Another spotter question

[Phantom Hunter]

Am in the market for a spotter for an antelope hunt next year but will also use it for elk and mulies in the future. Top end glass is out of my budget, also have figured out the big 80mm lenses are more weight than I would carry in my pack on an elk hunt. I won't be doing any digiscoping either. So, which would be the best spotters in the 50-65mm range. Have looked on-line at Vortex Nomad, and Viper, Nikon prostaff, others??? Which would be the best value for my purposes?

 

[mmwb]

I don't know if it is in your price range, but I carried a Nikon ED50 this year. The optics are excellent and you can't beat the size or weight.

I carried an 80mm Nomad for a couple of years. It was my first spotter, is fair glass, and I found a lot of deer with it, but also a heavy beast (relatively speaking).

 

[Timberbuck]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-18-11 AT 00:27AM (MST)[p]Pentax PF65 ED2 best 60-65mm scope avaliable for under $800

Instead of getting the XF zoom eyepiece (20-60) with it consider the model XW-14 fixed eyepiece which will give you a sharp to the edges wide FOV at 28x. With this eyepiece the views rivals the best scopes avaliable.

If not its still a geat scope with the zoom eyepiece.

If you shop around you should be able to put this combination together easily for around $800.

 

[huntindad4]

+1 on the Pentax I have the 80mm and the fixed and zoom lenses and love it.

Do an internet search on it and look at the reviews especially on birding sites.

Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!

 

[hunt4130]

vortex

 

[notags2]

I to like the Vortex for the money.

 

[Touchdown88]

I bought the Viper HD 20-60x80mm and have been extremely happy with it. I compaired it to the Swarovski HD and was well pleased with the results. I think the Swaro spotter had a crisper feel to the picture but the Viper zoomed in closer.

For $550 the 15-45x65mm would be a perfect fit for being lightweight and compact.

 

[BIGJOHNT]

The Nikon prostaff 16 x 48 x 65 is on sale right now on camofire.com for 291.00 w/tripod.
But i do pack my razor without a problem.But my razor is the striaght model.

 

[alaska_bou]

If you want a great scope at a less-than used car price look at kowa. Kowa make a variety of models with 60, 65, 77 and 88mm lenses. IMO they are the best for the money under 1K for the 60mm.

Personally I would recommend to spend a little and get a used angled 65 swarovski. Not a big difference with HD to justify the price increase, but HD WILL help with color (color DOES make a difference when picking up game against rock or brush). My go-to scope is an ATM 65 HD, and I love it.

Second choice, a used leica televid 62 or 62 apo. Very compact and can be bougth for $900-1200.

The older generation green or silver zeiss are horrible for edge crispness and the eyepieces like to come unscrewed when adjusting the power. The new black zeiss scope are much, much better.

I started out with the gold ring 12-40x leupold, that was the biggest mistake and waste of money...

Unless you spend upwards of $1000 I don't think you will find anything that you will like, especially at 40x+. Larger lenses natually have a larger exit pupil and are more comfortable on the eye, however the twilight and heatwave difference was not enough to justify the extra size and weight for hunting, imo.