Meade 20-60x60 Spotting Scope at Costco

[Tehoke01]

I was at Costco yesterday and I picked up a 20-60 x 60 spotting scope by Meade for $60.00.

It may not be leupold or Zeiss, but hell, for $60 you cant go wrong...

...I was easily able to read 3/4" writing on a wall from across the store.

It comes with a soft case for the scope as well as a padded hard case that fits both the scope and the included tripod.

I called Meade to ask about the specs on this scope as it was not listed on their US/Canada site nor on any of their international sites but other than it showing up on their inventory list they didn't have any info about it ...

...Oh well, I guess time will tell if I bought a $60 piece of junk or got a real bargain!!!

 

[CanFire]

Heck, $60 and it comes with a soft case, hard case, and a tripod?! I'm heading to Costco tomorrow.

 

[gorky]

I would have picked one up too if not for the two other scopes I just bought over the last two months. Seems like a decent buy.

 

[308BAR]

Keep the receipt if anything goes wrong with it you can return it regarless of time. Gotta love the Costco guarantee.

 

[eos]

As an amateur astronomer, the name Meade usually has a good connotation for me when it comes to astronomical instruments. I don't think the spotter in question falls into that category.

For $60.00 I'd expect about $60.00 worth of optics . As a rule, there's no free lunch when it comes to optical quality.

BTW, Meade Instruments also owns Weaver now. Do they have a similar unit? Might be the same one re-badged.

Meade does make a quality spotter: the ETX-90 Maksutov.
Requires a separate 1.25 inch zoom eyepiece or can be used with standard 1.25 inch telescope eyepieces in various FLs for fixed powers.

 

[djwf69]

Meade scope

I saw the scope as well i was wondering if anyone has used the scope and is it worth it or should I pass ?

 

[homer76]

I have one of the Meade spotting scopes and it works quite well for spotting (I shoot .223 out to 200 yards). My only complaint is I need to remove my shooting glasses in order to look through the scope. But I can't complain considering how inexpensive they are.

 

[trubluscrew]

Here is a small comparative of the Mead and the Bushmaster from Crappy Tire. (Cut and pasted from another thread)


Alright. I had a chance to compare the Bushmaster scope from Crappy Tire and the Mead scope from Costco ($60). I didn't get a chance to use it at the range, so I did this at home.

At 20x they both seem the same. The mead has more "magnification numbers" printed on the viewfinder. At 60x, the Mead seems clearer then the Bushmaster, the BM has a white cloudy effect, not really that bad, but it is noticeable. The Mead is also narrower and the BM is wider

Here are some pics of both

The Mead on top and the BM on the bottom, as you can see, the focus knob is inset on the Mead and the BM is hanging out in the open.

The view finder on the Mead has a hard plastic cover, while the BM has a soft and smaller lens cover. Also the Mead has more magnifier numbers printed on the eye piece. Again Mead on Top, BM on bottom

Here are the pics of the objective lens. The BM has a hinged cover (which I like and the sun shade is retractable/extendable. The Mead has a removable cover with a crappy compass in the middle. Mead on top, BM on bottom

Next are the tripods. The BM has the finger knob (silver) which allows one to turn the spotting scope 360 degrees (first two pics). The Mead can only be put on straight (view finder facing up). The BM mounts on the tripod using a screw, while the Mead has a screwed on base and fits onto the tripod with a quick release (similar to a camera tripod)

Tripods themselfs
The BM has a small non-expendable tripod, while the Mead has expendable legs, quick release mount and a bubble level (see two pics up)

Soft cases
The BM case has to be removed for use, while the Mead, the cover unzips on both ends to allow use with the case on. Sorry, no pics of the BM

Kit enclosed with the Mead, Top pic, tripod soft case, carry strap that attaches to hard case, lens cloth (BM includes one too) and keys to lock the hard case. Bottom pic is the hard case itself

And finally, both scopes packed and ready to go. On the Mead, I did not put the tripod into the bag.

