First good spotter?

[PHo]

When you say out glass a cheaper spotter, are you considering the Razor HD 13-39x56 or the Razor HD 16-48x65 a cheaper spotter?
I have tried a buddy's old Leupold and a couple cheap(less than $200) spotters and my 8x Diamondbacks would out glass them.
Are the Razors not enough upgrade to out glass better binos?
I want to be able to pick up animals farther and also see better detail, I was thinking the razor would be enough to out do binos, is that wrong?

I haven’t actually looked through the Razor spotters yet, but based on reviews I do not consider them cheaper spotters. I’ll echo what Tahoe said - if you can’t find them first with binos, chances are you’re not going to be using the spotter much. Now you can try to glass with a spotter of course (I actually do that myself) but it will be more strenuous to do so vs using both eyes through binos, which is why binos are usually a better value. That said, elk aren’t exactly small animals and if you’re planning on glassing out to a mile or so you probably won’t need a spotter at all. Beyond a mile perhaps you will.

 

[BLJ]

Sold - Nikon Straight Fieldscope EDIII 60mm with 20-60x and fixed 30x eye piece

Up for sale is a really nice straighht Nikon Fieldscope EDIII 60mm with 20-60x and fixed 30x eye piece. I bought this from another member here on Rokslide and then ended up getting a great deal on a Athlon that I am going to stick with. There is one small blemish(see photo) on the outside...

rokslide.com

Maybe look into this for your spotter and spend the rest on binos?

I really like my ED3. A lot of scope for the money. IMO.

 

[JRay]

The best glass decision we ever made was getting quality binos and adding the ability to mount them to a tripod. I feel a quality spotter is second to quality binos.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

The original Kowa 66 with the fixed 30X wide angle eye piece will be hard to beat optically in that price range.

Very good option.

Might try to find a deal on a kowa 77 too

 

[Marshfly]

The best glass decision we ever made was getting quality binos and adding the ability to mount them to a tripod. I feel a quality spotter is second to quality binos.

This. Replace your cheap binos first and get them on a tripod.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HOT ROD]

Sold - Nikon Straight Fieldscope EDIII 60mm with 20-60x and fixed 30x eye piece

Up for sale is a really nice straighht Nikon Fieldscope EDIII 60mm with 20-60x and fixed 30x eye piece. I bought this from another member here on Rokslide and then ended up getting a great deal on a Athlon that I am going to stick with. There is one small blemish(see photo) on the outside...

rokslide.com

Maybe look into this for your spotter and spend the rest on binos?

I really like my ED3. A lot of scope for the money. IMO.

Ill second this the nikon edIII 20x60 is pretty hard to beat for the price U can pick them up.....

 

[w.travis]

I have a Tract Toric 80mm, it's great. They just released a 65mm version. May be worth looking into.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

I have a Tract Toric 80mm, it's great. They just released a 65mm version. May be worth looking into.

They also have a fixed mil eyepiece option

 

[Zengelhart1]

Following

 

[100 others]

Curious what you decided on and how it went. I had the same dilemma years ago and was happy with the bino upgrade first. It's incredible how much better you glass when you simply enjoy the view whether or not there's an animal in the picture.

 

[CMF]

Curious what you decided on and how it went. I had the same dilemma years ago and was happy with the bino upgrade first. It's incredible how much better you glass when you simply enjoy the view whether or not there's an animal in the picture.

I went with the Vortex Razor HD -16-48 x65 mentioned on page 1. It was like MSRP 1600 on sale for sub 600 and I could have got 50 more back if I had clicked the active junky link before ordering.
It was a short sale and I was tired of thinking and researching and I didn't want to spend as much as I could have. With little spotter experience, I figured it was one worth trying to see what I thought.
Having done a few hunts with it now, I think I just don't like spotters. I think I will sell the spotter and upgrade to some Swaro 15x binos. I still like my 8x Diamondbacks on my chest and having looked through some 8x swaros I think my money would be better spent upgrading my15x Diamondbacks to swaros.
When I ever do get another spotter it will probably have to be a BTX, but I probably won't look for that unless I draw some top unit trophy tag.

 

[Tahoe1305]

What I think I read there is scanning with a spotter sucks and you prefer binos.

