who here uses CDN optics?

[Mr. Friendly]

now by that, I mean a company that is actually CDN, even tho their optics probably will herald from China (like most companies, CDN or not).

three I know of are:
- Olivon Optics, out of Richmond, BC
- Antares Telescopes (aka Sky Instruments), also out of Richmond, BC
- SkyWatcher Telescope (aka Pacific Telescope Corp.), again of Richmond, BC

admittedly, Antares and SkyWatcher are primarily astronomy focused, but both do have spotting telescopes. Olivon on the other hand is focused on the outdoorsman with a smattering of astronomy related equipment.

for those of you who follow major optical manufacturing, two of the heaviest hitters in China are GSO (Guan Sheng Optics) and Synta (Suzho Synta Optical Technology). Antares is GSO and SkyWatcher is Synta (they're Synta's own public retail outlet). I don't know where Olivon optics hail from.

do any of you have experience with the equipment from any of these three companies mentioned, or others that I don't know of?

btw, just so you can place optics somewhat better, Meade has a large majority of their products come from GSO whereas Celestron and Orion (who is owned by Celestron) are mostly Synta.

here are links to the said companies (as per no hotlinks rule, I think):
olivonoptics.com
skywatchertelescope.net
antaresoptical.com

edit - added links

 

[Fassteel]

Orion owned by Celestron, thats news to me. FS

 

[IDPACONVERT]

ELCAN, there's a plant in Midland Ontario. I use one on my AR, and they're a excellent scope.

 

[mrsmitty]

I bought an Elcan SpecterDR for my XCR if it ever shows up. Robarms takes forever to get there stuff to Wolverine Supplies.

 

[greywolf]

how about close to cdn ? Nightforce scopes are entirely built in idaho from start to finish.

 

[Blygy]

the night force I looked @ had MADE IN JAPAN on the bottom of the tube...

Components are Mfg'd in Japan and assembled in Idaho..

 

[greywolf]

the brochure i have in front of me says MADE IN USA , and even if mfg'd in japan , they arec still one of the best if not the best scopes around imho

 

[Mr. Friendly]

Japanese optics are premium...one just has to acknowledge that Chinese optics can be just as good. usually tho, you get 95% of the optical quality for half the price...what suffers is the clean construction. the mechanics may not be as smooth or precise...and for some, half the price makes that big insignificant.

in the case of Japanese optics, you only get a dud if something happens to escape through QC checks...the Japanese don't have the space to afford making crap, it's too expensive for them to make mistakes!

 

[greywolf]

ok i can agree with that , the chinese are prteey good at some stuff , just don't buy the toys the only think i could not justify on the high end optics like nightforce is the 200$ rings and bases. i bought the scope and left the rings. there are plenty of good quality rings out there for 1/4 the price

 

[Mr. Friendly]

sometimes Chinese optics are the only options for some things...such as the $400 20x80's I purchased a year ago. they are about the best you can get currently (tho some will argue that Vixen's are a bit better...pretty sure they're still Chinese) and while the cheaper 20x80 Celestron/Bushnell's might compete optically, the fit/finish is so different that it's a bad idea to buy. at that weight and magnification they can easily go out of collimation with the slightest bump or even because they're so cheaply made...mine on the other hand have hardy internals that will make that a significantly harder to occur.