Ultralight spotter?

[BigCountry344]

Can’t find any other threads on this so whats the lightest weight spotter you can get that’s halfway decent? I was thinking of he kowa 501 or Leupold golden ring? Anything else to consider in the weight range?

 

[Tahoe1305]

Kowa 553/4 is best lightweight spotter. 28oz and best glass. You pay for it though.

Leupold GR HD is pretty good to.

Trade off is FOV and eye relief.

To clarify as well this is in ~60mm+ range. There are smaller and lighter scopes but you lose a lot of zoom.

 

[CApighunter]

I’ve got a kowa 502 quite happy with considering its size and weight, it’s under 16 oz with an arca plate. I had a 50mm gold ring and was not impressed.

 

[BigCountry344]

Kowa 553/4 is best lightweight spotter. 28oz and best glass. You pay for it though.

Leupold GR HD is pretty good to.

Trade off is FOV and eye relief.

To clarify as well this is in ~60mm+ range. There are smaller and lighter scopes but you lose a lot of zoom.

what smaller ones do you know of just for my own curiosity I’d like to check out

 

[flyinsquirel]

50mm Nikon ED with the MCII eyepiece. If you want to go up in weight and $ from there the Kowa 553/554. That little Nikon will surprise you, but it's not in the same class as the Kowa.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

There are quite a few threads on small spotters, though you may have to try several search words. There have also been a few comparative review write ups.

My only experience is the vortex razor 50 and Kowa 55. Each are quite useful but certainly have their limitations. The thing I do love about them are since they are lightweight, they are extremely stable on even a very lightweight tripod and phonescope photos can turn out really well.

 

[TheGDog]

I've got the 11-33x50mm Vortex Razor. That's a great lightweight option. Although personally, I don't know if it's because I wear glasses 24/7 now, but for me the quality of the image it presents with starts dropping-off as you move on past the 22x mark. Up until that mark, breathtaking sharp high contrast images, especially with the fine-focus knob. You learn to love the fine focus knob! After 22x you still can see the object, it'll just look more like um... You're looking at it thru heat mirage and darkening of image maybe? and your eye starts needing to be closer to the glass.

I actually find myself now spending most of my time glassing thru my Vortex Vulture HD 15x56 Binos.

If you need to quickly sweep thru a ridge over there, and grid it out before some other hunter in the area does... the Vultures with the Outdoorsmans's Micro Pan Head and Stud bino adapter quick change kit is awesome!

 

[Hogyotedeer]

15-30x50mm Leupold Gold Ring compact spotting scope! Sure like mine.

 

[Tahoe1305]

what smaller ones do you know of just for my own curiosity I’d like to check out

Kowa 553/4 is best lightweight spotter. 28oz and best glass. You pay for it though.

Leupold GR HD is pretty good to.

Trade off is FOV and eye relief.

Folks covered them below but the 50mm sub 30 zoom units. Nikon and Vortex.

Many also like the 15-45x60 Athlon Ares spotter. It’s pretty reasonable size as well but again a bit heavier than the 50mm units.

There is an argument that the 50mm units don’t provide a whole lot of value over standard binos which is why some prefer the 60mm setups. I can’t say if that’s true or not, I just read it a lot on various forums.

All trade offs in size, weight, light gathering, etc.

 

[1shotgear]

The Swavoski ATS 65mm is our favorite lightweight spotting scope!

 

[TheGDog]

That's why I'd like to see what that Kowa 553 Prominar looks like since it's magnification range is 15-45. Even though it's like a 55mm objective. You figure even if the 45x is not all that great visually, I'm sure the 33x it offers looks better than the 33x at the tail-most end of the magnification range on the Razor 50mm. Ya follow? And the weight is only 3 more oz.

 

[Broomd]

The Swavoski ATS 65mm is our favorite lightweight spotting scope!

Damn fine indeed, but when mere ounces count, the Leica televid 62mm APO is simply the best ultralight spotting scope ever made. They are getting tougher to find though in minty shape.

 

[eaglemountainman]

That's why I'd like to see what that Kowa 553 Prominar looks like since it's magnification range is 15-45. Even though it's like a 55mm objective. You figure even if the 45x is not all that great visually, I'm sure the 33x it offers looks better than the 33x at the tail-most end of the magnification range on the Razor 50mm. Ya follow? And the weight is only 3 more oz.

I have the Kowa 554, and I can tell you, even maxed to 45X, it's as clear as gin. Yeah, it's a bit spendy, but if you want light weight and alpha glass, you can't do better.

 

[bwhntMT]

I chased the ultralight 50mm spotter for a while. I had the 50mm Nikon ED and was very impressed. But a 50mm spotter wasn't much better than my 12x binos, and I wanted the magnification and FOV that a 50mm just couldn't provide. Ditched both and now am happy with the 60mm Nikon Fieldscope 3 ED, and a set of 10x42 Nikon HGs. For me, there were tradeoffs with the 50mm beyond the ounces saved. Maybe you've already considered that, but I figured I'd at least share my experience.

 

[MuleyFever]

Minox makes a 50mm. You can pick them up for around $150, maybe less. I bought one to try. I havent used it yet but plan to take it out scouting next week and try it out. Im not expecting much but for the size it may be worth having sometimes.

 

[OXN939]

Anyone have experience with this guy? Could be a pretty cool option. 22x about as much as I usually glass with anyway

 

[TravisIN]

That Athlon looks like this Hummingbird 50mm. Little fella. Athlon also makes a 50 mm in there Cronus line that looks pretty cool.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheGDog]

Anyone have experience with this guy? Could be a pretty cool option. 22x about as much as I usually glass with anyway

If you're gonna get this, instead get yourself some 15x Binos with good glass. And don't look back.

 

[OXN939]

That Athlon looks like this Hummingbird 50mm. Little fella. Athlon also makes a 50 mm in there Cronus line that looks pretty cool.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah the look suspiciously similar. How do you like it?

 

[ChrisAU]

If weight it the concern there isn't anything in the class of the Kowa 501/502 that I am aware of, short of taking a light rifle scope and strapping it on a tripod.