Spotting scopes and tripods

N

nvbroncrider

Handloader
Aug 20, 2011
3,085
4
Looking to buy a setup for this fall.

I'm going to go with a Swaro spotter probably a modular. Can someone tell me the advantages and disadvantages of this and straight or angled eyepiece. Maybe a comparison of the ATS/STS and the ATX/STX series.

As for a tripod I've heard everyone rant and rave over Manfrottos but I don't know anything about them. What do I need to look for height adjustment etc? Then comes the heads fluid head or ball head?
 
Jake,

Nice spotting scope, excellent glass.
The 45* eye piece is good if you are looking up/down mountain slopes.
I have a Leupold Golden Ring 12-40x60mm on a camera tripod and it works well for me.
DanielleRange257Roberts090410.jpg

JD338
 
No physical experience w/the 'X' models, did have the great ATS models, had great Leica 77, had great Fujion, had great older Meopta 70 too. Still have a bunch of dust collecting eyepieces I should sell.

Modularity that's only...about equal in weight w/eyepiece, shorter by only...a little over 1", only...1% better overall light transmission (you won't notice), and only over...$1,000 more, it's nice to be different, sometimes. But not this time.

Have you checked out Kowa Prominar (sold the others for it) and the Meopta MeoStar 82 (private labeled for Night Force)??

For 'Shitz & Giggles', let's say the Swarovski vs. Kowa performance is equal, now throw in the US Dollar vs. Euro vs. Yen. Anything built under the Yen currency will be/can be 25-33% LESS.

Sometimes, it's not just what you pay for, it's what you also know.
 
Guns & Glass":3e1xfjip said:
No physical experience w/the 'X' models, did have the great ATS models, had great Leica 77, had great Fujion, had great older Meopta 70 too. Still have a bunch of dust collecting eyepieces I should sell.

Modularity that's only...about equal in weight w/eyepiece, shorter by only...a little over 1", only...1% better overall light transmission (you won't notice), and only over...$1,000 more, it's nice to be different, sometimes. But not this time.

Have you checked out Kowa Prominar (sold the others for it) and the Meopta MeoStar 82 (private labeled for Night Force)??

For 'Shitz & Giggles', let's say the Swarovski vs. Kowa performance is equal, now throw in the US Dollar vs. Euro vs. Yen. Anything built under the Yen currency will be/can be 25-33% LESS.

Sometimes, it's not just what you pay for, it's what you also know.
Click to expand...

This man said what I was going to. I got to use a Swaro ATM80 for 5 years. Awesome scope. If I were buying today it would probably be a Meopta 82mm or another Swaro ATM 80mm. I don't care too much about the modular feature. I liked the lightweight of the Swaro and 80mm worked much better in darker spotting than the 65mm Swaro I'm using now.

Also, I've gotta use an angled eyepiece. Straight works but angled works much nicer for me when I'm hunting. I'm usually looking up or down. My opinion though. Sometimes you just gotta try em.

Manfrottos are light and strong. I don't use any mount. I screw the spotter on it when using and screw it off. Takes a second or two at worst, no extra induced wooble and less pieces to carry. I adjust using the legs.

I think I have the 120 Model Manfrotto. Works well and it's light along with great adjustments.
 
I owned the Kowa 884 and Meopta S2 at the same time, and had them side by side for literally hours at a time. At magnifications of up to 30-35x, I could tell very little difference, both being fantastic. At mags 40x+, the S2 was sharper and colors just popped into view, just noticeably better. I kept the S2. Also, just in case you change your mind about a mounting system....I personally use a Manfrotto tripod and 128 fluid head. The base of the S2 is made so that it fits right into the mount without an adaptor plate, something nobody else does.
 
nvbroncrider":2b5mvflf said:
Why do you like angled better? Can you go into some detail on that Scotty?
Click to expand...

For sure Jake, I like to sit with my legs around the tripod and be able to glass with my binos over the top of the spotter, once I want to put the spotter into action the angled eyepiece allows me to simply lower my head and look through the eyepiece. If it were straight I'd have to lengthen the legs to get the eyepiece into a comfortable position to use. It's really a lot of opinion but that's how it works well for me. Also, when your in steep country looking up, across or down the angled spotter allows you to keep the entire unit lower to the ground thereby increasing stability of the entire spotter. The closer you are to the ground the better in my opinion. Works the same for shooting.

Not sure if that all made sense but I might have a couple of pictures showing you what I mean.

The angled is probably less suited to a bench for range use, but for me I just set it up to the side on the tripod and use it that away when I'm finished shooting. Somefolks wanna see each shot, whereas I am usually more concerned with what a group looks like at the end of a firing string.
 
I prefer the angled spotting scope for the reasons Scotty outlined. It is easier to tilt the head forward slightly than to tilt it back for extended periods. If the scope is mounted on the window of the car and the viewer is seated, perhaps the straight scope is preferable. If the spotting scope is used primarily to look at group size from a bench, again the straight scope may prove preferable. In the field, and especially when looking at game in mountainous terrain, the angled scope is preferable.
 
I was reading with the angled scopes you can twist them to the side to accommodate people of different heights without adjusting anything else do you use this and is it effective?
 
For a spotter there are many good choices in the $2k range. Not sure you could go wrong. For a tripod take a look at the one from Outdoorsmans here:

http://outdoorsmans.com/collections/outdoorsmans-tripod-system

Mine has the pistol head with the panning attachment, but they have other options you might like better. I mount a Swarovski straight on mine and the panning feature is fantastic for running grids. This is probably the nicest piece of gear I have.

This thing is tough having been to AK and used in AZ for many years. Very stable, low weight and easy to use. Their warranty is like Leupold. If you own it, they will fix it, no questions asked.

You can get a package deal if you also by your spotter from them at the same time which could save you a few bucks if you know the spotter you want.
 
I like the straight eye-piece models for hunting from a window-mount on the truck. But bench-scopes are pretty nice angled, just sayin'.

I'll let you spend your $$$ on a brand of your liking :? .
 
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