Thanks Don for the excellent summary.  And may I add a reminder to all who are planning to buy from Eagle Optics..........if you go to Eagle Optics via the Maryland Ornithological Society website (MDBirds.org), MOS will receive a donation of 5% of the purchase price.  Thanks, Karen

 

 











----- Original Message ----
From: Don Burggraf <>
To: 
Sent: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 11:07:42 AM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Small Scopes - thank you

Thanks to all who sent me comments on their experience with smaller scopes. Several people asked me to post a summary of responses on MDOsprey.

The scopes receiving the highest recommendations included the Swarovski Angled 65mm and the Leica 62 mm, which I had been considering before.

Additional opinions included the Nikon Fieldscope. The 60 mm was described as being great for weight and image quality, but the small eyepiece complicated digiscoping. The 50 mm was described as good – more fragile, and that it would “not take place of large scope”

Others had good things to say about the Kowa 600

One liked the Pentax XK. 

Some reported recommendations from websites. These brands include Leupold and Swarovski



One reported liking his Vortex scope, but suggested that, with its weight at 68 oz., it was heavier than others.





One person noted that the new Leica
was priced at around $4K. I found the new Leica 65 mm body with eyepiece at Eagle Optics for $3.2K. The descriptions  suggest that the big improvements are as follows: the New zoom
eyepiece keeps a wide angle image through its magnification; at 39 oz., it's more portable; its APO lends can be  an improvement over the HD lenses of other brands. Still, I'd have to take a deep breath before plunking down that kind  of money for a scope. Seems like they should throw in a tripod and a plane ticket to the birding destination of your choice for that kind of money. Ah, well... The ad in Eagle Optics did have one phrase that bothered me a  bit. It said that the scope was ideal for those "particularly active during the day." My first thought was: I'm not particularly active when I bird - I like to stand behind the scope and snap pictures or just admire. My second thought was: for a scope with this high a price tag,  the sentence was faint praise (no pun intended) for a person who sometimes extends the day at sunrise or sunset. Well, even Leica can't change the physical properties of light, I suppose, but I still found the comment  less
 than appealing.I still haven't made up my mind, but I do appreciate all who responded.



Don Burggraf

Baltimore





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