 

[Mr. Friendly]

on a whim I called my father who was heading up to Costco and told him to grab one of the Meade's should they have any stock. they had two and a demo still, so he got one.

I will remark how impressed I am at first go. the tripod is a piece of garbage and the variable eyepiece is a bit stiff, but I was impressed with the fact that the exit pupil did not change as you magnified it, leaving you with a lot of glass to look through (this is a good thing). the only other complaint is that the eyepiece isn't parfocal, so that as you changed the magnification you had to refocus it.

I look forward to giving this a shot out in the field!

 

[Assyrian]

Costco here in Newmarket has about 50 of them.
I don't like that the eyepiece does not swivel.
You have to fumble with the stand (very light and cheap feeling - is it metal even?) and tilt the scope to make the eyepiece horizontal.....

.... I;m not sold yet......

 

[bullseye67]

Any in lower mainland B.C. outlets?

 

[Grizzlypeg]

The focus is miserable to use. Image shakes badly while you focus so its hard to find the right focus. Image is pretty amazing for a $60 scope. I haven't tried it at the range yet to see how far out you can see the bullet holes, but for just fooling around it pretty impressive. You get one heck of an image of the moon at 60x, but the shake is annoying. If the thread fits, I will fit it to a better tripod and see if that makes focusing easier.

 

[trubluscrew]

The tripod attachment fits into my camera's tripod (so I can leave the base on). It shakes a lot less (almost none--not sure if it's the mount or the coffee working in the operator).

 

[CanFire]

I tried using mine with the stock tripod on a breezy day.... the shake made it totally useless. I haven't bothered lugging it to the range again since.

 

[super7]

They finally got these at the local Cosco. Had a peek through one at the store and it does seem reasonably sharp even at 60x. I noticed that at 60x, it was unusable with my glasses on though. Very little eye relief.

 

[Grizzlypeg]

I mounted mine onto a medium duty tripod that I picked up at a garage sale for a $1.00. Its all aluminum, made in Japan. I can actually adjust the focus without the vibration from my hand obscuring the image. I'll take it to the range tonight and see how it is for its intended purpose.

Its good enough for casual bird watching and scoping nature, watching sailboats, etc. at the lake.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Any in lower mainland B.C. outlets?

I know they're in Abby, lot's there as of Saturday.

I was just on my way here to post about this scope when I saw this thread. My impressions are about the same as everyone else's. The tripod is a total piece of junk (mine broke before I got the scope mounted) but the optics seem decent enough for what I need (200m or less)at least until I can get something of higher quality.

 

[Ronan87]

That stand is the EXACT copy as the chinese mass produce photography stand on Ebay ($23 shipped to Canada). Only difference is this one has MEADE stickied on it while the one on ebay has nothing.

 

[Grizzlypeg]

An observation from use at the range last night. All that magnification combined with a 60mm objective and cheap optics produce a much dimmer image than a rifle scope.

 

[Mr. Friendly]

That stand is the EXACT copy as the chinese mass produce photography stand on Ebay ($23 shipped to Canada). Only difference is this one has MEADE stickied on it while the one on ebay has nothing.

look the same, but not the same. there are only a handful of factories in China that produce optics...they all use the same bodies and frames, but the quality of the optics and the moving parts will vary. good examples are of the Kunming Series 8 binoculars. several major binocular retailers have different makes/model's that look identical and in some cases they are identical and in other cases some are better made then others. compare bino's from Garret Optical against Oberwerk against the new lines of Orion Telescope and you will see this. heck, I bet you could probably squeeze in some Celestron bino's too...Meade's not known for binoculars really, but they may as well. in any case, it all depends on how much the company or persons ordering are willing to spend. China is capable of producing optics as good as Japan and Germany if the buyer wants them. in fact, in some cases major German optics are ordered from China now...tho I don't recall names, just that I read about it on a thread under the binocular forum at CloudyNights.com a year or so ago.