Honestly, whenever I am in my thoughts I try to figure out which brand make the best spotting scope. I had made use of a few brands, like Leica and Swarovski.
I will like to hear your opinion on this and I might consider buying the one with the best review. Thanks.
I bought a Vortex Razor three years ago. Fail on my part! It is a made in China POS. Glass is average at best, body of the scope has required loctite to stay together. Lifetime warranty that will be needed.
I bought a Vortex Razor three years ago. Fail on my part! It is a made in China POS. Glass is average at best, body of the scope has required loctite to stay together. Lifetime warranty that will be needed.
Interestingly today my Razor Spotting scope fell over on the tripod today and cracked the body. I am a little shocked
A crack in the body will require sending the scope back to Vortex. I am sure they will replace it. Hopefully it’s returned to you before your hunting season starts.
We have several too-notch spotting scopes, including a Leica, Meopta, Nikon Fieldscope II, and Swarovski. They're all excellent, and the only practical difference between them is the size/magnification (and hence the application) of each of the scopes. Have used all of them enough in the field to know you probably wouldn't miss seeing something with one and not another--except perhaps in really dim light, where the 75mm objective of the Meopta makes a slight but noticeable advantage over the somewhat smaller objectives of the other scopes.
The problem is that there are many types of needs for different sizes. I like the ATX modular Swaro system but a lot of people who I respect like the new Kowa spotters.
Honestly, whenever I am in my thoughts I try to figure out which brand make the best spotting scope. I had made use of a few brands, like Leica and Swarovski.
I will like to hear your opinion on this and I might consider buying the one with the best review. Thanks.
Davis.
New Guy,
How about before wasting our time you define your:
Budget?
What other high end optics do you actually own and what brand preference do you have?
Specifically what exact brand and model of bino do you own?
Will you be backpacking hunting or using it off your deck to look at the neighbors or something in between?
What game do you actually hunt?
Do you have a quality tripod?
Will you spend the cash to get a quality tripod and what head to you intend to purchase?
Do you understand angled vs straight eyepieces?
Do you understand the tradeoffs for larger and smaller objectives?
A crack in the body will require sending the scope back to Vortex. I am sure they will replace it. Hopefully it’s returned to you before your hunting season starts.
Yeah, 3 to 6 weeks....good thing I have good backup stuff. The last two I purchased were the Nikon Fieldscope and it had internal failure, I replaced it with the Vortex razor.These are compact scopes. Vortex had already replaced the eyepiece last year. I have a 60 year old Bushnell Spacemaster that has never failed or fogged. And it has had brutal use in the mountains for months at a time in my youth.
In these threads I always wonder how many oi the posters with firm opinions have used a bunch of different spotting scopes.
I just counted 22 spotting scopes in one big drawer. I was looking for some to give to a couple kids I REALLY respect and want to reward for their work. There is more than one drawer... One is getting a spotter and a Franchi Intensity...
Good idea to actually handle and look through scopes before making a decision. Don't overlook eye relief and don't rely on published specs on the eye relief. Actually check it yourself.
I've never looked through a higher powered variable with great eye relief, especially toward the high end. Of those I actually looked at, an older Swarovski was the best, but Zeiss was close.
If you want to get serious reviews of spotters, check out the birdwatching forums.
Having owned and used Swarovski, Zeiss, B&L, Nikon and Kowa's , I still haven't found one that I prefer carrying in the field more than my gold ring Leupold. I prefer its light weight, compact size, 12 power lower end, its hell for tough and gives up very little, if any, optically to the others
I've owned a handful of nice spotters, and got to fiddle and compare the spotters out hunters brought into camps for over 15 years. IMO, and I'm not a backpack hunter.....
Best, money no object--Swaro modular (ATX?) system. The 95mm objective is stupid good. Best bang for the buck--Meopta S2. Preferred it to Kowa 884 in side by side comparisons, far superior to Zeiss FL T 85mm Easiest to use, forgiving eyebox and eye relief, and uber tough--Leupold GR 15-45x
Among the scopes that get great reviews from birding sites are the top-grade Pentax. They are not the handiest for some hunting, but have used them enough to know they have fantastic optics. However, as with many other fine spotters, they work best with certain eyepieces, especially fixed-power--which are not the best for hunting in various light conditions.
But GREAT glass! If you are sitting and glassing long distances, they work very well for hunting.
For my general western hunting use here in CO and WY, the Leupold Gold Ring 12-40 seems about perfect. Several hunting friends have Swarovskis, leicas, and kowa, and I will admit that the clarity is better on some of them toward the top end. Occasionally I get tempted to buy a Swaro for the image improvement, but then remember how compact, light, and user friendly the Leupold is and put the wallet back in my pocket. It all comes down to best for your application. I am usually just trying to find critters, size up antlers, etc... this year with a sheep tag in my pocket I have had a few instances where it would be nice to have a better spotter to age the rams, but I can still judge their horn size just fine with the Leupold....even a long ways away.
Eye fatigue makes all the difference for me. I've got a Vortex RAzor that I used but my eyeballs were killing me at the end of spending any time behind it. I've got an older Leica Televid 62 and a Swaro STS 80. The only one that doesn't give me a headache at the end of a long day is the Swaro. That Vortex is rough