I read a few past threads and just wondering what your thoughts are on the true pros/cons of each type? Main use will be glassing for big game from both below and above.

It is easier to find the exact spot with a straight scope...

For really long glassing sessions it is easier to find a comfortable position with the angled...

I prefer to put up with struggling to get comfortable and use straight scopes. Most disagree with that position. I have seen many times where I was able to get the scope on critters far faster than any one else and that is the trade-off I prefer.

If you're up high looking down, and there's no cover to break up your outline (in other words skylined) your profile is higher with an angled scope.

Except if you turn it to the side, or even turn it down. I personally would never buy a straight scope. I feel you should adjust the scope to your position, not the position to a fixed scope. I think it is way easier to get beside a scope in prone or sitting than behind a straight scope.

What tripod are you using that allows you to turn the scope on its side, or down?

More likely the collar on the scope.

The collar on my Minox doesn't rotate.

Use both, no big deal. Just a tool and adapt!

Add up the pros and cons of each and the angled ends up the winner every time.

If your scope doesn't have a ring, you can make it happen with a ballhead type tripod head.

I switched from straight to angled. Prefer the angled.

Pro's with the angled;

- lower tripod height, helps in the wind, and profile.
- easier looking up the hill.
- you can pan a wide amount without moving yourself, or your tripod, just rotate the eyepiece.

+1

+2.

I thought that the straight might win out if I spot from the truck with a window mount and/or take up less space if I pack into a wilderness area?

I will try the straight one and maybe return it if it doesn't perform the way I like this season. Thinking about the Swarovski.

Make that +3

I like mine any ol way...here I'm laying on a rock side ways....using a ball head and a kick stand

The tripod makes a good spotter better

For long-term serious glassing sessions a high-quality pan head makes life much easier. I stepped up to a high-end Manfroto video head for moose hunting this year and believe I have "found it" at last.

With a huge Vortex tripod and big scope the stuff stays put and adjusts in any increment desired extremely smoothly at any speed.

I have seen too many completely lost trying to find something in an angled scope, only to find it instantly with the straight scope to believe that advantage is not real...

Another thing... the tripod can make or break the set-up. I am 6'4" and tripods do not come in my size. The angled is more comfortable to use standing up. Serious glassing does not usually involve standing up.

Hanging weight from the bottom of the tripod stem on the hook usually provided makes the whole thing a lot more stable.

The idiot idea of stabilizing the legs down low does not work anything like as well because it allows everything above the weight to vibrate in lightweight tripods. The hook puts the weight in the right place pulling in the right direction.

I don't glass with a spotting scope, I simply use a spotting scope to see how big animals are that have been spotted with my binos. In that situation I want to get on the animals quickly and easily. the angled is totally unnatural for me that way. at the range or in a situation where speed doesn't matter angled probably is better.

apparently angled is a better seller, doug says he sells angled 5 to 2 over straight. I would not buy an angled scope for me personally.

A couple of good posts by Sitka Deer. The tripod and head is a whole nuther conversation in and of itself.

I will say a Crown Royal bag full of rocks hung makes for a good tripod stabilizer. Sure you can use a small stuff sack from Wally World, but hey, have a little class!

Scope turns, Leica Televid APO. Monfrato tripod, but that does not matter. You can have less silhouetting with a lower position with the tilt, if that is your point.

Chevy, Ford...

I'm on an angled kick these days, with either a fluid head or a geared head depending on activity.

If one needs to "explain" why he wants to be looking,the way he is actually looking,all will be lost upon the recipient of that "news".

A Spotter is used to analyze and track,play by play...and the ONLY way to arrange same,is to be gawking where it is pointed simultaneously. Hint.

I mainly drive Gitzo,Giotto's and Manfrotto legs/heads. A ballhead simply has no equal and to connect the most dots by default,same is paired with a Straight Spotter.

I tend to shorten center columns to arrange same,which bolsters rigidity of the optic and am happiest in relative MPAJ Prone Rucktitude,with legs shortened as much as possible and splayed to yield more footprint,especially due the fact that I'm not Fence Hopping or playing Haybale & Crockett. The approach fends wind better than any other,due the reduction of surface area. Hint.

Pretty funny stuff!

John, I am usually sitting behind a tripod with 15x binos. When the need to replace the binos with a spotter arose, I found it much easier with a straight scope in terms of finding and aligning the target. I have always used a straight model. Also, when switching binos to the angled scope like I used from a friend, I needed to lower the height of the tripod legs to be able to look down into the eyepiece and still remain seated.
Someone mentioned that it is easier to look upward with an angled scope, which is true. It would be the opposite looking downhill though.

