First Spotting Scope

[Rivisondali]

Hey all, new user here looking for my first spotting scope as I am set to go on my first hunt this year.

Been looking at the sub $1000 CAD category and have narrowed it down to 3 choices:
Vortex razor 16-48 x 65 gen 1 (48oz) $800
Bushnell nitro 20-60 x 65 (55oz) $800
Leupold sx-2 Alpine 20-60 x 65 (60oz) $650

Im looking for a decent general use spotter for range shooting up to 550yds as well as something I can pack around with relative ease. Currently my thoughts are that for range use at 550yd I will need to employ shoot and see targets regardless of these 3 options so I should focus what would be best for hunting use. Would be the recommendations of more experienced users?

Couple of things Ive noticed or considered:

at 48x all spotters seem to perform quite similarly although the Razor is clearer, sharper and has slightly less CA. The Razor is over half a pound lighter than the other two. The Razor is also the only straight configured spotter, I prefer angled spotters but can live with the straight if necessary. The Razor has its famous Vortex warranty.

The Nitro at max magnification tends to wash out a little bit and its glass has the poorest resolution but very minimal CA, almost on par with the Razor. I find it loses visibility in twilight by about 5 minutes faster than the other two.

The Alpines glass is almost a crisp and clear as the Razor, however, suffers noticeably more from CA than the other two scopes. The Leupold is also the only one with a barrel ring focus, I slightly prefer the dual focus of the other two scopes. The Alpine seems to survive the longest in twilight scenarios by a couple minutes.

I guess this boils down to what is more important for an all purpose spotter: having crisper glass with limited magnification or the option of an extra 12x magnification with slightly worse resolution or higher CA as a compromise?

 

[eric1115]

I'd get the Athlon Ares before any of those 65's, and a used Kowa 663 or Leica 62 before that (should be close to your $1k budget, though I haven't been following CAD vs USD.

 

[Rivisondali]

I'd get the Athlon Ares before any of those 65's, and a used Kowa 663 or Leica 62 before that (should be close to your $1k budget, though I haven't been following CAD vs USD.

Thanks for the input but Im committed to one of these 3 scopes as these are the only ones in my budget range that I can actually get my hands on to look through. Looking at the price of the Ares in Canada its about $800 which is comparable to the Razor but the Razor has the Vortex warranty as a bonus. Im not familiar with Athlons warranty policy.

 

[Ram94]

Athlon boasts the same warranty as Vortex though according to them you wont need it.

Another vote for the Ares as I've compared it side by side with the Razor.

 

[SneakyThunderCat]

Another vote for Kowa. I bought one without ever getting the chance to handle one, and was not disappointed. I compared side by side with a razor, and it's clear what glass is superior. You'll get a lot of different opinions about glass on this site. Overall it's your choice and this is just my opinion.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[eric1115]

The Athlon warranty is same as Vortex. In the US, the Ares is for most people better performance for less money than the Razor, if they are same price for you that makes it a less clear winner.

I feel very confident recommending the used Kowa or Leica without having you look through them. Either is head and shoulders above your three picks, well outside differences in personal preference or sample variation.

Note that the Kowa 661/662 (angled/straight versions of the same scope) are previous generation and not quite as good as the 663/664 (personally I still prefer them over the Razor). The 602 is a very different scope and would probably land mid pack in your list.

 

[Ram94]

Thanks for the input but Im committed to one of these 3 scopes as these are the only ones in my budget range that I can actually get my hands on to look through. Looking at the price of the Ares in Canada its about $800 which is comparable to the Razor but the Razor has the Vortex warranty as a bonus. Im not familiar with Athlons warranty policy.

Where are you seeing a 65mm razor for around $800 in Canada? They're more like $1800 from everywhere I'm looking...

Even the Viper is more expensive than the Ares.

And you wont find a used Kowa for under $1000 CAD

 

[Rivisondali]

Where are you seeing a 65mm razor for around $800 in Canada? They're more like $1800 from everywhere I'm looking...

Even the Viper is more expensive than the Ares.

And you wont find a used Kowa for under $1000 CAD

My local store in Calgary has a demo model for $800. It is the gen 1 model with 16-48 magnification. Based on what I saw online, its around $700 off the typical Canadian prices

 

[Blue72]

Nikon ed50 and eyepiece can be had for about $500

it is well loved and the optics are amazing

 

[ZackP]

Nikon ed50 and eyepiece can be had for about $500

it is well loved and the optics are amazing

I’m gonna second this. I just picked up an ED50 with the 13-40 eyepiece as a pack spotter.

Optics are actually quite a bit better than the Vortex your looking at in my opinion. Eye box is tighter obviously, but the optics are quite phenomenal in such a small package.

 

[Blue72]

I’m gonna second this. I just picked up an ED50 with the 13-40 eyepiece as a pack spotter.

Optics are actually quite a bit better than the Vortex your looking at in my opinion. Eye box is tighter obviously, but the optics are quite phenomenal in such a small package.

You can get other eyepieces for better eye relief. Plus some of those fixed magnification eyepieces have wide FOV almost equaling binoculars

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Clarity of glass trumps magnification.

For example. I can see more detail on the moon with my SLC 10s than my POS Nomad spotting scope at any magnification.

 

[ReddingArcher]

My first question is what binos do you currently have? For me, I use my binos much more than my spotter. Spotter gets broken out once I find an animal I really want to look over. I think you'll get more bang for your buck with top end binos than you will with a mid tier spotter. If you are using mid tier binos it is worth looking at selling them and using the cash you make on the sale and the money you were going to put towards the spotter and buy some used swaro, lieca or ziess.

 

[alfmoonspace]

If I was starting out today with my kit, I would look hard at a 15x bino like a swaro or meopta and buy a cheaper spotter for those occasional times I need it.

 

[Rivisondali]

My first question is what binos do you currently have? For me, I use my binos much more than my spotter. Spotter gets broken out once I find an animal I really want to look over. I think you'll get more bang for your buck with top end binos than you will with a mid tier spotter. If you are using mid tier binos it is worth looking at selling them and using the cash you make on the sale and the money you were going to put towards the spotter and buy some used swaro, lieca or ziess.

I have a pair of bushnell Engages right now and considering upgrading to Vortex Razors after finding a local retailer selling them for $1100 CAD (regularly $1450)

 

[mbv3]

Hard to beat Vortex for value to performance ratio