100% agree. I only use a spotter to digiscope, or confirm what I found with my binos or to get a bit more detai (count tines, etc).

If your intent was to scan understand you’ll have a similar experience with others too (BTX will be more bino feel though).

 

[CMF]

What I think I read there is scanning with a spotter sucks and you prefer binos.

100% agree. I only use a spotter to digiscope, or confirm what I found with my binos or to get a bit more detai (count tines, etc).

If your intent was to scan understand you’ll have a similar experience with others too (BTX will be more bino feel though).

Yea, definitely can't scan. My other eye gets blurry, and my glassing eye gets tired.
The times I used it to zoom in on something I found with binos, I didn't find much more clarity with the spotter, mostly cause it was something pretty far out, but still not enough added advantage to tote it around.

 

[Marshfly]

I went with the Vortex Razor HD -16-48 x65 mentioned on page 1. It was like MSRP 1600 on sale for sub 600 and I could have got 50 more back if I had clicked the active junky link before ordering.
It was a short sale and I was tired of thinking and researching and I didn't want to spend as much as I could have. With little spotter experience, I figured it was one worth trying to see what I thought.
Having done a few hunts with it now, I think I just don't like spotters. I think I will sell the spotter and upgrade to some Swaro 15x binos. I still like my 8x Diamondbacks on my chest and having looked through some 8x swaros I think my money would be better spent upgrading my15x Diamondbacks to swaros.
When I ever do get another spotter it will probably have to be a BTX, but I probably won't look for that unless I draw some top unit trophy tag.

That spotter for sub $600 is a steal. I own both 77mm Kowa and 50mm Nikon spotters. It's rare for the Kowa to leave the truck. The little Nikon is always with me and gets used in the field a ton.

For what you paid for that spotter you'll be able to make a really good determination of what your end use case is and either keep it or sell it losing nothing or minimal cash and move in the right direction after this year.

 

[Firehawk]

That spotter for sub $600 is a steal. I own both 77mm Kowa and 50mm Nikon spotters. It's rare for the Kowa to leave the truck. The little Nikon is always with me and gets used in the field a ton.

For what you paid for that spotter you'll be able to make a really good determination of what your end use case is and either keep it or sell it losing nothing or minimal cash and move in the right direction after this year.

Agree wholeheartedly with this comment.

CMF, make sure you get a bino/tripod attachment and begin using your binos on the tripod. You will find it is way better then hand holding. I am always amazed at how much easier it is to see things when I do this. I shouldn't be amazed any longer, but I still get that "Wow" moment when I do. But I shake pretty bad too.

As for your Diamondbacks, they are a good bino. If you like them, then that is what matters. That said, you can get a major improvement picking up a Razor HD. Seen lots of them in the $600-$700 range. Or look at the Maven B1.2 or B2 used. Very good optics that can be had for $600-$800 in the used market. I used a B2 9x45 for 6 years and it was terrific. Eventually, I replaced them with my Swarovski EL 8.5x42. Image wise, they are close, but the depth of focus is better in the ELs. On the tripod, I can just watch and watch with little eye fatige. They are quite relaxing on my eyes. The Maven B2 was another really good option here. Just a little more finicky on the depth of field/focus.

I bought my 15x bino after helping my brother on a good mule deer draw tag. My buddy lent me his Swarovski SLC 15x56 and I found I preferred them 100x more than a spotter. I found myself leaving the spotter more and more and just carrying those Swaros. When I got home from that trip, I immediately set out trying to find a 15x that I would be happy with. I bought a used Meopta 15x56 from the classifieds here. They are great. Really close to the SLCs, but I still like the SLCs more. But I also bought the Meoptas for around $1000.

Good luck and welcome to the "never ending" optics rabbit hole. It pulls a lot of us in. Lol

 

[CMF]

Agree wholeheartedly with this comment.

CMF, make sure you get a bino/tripod attachment and begin using your binos on the tripod. You will find it is way better then hand holding. I am always amazed at how much easier it is to see things when I do this. I shouldn't be amazed any longer, but I still get that "Wow" moment when I do. But I shake pretty bad too.

yea, I've been running the 15x diamiondbacks on a tripod. I don't free hand them unless I'm in the truck, and even then, I usually rest on the window or steering wheel.