Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Best overall spotter you have owned/used ?

I have been wondering about those fixed power Pentax. I have been considering the 65mm witch would be 30 or 33 fixed.

Over the last 50 years I have owned or had the opportunity to use many spotting scopes. I recently purchased a Celestron Regal M2 65ED, and it is really nice all things considered. It uses standard 25mm eyepieces and the image quality is great with both zoom and fixed Celestron eyepieces I have. Everything operates smoothly and the overall size is convenient. I bought it from B&H for $409.99 + a $50.00 rebate from Celestron. The final price of $359.99 combined with the high quality of the scope makes it my current favorite.

The best one i had, but sold a few years ago was a Fujinon Super 60. That was around $600.00 if i remember correctly and was great. I am running a Celestron right now which is sufficient for my uses.

The first and only I've had is a 16-48x65 Vortex Razor HD, which for under $1000 has been great to me, not to heavy and had no issues finding Coues deer with it.

Swarovski and Leica are the two that I've had that I wish I'd kept. Swarovski for the sharpness and clarity, Leica for the color rendition/definition and the clarity.
Too bulky to pack with but I've done it for glassing for game in the mountains in SE NM.
Minox also has some really good glass in the 'lower' price range as well.

My Zeiss Victory 85mm TFL-amazing on 75X when atmospheric and light conditions allow. Wide angle on lower powers. Not perfect in every way but close enough. Bought a demo at a great price or I would own the Meopta 82mm or a Swarovski ATS 80mm HD instead.

Pentax PF 65 ED2 with their excellent XW14 wide angle eyepiece.Great but limited to the 28x the combo generates.

Nikon ED50 with 13x30 zoom. Better than you would ever think it would be. Weighs next to nothing.

Honorable mention-Vortex Razor HD 85-damn good scope for the money.

CameralandNY has fixed power Pentax eyepieces on sale most of the time. 2 fixed cost about the same as one Pentax variable. My variable eyepiece is as good as my vision can tell (I wear eyeglasses, so European scopes are kind of wasted because of the extra glass-air interfaces) until it's completely maxed out. Then even I can see the image degrade. Just like my Pentax 55-300mm camera lens.

Man, what a setup...fine glass abounds, but that 95mm is simply awesome.

Elkivory: I use my many and varied spotting scopes at the Rifle range and in the field for game spotting, Varminting and trophy assessment.
I also use them for entertainment for myself, my family and friends to view nature (Fox, Deer, Antelope, Badgers, game birds and the like) with from my homes sun rooms viewing windows.
When back-packing for Mt. Goats, archery season Elk, spring Bear and the like I refuse to lug along one of the larger spotters I own.
Your posting asked for "best over-all" spotter - and to that end I recommend either a 20 or 25 power old style (no longer made but are easily found on the used market) Leupold Gold Ring fixed power spotters.
These are armor coated and are weather-proof.
I do not recall eyelash interference with either of my Leupolds.
I have been using them for years and have as yet to find them lacking in any regard - and they are relatively light weight and compact.
Yesterday I headed out for a distant gunshow here in Montana and ended up buying a fixed 30 power armor coated Burris spotting scope at a great price - it is way heavier than my Leupolds but is very clear optically.
I spent the morning fixing up a carrying case for it and for a window mount so I can leave it in my VarmintMobile year round.
Best of luck to you with whichever you decide on.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I went with 85mm X series, I wish I went with the 95 and the 65..

I have GOT! to get me one of those Konus scopes just to finally see what all of the fuss is about. I have a question though; how is their resale value?

When you absolutely have to have the best.

The one you can actually carry reasonably. For economy, size and working in real life I'm still blown away with Nikon's 50ED 13-30. It impresses me because it's light and small enough to actually have it with me.

I have owned: Redfield from the late 90's 15-45x60, Nikon 30x Fieldscope, Leopold Gold Ring 12-40x60, Zeiss 15-45x65, Zeiss Image Stabilized fixed 20x60, Leica 16-48x62, and Swaro 20-60x85 collapsable. My hunting partner has a 1st gen Cabelas Euro 82MM Meopta.

The Leica is optically the best of the bunch, the Meopta is 2nd, Swaro is 3rd, and they're all very good and pretty darned close. The Pre-Fluorite Zeiss was better than the leupold I'd been using but a significant step down from the Swaro and Leica (I owned all 3 at the same time and was able to compare them side by side many times).

Those early USA-made Redfields are sleeper scopes. I used one in '13 next to my APO Leica and I was very impressed. I thought it was going to be junk, but was shocked with the edge-to-edge clarity. My friend told me it was an older scope handed down to him.

My all time fave is the APO Leica 62mm. Even the non-APO is right up there...
I have several scopes and my Swaro HD is really stellar ergonomically with it's large focus ring, but IMHO...pound for pound the lightweight Leica is the best glass ever--and to me as a backpack hunter it is all about weight and pack-ability.

The little 62mm is numero uno for its pricepoint....

Owned Kowa 77? and a 65, leupold 25x gold ring, 20x 50 steel Bushnell made in Japan, 3 Zeiss 65 FtL and 85 mm, Minox 50mm, Pentax 65 ED, 2 nikons, 1 fujinon 65mm(POS) and 1 unertl.

Easiest to use was the Kowa 77 with the 27x LER eyepiece.

Zeiss was and is the best, but the pentax is a close 2nd.

The old 20x bushnell steel tube made in the 70's was the best deal and it's very clear. 65.00 plus shipping with the tripod bench mount and a window mount..

I made the mistake of going to a local store that had a good selection of spotting scopes. I liked the higher end Vortex, Zeiss and Leupold but when I looked through the Leica Apo 65 I had to take it home. Fortunately they had mislabelled the price so I save a bit. The others were good but the Leica was great.... eye popping. Great brightness, color fidelity, sharpness and eye relief. I haven't regretted the purchase for a minute and as a side benefit no longer look at spotting scopes for purchase as I can't imagine better though a guy had a new Swarovski at the range which was as good. (Well to be honest I do look at the mini's as the 65 does have some heft)

Ya done good, North...that is fine glass.

I've heard great things about that little Leica myself, but make no mistake.....the highest quality larger objective spotters will out resolve one's with smaller objectives every time. Can't beat physics. The extra heft and size may not be worth it to some, I'll admit.