Quote:
Originally Posted by sillyak
Maybe I should elaborate.
I have used top notch high end spotting scopes. I find them very useful for judging trophy quality, but that is about it. I find them poor for spotting game/general glassing.
I own and like telescopes. In the telescope world there are lots of eyepieces with super wide AFOV, like 100° +. If you have ever used an eyepiece like that they are super addictive, your entire peripheral vision is filled with the view. I get why modern spotting scopes don't have eyepieces like that. Telescope eyepieces like that are massive, some are the size of a can of coke, for just a single fixed mag eyepiece. Plus there are distortion issues that aren't apparent in a field of pin point stars, but are distracting while looking at a landscape.
Spotting scopes are like looking through a straw by comparison. Even the top of the line Swarovski ATX has a 57° AFOV at the low end of its magnification range. Most quality binoculars nowadays have an AFOV from 60-66°, which I find sufficient. Spotting scopes with zoom eyepieces are generally like looking through a soda straw at low powers. Many are around 40 or 45° AFOV I find that unpleasant and not useful for searching around.
So there are a few spotting scope that take telescope eyepieces, and the old Nikon field scopes have nice fixed power eyepieces with a 70° AFOV, but you have to get them from Japan. I was thinking that big, tripod mounted binoculars would be useful. Vortex 18x56 Kaibab have a 67° AFOV, so I won't get that soda straw effect, plus your get the stereo vision/added depth perception from using both eyes. I think they would be more useful than a spotting scope for scanning for game, but still useful for judging antlers/horns. Although I wonder if anyone has experience, can they replace a spotting scope? Or just not enough magnification?
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Pretty good explanation. I agree, I would never use a spotting scope to search for game, only after I had it located. I have never seen anyone use a spotting scope as a search tool since an 8 or 10 power hand held binocular, even if you put them on a tripod, can't be beat for locating game. I have set of of Leica Duovid 8x12x50 for all day glassing. Anything with more magnification has too limited a FOV and will give you a roaring headache if you try to use them all day, no matter how good the glass is.