Spotting scope for F-Class?

wapitiwhacker said:
Just curious Jerry, have you ever used a Nikon with a fixed eyepiece? I have a Fieldscope lllED 60mm with the variable eyepiece. For the money spent I really like the scope, and not having glasses I don't have an issue with eye relief. I was wondering if a fixed eyepiece might be a better option for those with glasses.
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I have owned the XL spotter which is a very nice field/hunting scope but again very short eye relief. I have looked through several Fieldscopes at the F class matches and they were not very exciting. Not sure what type of eyepieces they had but eye relief was poor in all of them.

I know Pentax fixed, KOWA, and Leica have great eye pieces for me. Swarovski, Nikon, and variable Pentax are so so.

You have to look at the eye piece specs. Compare the Pentax fixed mag ones which I think has 21mm to what ever you are interested in. If 21mm is correct on the Pentax, then 18mm is getting abit close for eye glass wearers.

Several eyepieces are like 16mm which makes you 'one' with the spotting scope. Or you just see a fraction of the field of view.

Cyan1de, would your trade your Rayvin for another base? I am very happy with mine and it really is stable. An extra $175 well spent. Why so many use them.

Some spotters will not let you see the mirage well no matter how you focus.

the Pentax is a superb spotter and lets you do both.

RP, I bet you spent some serious coin on your Manfrotto set up :)

Again, nice stuff...

Jerry
 
The Manfrotto 190XPROB + 498RC2 ballhead combo cost me less than $300 shipped, brand new, so I'm sure it's still cheaper than the RayVin. ;)

Although I'm not too happy with it, actually. I'm thinking going all-out and getting a Gitzo + RRS/AS ballhead system. :D

Too many toys, too little coin.
 
An angled eyepiece is just about a must. Scope is used for keeping score and reading mirage.

For mirage you focus 100 - 200 yards in front of firing line. For score keeping you wnat to see as much detial as possible.

Mirage is dialed in and out with the zoom. At 15X you don't see much. At 25X you see a lot.

I just bought an excellent Minox compact scope. 16 X to 30X. It is compact and sharp.

It is on sale for $189 see special price at bottom of page.

h ttp://www.cameralandny.com/optics/minox.pl?page=62225
 
Brian,

I would just use your rifle scope for reading mirage and invest in a spotter when your budget will allow you to buy something of quality. I ownded a Celestron that i used more for score keeping than anything else, and it was not a good tool for mirage.

In a previous life, I was involved in commercial graphics and spent a great deal of time working with top-end optics in both a darkroom and in the field. I consider that both a curse and a blessing because I have a very critical eye for optical quality. Having been down this road at length, and having carefully evaluated the best out there, I opted for a Pentax PF80ED (Same one Richard uses) and the 14mm (37X) fixed eyepiece. The very wide field and superlative contrast/resolution are exactly the tools needed for reading mirage. I don't even like the variable power eyepiece these are sold with.

If you just want to look like everyone out there, buy cheap, but if you want an effective tool for the type of shooting you are now involved with, get the right tool, otherwise, spend the money on bullets and powder.:)
 
I have a 77mm kowa with a freeland stand.I prefer the freeland because if you set it up properly all you have to do to look through it before or after a shot is move your face off the rifle a couple of inches to the eye piece.Nothing moves but your head.The rayvins are nice but I find I have to disrupt my position more to get a good look.
The optics on my Kowa are fantastic.Once you go to that quality you will have a hard time with anything else.
 
Longshot said:
I have a 77mm kowa with a freeland stand.I prefer the freeland because if you set it up properly all you have to do to look through it before or after a shot is move your face off the rifle a couple of inches to the eye piece.Nothing moves but your head.The rayvins are nice but I find I have to disrupt my position more to get a good look.
The optics on my Kowa are fantastic.Once you go to that quality you will have a hard time with anything else.
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I can set my RayVin up so I can move only my eye to see through the spotter but I don't like it that way, I feel crowded if it is too close. Just my style.
 
Obtunded said:
Brian,

I would just use your rifle scope for reading mirage and invest in a spotter when your budget will allow you to buy something of quality. I ownded a Celestron that i used more for score keeping than anything else, and it was not a good tool for mirage.

In a previous life, I was involved in commercial graphics and spent a great deal of time working with top-end optics in both a darkroom and in the field. I consider that both a curse and a blessing because I have a very critical eye for optical quality. Having been down this road at length, and having carefully evaluated the best out there, I opted for a Pentax PF80ED (Same one Richard uses) and the 14mm (37X) fixed eyepiece. The very wide field and superlative contrast/resolution are exactly the tools needed for reading mirage. I don't even like the variable power eyepiece these are sold with.

