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Spottingscopes The more light the better has been the guideline especially when using highpowered oculars, zoom oculars or when digiscoping. Scopes with a frontlens diameter of 65mm or more is advisable. The costly high end versions of some scopes (indicated by APO, ED, FL, or HD) are first appreciated when using the scopes in difficult, or low light situations,coupled with zoom oculars or when digiscoping. But they are worth the extra money since the most common setup today is with a highpowered zoom ocular, and they will last for decades. Angled vs. Straight scope There is a myth that angled spottingscopes are more difficult to use. The myth is probably perpetuated by users of the straight scope model who never practised the angled alternative. To quickly get familiar with the angled scope simply follow this simple technique (it works just as fine with the straight scope). First scan the area with your binoculars for the bird/birds you want to look closer at. Then memorize a physical image adjacent to the bird. Then take your scope and look for that same image. It could be physical characteristics such as a darker area in the reeds, a branch sticking out a particular way, or the bird is close to another conspicious bird such as a large gull etc. You will very quickly find your bird as you find those larger objects. In raptor migration a straight scope is very much to your disadvantage as the birds travel quite high, and you need to bend your neck awkwardly to keep them in view. |
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Zoom vs. Fixed ocular In the past Zoom binoculars, and Zoom oculars were synonymous with a poor image. This is no longer true. The Zoom oculars for large diameter, high end spottingscopes are often excellent. You can Zoom out to 20x magnification for scanning wider areas, and when you want to look closer at a bird simply Zoom up to 50-60x! If you rather want maximum field of view then a fixed ocular will be best. You should pick a magnification of 25x to 35x. One of the most common, and best fixed oculars on 72 to 80 diameter scopes is the 32x Wide Angle. My Suggestion Save up for a high quality scope with a diameter of about 80mm to get lots of light to a 20-60x Zoom eyepiece. I have always used Kowa scopes, and they are up to par with Zeiss and Swarovski. But try them out because you might not like a feature like the large focusing ring on Swarovski and some Nikons, making your choice a little easier. If you want to go with a cheaper scope like Kamakura then be sure to carefully compare with the other scopes in low light (e.g., evening comparison).
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