the opening is about the same size as the opening in the pupil/iris.   CORRECT ME IF I"M WRONG.  A few bad examples would be 2X20mm = 10.0 (Too large....),  5X20mm = 4.0  etc.

good point

the classic military or navy binocular is the 7 x 50 which gives a exit pupil (EP) of 7mm which is the maximum your pupil will open up to so any bigger ep value will waste the gathered light, but only young eyes are capable of opening up to this size and only then in low light conditions, so the EP of 5mm is a good compromise

so to get an EP of 5mm with say 16x (an object 1 mile away will appear 110 yrds away) will require an objective lens of 80mm

fin

[gamo2hammerli]

Thanks NEARAIR.....that's what I was trying to say.....only you explained it better.  

[howie1a]

Hi Archon I have a pair of Bushnell 10 x 50 perma focus on ebay will end soon the opening bid is $35.00 plus shipping they are the perma focus type no knob to turn just put to your eyes and look easy , the item number is 12024894517  under howie1a  it's an option howie

[howie1a]

Archon sending you a pm howie