If you just want to look like everyone out there, buy cheap, but if you want an effective tool for the type of shooting you are now involved with, get the right tool, otherwise, spend the money on bullets and powder.:)
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Actually I just remembered something: digiscoping! You're right that I should hold out for a better scope, because I want to digiscope with it, i.e. stick it onto my camera and take pictures (I don't have a long lens to do birding anymore, which I loved). Anybody have any experience with that kind of thing?

CyaN1de said:
and Rum....lots and lots of Rum
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Eew rum... :stirthepot2: I'm a vodka guy. :D

Machinist said:
Put a Night Force on the BC Roll and then borrow CYANIDES Scope when needed :stirthepot2:
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Heh I'm looking for the NF BR already ;)

Failing that, a March, if I can get a more permanent job this September.
 
CyaN1de said:
I can set my RayVin up so I can move only my eye to see through the spotter but I don't like it that way, I feel crowded if it is too close. Just my style.
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Well that's good.I've never had much success with straight tripods.I prefer the two legs of the freeland as the stand is far enough away but the scope is right there when you need it.
 
Ganderite said:
An angled eyepiece is just about a must. Scope is used for keeping score and reading mirage.

For mirage you focus 100 - 200 yards in front of firing line. For score keeping you wnat to see as much detial as possible.

Mirage is dialed in and out with the zoom. At 15X you don't see much. At 25X you see a lot.

I just bought an excellent Minox compact scope. 16 X to 30X. It is compact and sharp.

It is on sale for $189 see special price at bottom of page.

h ttp://www.cameralandny.com/optics/minox.pl?page=62225
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Had a look and the listed eye relief is 15mm to 11mm. That is way too short for eye glass users.

Would have been a very nice option though.

Do you wear glasses? how close do you have to get to the eye piece to see anything? I like the small size and weight - easier to drag around at the range.

Jerry
 
Longshot said:
Well that's good.I've never had much success with straight tripods.I prefer the two legs of the freeland as the stand is far enough away but the scope is right there when you need it.
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The RayVin F is not a tripod but is built like the Freeland:

mk3.jpg


toppic.jpg
 
Well, the London Drugs flyer showed up earlier this week and they have a sale starting today on a spotting scope.

TASCO - $99.95 15-45X60 variable with spare 25x eyepiece, yada, yada, yada.

Anyways, I am in the store and for S&G's look through the eyepiece at some packaging across the store. OMG, I can read the small print at 15X. Clear as crystal. The image is also bright which is surprising given that only the better spotters can function in store lighting.

Eye relief is excellent with a nice full view (rated at 20mm). Turning up the mag and the eye relief shortens quickly so that after 25X, it is pretty much useless for eye glass users. Image quality takes a nose dive too - but is to be expected from low brow optics.

More snooping and I am walking out of the store with a new TASCO spotter.

I have spent some time today scanning houses and country side and the view is absolutely amazing. I am floored that this dirt cheap spotter has some serious optics, at least until you get to 25X.

It passes my 1035yds chimney resolution test with flying colours. Something some very expensive scopes have not succeeded.

Reading small print on realtor signs, license plates at 600 to 800yds. Very nice resolutions and colour. Absolutely goofy. Love the location of the focus knob and how well it works.

Best part, it also picks up mirage quite well - winds have picked up so mirage is dissappearing. Will test more tomorrow when it calms down.

If you think I am saying this is the best spotter in the world, of course not. It is still plastic everywhere and likely not waterproof but the body is rubber armoured and the glass is stupidly good from 15 to 25X.

I can hear the howls of anger and disgust from some shooters - I haven't been smoking our local export.

If you are near a London Drugs, go in and have a look. Its the only one on sale but they do stock a few. I looked at two cause I figured this must be the one off special of a lifetime. Nope, both had the same optics at low mag.

The fixed 25X is horrid and what I expected from this scope. No eye relief and you can't even focus the thing at LR - garbage. But some bizarre freak of manf, the variable works extremely well.

I have 15days to play around and if it doesn't survive, return it.

I am going to be having some fun....

Jerry
 
"TASCO - $99.95 15-45X60 variable with spare 25x eyepiece, yada, yada, yada."

Cheap scopes tend to have poor quality control. if you are going to buy a cheap scope in a store, open a couple of boxes and look through them.

Princess Auto had cheap scopes a while back. 3 guys in my pistil club bought them. One was ok and two were unsable. That can been seen in the store. Try a couple and buy the best one.
 
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