Bird Watching Spotting Scopes & Telescopes Information

Bird Watching Spotting Scopes and Telescopes

A bird watching spotting scope or telescope is the way to go to reach out and touch a bird or any wildlife. A bird watcher should get an angled rotating eyepiece spotting scope, unless you want to be on your knees most of the time, because more than likely the bird will be high in a tree. Also, if you intent to take pictures, you need to get a spotting scope that can mount a SRL digital camera, or a digital camera spotting scope, but most will not give you the quality picture that you'll get from a digital camera, unless you can find one that will take pictures at 5 megapixels or better. Any camera at below 5 mp, forget about cropping and/or enlarging the picture.

The angled spotting scope or straight spotting scope? The angled bird watching spotting scope eyepiece can be rotated in its mount, allowing a person to look down into it, or to look into it from the side. The image looks right side up no matter from what angle you look into the scope and will facilitate short to tall people without needing to adjust the spotting scope. You just turn the eye piece in its collar without moving the scope itself. No more trying to find the bird again. Oh, and don't forget about the times you need to point the spotting scope down the side of a hill. One other thing to consider about an angled spotting scope, the tripod, get a good one and adjust the legs as short as possible keeping it low to the ground or table, it'll be more stable.

Bird watching spotting scope optices, 20-60x is about max for a reasonably priced spotting scope, actually, at 60x it may be marginal. There are spotting scope and telescopes that have excellent optics that will go into the 80x to 120x, but be ready for sticker shock, it can go well above $1,000. Also, a bird watching spotting scope may not come with magnification eye pieces or a zoom eyepiece, these will cost more. The exception to the rule for me is I normally don't find zoom lens a good choice, because I've found zoom eyepieces lose their clarity and sharpness starting around the outer edges to the entire viewing area, as you zoom to the higher power, however, a zoom eyepiece is faster and easier to change magnification than removing an eyepiece and replacing it for another magnification, and zoom lenses are getting much better at the higher powers. Be sure to check the zoom control to be smooth and easy to change or you may lose sight of your bird.

Bird watching spotting scope objective lens is very important. Pay attention to the size of the objective lens, 60 mm is the smallest you might want, the 80 mm will provide better light, and a larger field of view. Some bird watching spotting scopes have objective lenses in the 100 mm range. These can be very expensive, but oh my oh my, are they breathtaking.

The weight of the spotting scope is also important, if you are backpacking into remote areas.

One of best of the best bird watching scopes is the Zeiss 85 mm Diascope with 20-60x Vario eyepiece. A wonderful spotting scope. This Zeiss is brighter at dusk than the other top scopes. On top of that it has highest resolution score by most reviews, and is one of the lightest-weight scopes of its size and is waterproof.

A few other highly rated spotting scopes, especially for their resolution, are the Swarovski's ATS80, the Leica's 77mm APO Telvid, and the Kowa TSN-824 with fluorite optical glass, which has an objective lens of 82mm, and an improved 20-60x zoom eyepiece, and is full waterproofed.

A couple of the lightest weight, top end, compact bird watching spotting scopes is the Swarovski ATS65 HD Scope, with a objective lens of 65 mm and 20-60x eyepiece, and the Kowa Prominar TSN663-ED 66 mm. Their clarity, contrast, and detail are beyond measure, resolution as good as 80 mm scopes.

One of the best spotting scope optics, for the money, is the Pentax PF-80ED 80 mm bird watching spotting scope with very good optics at a much lower price. It usually comes with a 20-60x zoom eyepiece. However, the Pentax PF-80ED is a heavier scope and not considered compact.

One of the best spotting scopes for glass wearers, Swarovski new ST-80 HD, both top-quality ED and fluorite optical glass and a superb 20x-60x zoom eyepiece that really works for eyeglass wearers. This eyepiece provides a bright and sharp view, even at 60x magnification. An ED (extra-low dispersion) and fluorite glass has the benefit to bring the primary colors together thus reducing color fringing and improved clarity.

Other bird watching spotting scopes for eyeglass wearers are; the Bausch & Lomb Elite 77mm, the Fujinon Super ED 80 scope, and the Nikon 78mm ED Fieldscope. Keep in mind, it's the eyepiece you buy that you need to be considered for glasses.

A few low to moderate priced spotting scopes to consider; the Swift Nighthawk 849, the Celestron Ultima 80, and Vortex Nomad or Skyline. Other manufactures to consider for low prices are Bushnell, and Eagle Optics.

The key to choosing the right bird watching spotting scope is to first talk to other birders, then decide what qualities you want in your bird watching spotting scope, then check that against your budget, finally, find a dealer you can trust to help and support you.

Happy Bird Watching.