Manfrotto 190CXPRO4. A little on the heavy side, but worth it for stability and reliability....

Thanks Pat. I'll just have to suffer my pan head for a while, but those are nice.

At 6'5" I have come to appreciate that when standing behind an angled scope I can bend at the waist and don't have to squat like Im taking a dump behind a straight scope because 99.9% of the tripods in the world are too short.

At 6'4" I am not that much behind you... but those sessions of squatting like that are not required, usually and the angled scope will always be harder to find the critter in...

Just like Sitka and a bunch of others said, The angled is very comfortable with my thick neck, but for speed of finding your target the straight is much faster and easier.

I gotta throw in with those who prefer straight. I hate struggling to find something I found with my binos because sometimes "those things" don't hang around long.

One advantage to the angled eyepiece, at least for target shooting, is that you can set it up so that you can spot your shots with no more than a turn of the head, without breaking position. The straight eyepiece doesn't lend itself nearly so well to this.

+1

Had a Swarovski 65mm STM (straight) and traded here for a 65mm ATS and could not be happier with my Angled Swarovski.

The Swarovski does rotate so it super easy to get comfortable and stay low with it.

It's a close call but for the reasons given in the other posts I prefer a straight scope.........


Casey

Per usual, I found the solution to have some of each. In general I prefer straight for hunting and angled for the range.

Bushnell used to offer a spotting scope with a hinged eyepiece section that could either be used straight or angled. The optics weren't top-notch, however, probably because of the compromises involved.

Angled outsells straight by a wide margin...

I find people who hunt more tend toward straight and virtually all others prefer angled. Only one exception comes to mind and he does a lot of both...

I won't own another angled spotter. I bought one as my first upper tier spotter, a Razor HD, and couldn't believe how hard it was to actually get on something.

angled are easy to get on with a bit of effort. Then you get used to them.

After that the multitude of options of how to use them, including laying on your back looking up into the eyepiece is flat beyond amazing.

I have a straight eyepiece Zeiss though, because it was a good deal, but if I had my choices, they'd all be angled forever more.

Caveat we started angled in competition, and hence we have tons of hours behind them so they may be easier for us to use than for others to get used to, though we'd never used an angled one before we bought our two Kowa, and in the first match we used them at Carolyn and I never had an issue finding our targets or viewing them.

Using an angle eyepiece is no different than using mirrors to back up. You have to use them to know how. It sounds like there are a lot of people here that back up, looking over their shoulder.

Or maybe we have lots of experienced hunters here who know what they like and why.

Lots of people back up without mirrors too, I suppose you could call them experienced. The majority of responses about not using an angled eyepiece is their inability to find their object as easy as a straight eyepiece. Once you use the angled eyepiece like you do mirrors, you will find the angled eyepiece more versatile.

I've used a straight spotter for years and always "assumed", because of what I'd been told, straight was more versatile, easier to find an object with. That was until I used a couple of angled scopes over a several year period. I changed my mind.

I really have no problem finding objects with an angled scope, and angled is more comfortable to use (no need to repeat others input on the subject).

Suffice to say, I think a straight scope is at its best where weight and size are at a premium, like on a backpack hunt. Otherwise, I think all the marbles are in the angled scopes corner.

When I replace my current straight scope it will be an angled.

Your binos are straight, your rifle scope is straight......and spotting scope is straight. The pattern is there for a reason, it works.....

my periscope ain't straight......

Apparently you'd drive in reverse better if you started using your periscope properly...

I've used angled scopes a fair bit over the years, and will be sticking with my straight scopes. They prefer women, just like I do...

Packability is certainly an advantage, as you pointed out, especially designs like the Swarovski or the new Razor that don't have focus knobs sticking out.

If I was going to be only glassing with a spotting scope, I would probably run and angled just for comfort. When glassing all day long, they are just more comfortable.

I personally glass mostly through 15x binos on my tripod, then switch to a spotting scope for more power if I find something I need to check out. By using a straight eyepiece, I can lock down my head with the object in the center of my fov, remove the binos, put my spotter on backed down to 20 power and have the object in the fov without any adjustments. Then increase the power and fine tune to move the object to center if needed.

I'm glad to see the Razor lose the "sticky outy" focus knobs. I know of two spotters, one a Razor, that ended up with bent knobs.......

Casey

I have one of each. I prefer the angle.