ok fellas not sure if this is in the right sub forum so if not mods please move. i'm contemplating my first spotting scope and i'm wanting a meopta meostar 82 hd. now i've not used a spotting scope much at all and being from MS we don't glass for miles and miles like all you out west cats do. so, this spotting scope will be for checking my zero on sighting in rifles with maybe some 800 yd and closer glassing from the shooting house. i know i want the meopta but i don't have a clue as to get the straight or angled scope. this is a huge optics purchase so i don't wanna make a $2k mistake if i can at all help it. so, would y'all please give me some input as to where a straight scope is better and where a angled is the better choice?
thanks,
BigEd

I like straight spotters, but it's purely personal preference. My take is that I'm not much of a mountain hunter so I seldom have to look up at extreme angles so a straight spotter is easier for me to acquire a quick target.

One thing that is for sure is that the S2 is a world class spotter, well built, and Meopta has great customer service if you need it. It has no peer, with the possible exception of the newer Swaro modular spotters that cost $3-$4k. Even then it ain't much.

When you are acquiring a target down range, meaning you see something with your eye and then you want to find it through your spotter, it is more intuitive with a straight spotter. Having said that angled eye spotters out sell straight spotters like 70 to 30. I think the ergonomics of looking through the angled spotter is just that much more comfortable for most applications. Most tripods don't even go high enough for a full size man to stand up straight and look through at eye level. If your laying prone and glassing, you would have to have your head crooked up at an uncomfortable angle to see through a straight, so just think about the position you will be in and how you will use it, will be mounted on a mini tripod or a full size tripod? You will you be looking up hill, down hill, across the plains? If you are only using it to check hit's for a few moments at a time, I don't know that it will really matter, but for extended glass sessions I think angled unless your always looking downhill.

If you are using it on a bench, or shooting across level/flat distances, the straight body is the way to go - JMHO.

If you are going to do any viewing at elevations above you, go with the angled spotter.

It doesn't take much of an angle up to be a PITA with the straight scope, and wish you had the angled body.

thanks for the input fellas and keep it coming please. it will mostly be used at the bench but maybe some prone on a mat thrown in for good measure. maybe even outta a shooting house evaluating a bucks rack. probably not much uphill downhill glassing as that just not the way we deer hunt here in MS. i would love to do that one day as it looks way more proactive than just sitting in a box blind over looking a grass patch waiting for your prey to enter the field. i'd like to do the glassing thing then decide to make a sneak or not.
thanks,
BigEd

How tall are you? At 6'5" I have trouble with straight tube scopes if I am standing as most tripods don't extend high enough for me to see thru the scope w/o bending or squatting. I suggest you mount the scope on a tripod and try it from various positions sitting ,standing etc. to se if you have a preference.

In my opinion and experience, an angled spotter is way more versatile. With the combination of angled eyepiece and rotating body, it can cover all kinds of body positions, angles and directions more comfortably than a straight. The only downsides I have experienced is it takes a little practice to get on target quickly, and the angled doesn't always fit into a small backpack as neatly as a straight. So there are a couple instances where a straight might be a little more user friendly, but it will never have the versatility of an angled. I even prefer using my angled at the range. If I was making a big purchase on a spotting scope, it would be angled for sure. The angled can still do everything that a straight can, but you can't get the flexibility of an angled spotter out of a straight spotter.

I started out with a straight spotter, but once I tried an angled shooter I’m hooked. No way would I ever want to go back to a straight spotter is so much more fatiguing to use. The angled spotter is the best way to go.

I spend a ridiculous amount of time behind various spotters and often spend better than 8 hours a day just glossing, for weeks. And it is not level country!

I use straight scopes, virtually always. Yes, angled scopes are more comfortable in many circumstances, but I can find a position where they are comfortable.

The huge advantage to a straight scope is speed in acquiring a spot on a distant mountainside when needed. It makes it easier to find an animal that may only hang around in sight for a few minutes.

If you get all hung up on picking up the most comfortable glass instead of picking the best glass for the job you may regret it later... and it is possible to leisurely adjust things for comfort but not when trying to follow a Kodiak bear through the alders.

Agree with Sitka 100%

Straight Spotting scope for me try putting the Delie,r on a piece of moose antler 3 miles away the straight is easier to get on target.

Delie,r is my nickname for the spotting scope on a possible spotting.

Weight is crucial if your packing it also I have one to spot from camp and a LW one to hike with.

I had difficultie acquiring distant targets when first switched to angled, but with a bit of practice I no longer have a problem getting it on target quickly.

If I only had a nickel for every time someone told me that and failed!

I like mine.

Just flipping a little fun at you, no insult intended.

I have a Minox Marine field glass that reads out heading and inclination that can be real useful when trying to get someone on a tough spot. There are several bins that do it now and it really speeds things up over the "that green bush next to the Brown one by the snow patch."

For the use you described that scope sounds like about $1500 overkill. You may be way ahead to go with a $500 Nikon/Vortex/Whatever. Make sure you will use it enough to justify the expense, figure out if you like straight or angled, what power range suits you best. I live out west and the only spotter I regularly use is a 1980's Leupold Gold ring 20x50. Sure there are bigger and better, but this little spotter is super handy - 20X is about all I can use from field positions with a lightweight tripod and best of all this one actually goes with me instead of sitting in the truck.

All I have personally used are straight spotting scopes. I do a lot of glassing out of pickups and the straights work alot better. I have traveled with guys that have the angled and by the time they get on target, the target is either gone or moved. When backpacking the straight fits easier in your pack. Where I glass I am usually looking down rather than up in our mountains, so you really have a hard time trying to get comfortable with an angled spotter.