Spotting Scopes

[worthipa]

Originally Posted by Flying Whale

Major problem with thge Aldi is the lack of robustness. Someone in our club got one. Gust of wind blew it over, and something shifted internally. Now when looking down the eye piece the target appears to be leaning over at 60 degrees. Very hard to work out which way to move the sight!

So after less than a year he has had to buy another.

Rather proves my point FW.

It wasn't the scope that blew over it was undoubtedly the tripod. If a scope of any kind comes into sharp impact with the ground it can result in the damage you describe. The only thing is with the ALDI scope you can chuck it away and buy another. If it was a Leica, Swarovski, Nikon et al you might be a bit more upset. Look at the fuss some people make when they break an X10 ...

[ds261]

i have had the same problem in the past and brought a cheap scope and tripod, one good gust of wind and down it went on to the eye piece and sheared it off!!! decided that next time i would do it right and go my self a Vanguard VSH-88 20-60x80 Spotting Scope and tripod and now glad i have spent the money on it

David

[markmingay]

I am always surprised to see £200 plus Scopes perched atop £25 Tripods. Tears before bedtime I think first decent gust of wind & they are toppling like Dominos. Always get a decent Tripod , My rule of thumb is to extent the legs all the way grab hold of the top then try & twist it if, if it will twist then pass it by.
You don’t have to spend a fortune look for second hand tripods by Gitzo , Manfrotto or Benbo. Anything with a tubular leg will be better than U channel types. I have an ancient Gitzo Reporter tripod cost £25 rock solid never been blown over looks as though it’s been through a cement mixer but I would trust it to hold up a Hasselblad in a gale.

[Flying Whale]

Originally Posted by worthipa

Rather proves my point FW.

It wasn't the scope that blew over it was undoubtedly the tripod. If a scope of any kind comes into sharp impact with the ground it can result in the damage you describe. The only thing is with the ALDI scope you can chuck it away and buy another. If it was a Leica, Swarovski, Nikon et al you might be a bit more upset. Look at the fuss some people make when they break an X10 ...

Yes and no. A flimsy tripod doesn't help, for sure. However on this occasion my scope (more details later) also went over, and actually knocked his down. My tripod is a about £60-80 worth of solid metal, that wasn't upset last year when at an inter-club match one gust of wind blew over about 25 bows, 15 scopes and lifted 4 line tesnts clean off their pegs. So this was a big gust.

However when it comes to the actual scopes, they still only fall from the height of the tripod onto grass, whateveer the strength of the gust. I have an Optolyth scope that would survive a small scale nuclear strike. Mine survived, his didn't. Not really an excuse to spend around £800 it would cost to replace mine, but then again mine effectively cost £0, since I have had it for 20+ years for bird watching. I wouldn't spend that much on a scope for archery alone, but if you only spend £20-30 on a scope including a naff tripod, then don't expect it to survice the drop test.

[LunkShooter]

Originally Posted by simon m

+1 for bresser scopes from me, mines been wicked since I got it 18 months ago.

Free tripod was frankley sh*te got a decent metal tripod of evil-bay for £9(old model covered in dust from someones loft) never looked back.

60mm lense version wicked even in diminishing light of evenings(thought it was an 80 but I was wrong!)

Spotting scopes

bough from this online shop very good service

Thanks for the tip on this - ordered the 80mm Bresser yesterday lunchtime from these guys on free delivery deal and the thing still turned up next day. Used it tonight - soooooo pleased. A right deal too with a tripod and stay-on case.

[COOLHAND]

Bought a Kowa TSN-2 Scope and some 10x40 Zeiss binoculars twenty years ago.

Two things I've never regretted buying. Still as good as new and far better than most modern optics.

Whatever Scope you buy get a good tripod, as a safeguard I have a loop of string at the base of the leg and a tent peg through this makes sure it dosn't fall over on the windiest of days.

[Gore]

I actually tried the Costco scope - the scope itself is fine - very nice for the price, but the tripod is terrible!

[soundo26]

Just in case anybody is looking for the Aldi scopes, I know the Trowbridge store still has a few and I just bought one last night from the Hinckley road store near Coventry and better still they are reduced from £26 to £19.99! They have some left there too. They also have some compact binoculars for £6.99 which are amazingly good too!

[Jan Poslusny]

I bought Bresser Safari 20-60 x 80 three months ago. Excellent and cheap (~100GBP), waterproof and fogproof, but a little big and heavy. Seems to be rigid. Though smaller model 15-45 x 60 is enough, I preferred 80mm objective to have better chance to see my arrows at summer evenings...