Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 07:09:18 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Scope for beginners Comments: To: coskren@erols.com Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi -- The best telescope for a beginner is the Bushnell Spacemaster, the non-armoured version, and the original, not the Spacemaster II. This scope is incredibly sturdy, surviving all sorts of horrendous falls and droppings onto rocks, and is relatively light. I would also recommend the 22x wide-angle eyepiece, avoid the zoom. This model, btw, is used by many colleges in their field study courses because they hold up so well to abuse. We have a Questar, an 824 Kowa and an Optolyth and we still use the old Spacemaster when we go on trips where space is at a premium, where a scope will only be used a few times (say, a trip to a place where most of the birding will be in forests), or where theft is a real worry. I have found that there is a certain amount of individual variation in quality of this scope -- probably not unexpected as it is quite inexpensive (can be had from NYC camera shops for under $200 and sometimes even less). My personal Spacemaster is very good, giving a sharp, bright image. I have seen some which appeared out-of-alignment or perhaps, with less well-made lenses. It might be a good idea to purchase from a company where you or the seller can check out the individual scope before purchase. Other good scopes are the older Kowas of the TSN-1 and 2 variety, and the Nikon Field Scope without the ED glass. These can sometimes be purchased for less than $400 from NYC. Another option is a reconditioned used scope. These can sometimes be purchased from an optics dealer and you may wish to make some inquiries in that regard. Our Questar was purchased used and reconditioned and has been great! Cheers, Gail Mackiernan Colesville, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================