Athlon Spotting scope comments

[JSMountainman]

Hello just curious about people experiences with Athlon Spotting scopes and commenting on mine. Just found out about them and was intrigued as they sounded pretty decent so I bought an Athlon Ares 15-45x65. It came in the mail a week or so ago. I haven't been able to do any hiking with it yet or set it up side by side with my buddies Vortex diamondback but here are my initial impressions. I set it up in various levels of daylight on my deck and looked out over the fields as far as I could see.
-For my eyes and glasses the eye relief and field of view is good and it feels fairly comfortable. Its about a hundred times better than my old spotter.
-good crisp image out a mile or two then it loses some clarity. It could use a fine focus adjustment. Focusing is a bit touchy. Could read the sign at the intersection a mile and a half away but not the one 3 1/2 miles away
-when it was cooler and no heat waves cows about a mile away were almost crystal clear
-looking at lights a ways away in the dark really shows up focusing issues. Again close is great, but on a cold clear night I still cant get the lights 30-40 miles out to be better than a big blob. I know that's asking a lot, but just my observation.
-At top magnification (45) it gets a slightly darker circle in the center. I'm not very happy about that but that's just me being picky and I would like to know why it does that. Its not bad at full daylight but at last light its a pain.
-overall feel and look is great. It seems very solid yet not terribly heavy
- do not find the angled model as comfortable as straight but not overly concerned. I likely will get used to it. I've only used straight before .

Overall I'm very happy with it and super stoked about using it this coming season. It feel like its a very good spotter for the price. Its much better than the lower end one I had before. I am looking forward to comparing it with my buddies diamondback. I think it will be very competitive. However If your budget allows you to go higher, I think you could definitely improve on the focus and clarity, particularly at low light. I certainly feel that I got what I paid for. I got my moneys worth but maybe not a huge amount more than that.

 

[cornfedkiller]

While the scope has some limitations like you mentioned (its no swaro), but I don't think anything in the $500 range even comes close. I don't love the style of focus ring that it uses as much as I like the little knob type, but just a personal preference. I find the eye relief a little short, but nothing I can't deal with. I find the clarity much better than my friend's diamondback spotter, and I've heard people online compare it closer to the first gen razor.

I love how well built the scope feels, it doesn't feel like there is anything cheap about it. The physical size of it is awesome too. And a very small detail, but I like that both lens covers are tethered to the scope.

Angled takes a little to get used to, but the advantage is that I can leave my tripod lower (more stable), and my buddy doesn't have to move it to look through it.

 

[Ram94]

It will not even be a competition with the Diamondback. I had mine set up beside my larger 80mm Viper and a 65mm Razor. The 65mm Athlon far exceeded the larger Viper and was identical to the Razor to my eyes as far as clarity. Slightly different hue, but could make out the same detail at 950 yards. I don't think you realize just yet the huge step up you have made!

 

[JSMountainman]

Awesome to hear! I'm looking forward to setting it up side by side with some others, and most of all hitting the sheep hills this summer! I see you are in Alberta as well ram94. Nice ram in the pic! congrats! Seems like I saw that pic on facebook or aof recently but I could be mistaken.

 

[Ram94]

Awesome to hear! I'm looking forward to setting it up side by side with some others, and most of all hitting the sheep hills this summer! I see you are in Alberta as well ram94. Nice ram in the pic! congrats! Seems like I saw that pic on facebook or aof recently but I could be mistaken.

Thank you! It’s my first ram, just got him back from the taxidermy. I had written an article in Journal Of Mountain Hunting. But I am also on AO forum. Have fun with the new scope!

 

[Mike Islander]

I like mine, but the eye relief is ridiculously short IMO. Really have to have that thing up in your eye.

 

[rmr2k14]

has anyone tried the new version?

 

[Rob5589]

has anyone tried the new version?

I believe Doug @gr8fuldoug said they were the same optically, the difference being the new model has a removable eye piece.

 

[Bryan B]

I've been thinking about getting this scope but I wear glasses and the short eye relief has me a bit concerned. Has anyone with glasses used this scope? What has been your experience?

 

[Mike Islander]

I've been thinking about getting this scope but I wear glasses and the short eye relief has me a bit concerned. Has anyone with glasses used this scope? What has been your experience?

Just tried it with my reading glasses. Wouldn't work for me. Too hard to get a full view, even with the eyecup dialed all the way down.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I've been thinking about getting this scope but I wear glasses and the short eye relief has me a bit concerned. Has anyone with glasses used this scope? What has been your experience?

I don't wear glasses so I can't help you there, but the OP said he wears glasses and the eye relief works for him?

 

[JSMountainman]

Yes I wear glasses and am really happy with the eye relief!

 

[Mike Islander]

Yes I wear glasses and am really happy with the eye relief!

Can you see the entire circle through the eyepiece? To do this with glasses I have to be right up against it and perpendicular. This means that in the field it will get uncomfortable fast, with no room to move around. But I only tested with reading glasses.

How does it work for you?

 

[Rob5589]

I tried mine just to see and while tight, eye relief worked. I don't generally wear glasses while glassing, however.

 

[Nicksawik]

Hey bryan, i just got this scope myself, i love it. Cant say enough about it and thanks to doug at camerland for helping me out with it. I have glasses, i wear them all the time, and while the eye relief is a bit short, it works fine for me. I can see the entire field of view while i have them on.

 

[idahohikker]

Love this scope. I wrote a review on it.

 

[Nicksawik]

Love this scope. I wrote a review on it.

Yea i read your review on it and then bought it, so ty for the great review. Very happy with it myself, and for the money, hard to beat.

 

[idahohikker]

The funny thing is I love the Athlon but I think to my eyes the Vortex are better than most see it. The Athlon is better but I didn't think the difference was huge. Doesn't matter though because the Athlon has all the optical quality and I need and throw in the packability and price and there isn't a better option to me.

 

[Nicksawik]

My friend has a viper scotter and i have looked through it and thought it was very good. So not slamming vortex, have a cpl scopes on guns and like them a lot. But the viper is more money and to be honest i do thing the athlon is better. But havent had the chance to put them side by side, due to being inside all the time currently. But the way i look at it is even if they are the same, quality wise, then its a win cause ur saving yourself a bunch of money.

 

[rustneversleeps]

Anyone have the Talos?