Longrange spotting scope help!

[luke moffat]

Yep, Matt is spot on!

It's not the scopes fault, but more from the heat waves/atmospheric disturbance.

I can glass at 75X first thing in the morning without issue, but around 10-12, it goes down hill.

+1

I agree 100%, can't always use the 75X, but can't always use 60X either depending on atmospheric conditions, but now that I used 75X when the conditions are right, I am of the mind I'd rather have to use it when I can and dial back when I can't vs. wish I could dial up more when I would be able to, but not have it.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Yeah Aron,

Mornings are best, and cloud cover can help under some circumstances. Mirage will be most troubling in desert-type areas with wide temperature swings. You never seem to get stable air in those places.

Stable air in the high desert, is that possible?

 

[Matt Cashell]

Here is a pic I took of some bulls a few minutes ago. I was using the Meopta S2 82mm w/ 30-60 WA and the Meopix iPhone adapter. Distance was 1000 plus yards.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Were you able to take the same picture with the ziess at 75X? maybe to compare them. Thanks

 

[Matt Cashell]

I can try to handhold it, but the MeoPix adapter is only for the Meopta. I will see what I can do. For sure, there are a pile of spikes in there, and either spotter will easily resolve even tiny branch antlers on them.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Hot off the presses. Handheld.

 

[pyroducksx3]

thanks! I imagine the difference in color/clarity is because you had to hand hold it vs having an adapter?

 

[Matt Cashell]

The Meopta has a little more saturated image generally than the Zeiss. If by "clarity" you mean the lack of contrast (the "milky" effect) in the pic, that is from side light coming in around the eyepiece, from handholding the phone. The MeoPix adapter surrounds the eyepiece, and eliminates side light.

It is problematic to judge the quality of an optic by a digiscoped image, because there are a lot more things in play than just the optic's quality.

 

[Matt Cashell]

The actual image you see through both spotters is MUCH sharper than the pics show, especially since these pics are compressed for web display.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Thanks I appreciate all the help I've gone to the "check out" button on my cart containing the ziess and eyepiece three times and almost have an anxiety attack eveytime. Im a little trigger shy but I really cant think of a reason to get the swaro stm 80 non hd over the ziess for only a few hundred more. I think its just sticker shock I went into this spotting scope purchace looking to spend 1500$ so I just have to wrap my head around the fact that this is an investment.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I wish you could get behind one first. As this thread shows, some models just agree with some more than others.

I would be happy with either of these two spotters, myself. I would really like to see the high-mag zoom eyepiece from Meopta.

I am anxious to get my hands on the Swaro ATX as well. Sticker shock on that one is substantial though.

 

[pyroducksx3]

I wish I could also but there are no ziess around me. That meopta looks interesting and this deal is pretty good http://www.sportoptics.com/meopta-spotting-scope-543220-co.aspx but I just havent heard much about them until now.

On another topic and since I feel comfortable jacking my own thread. Would the sony nex 3 or 5 with a tinesup adapter be a good digiscoping combo for the ziess

 

[luke moffat]

What Matt said is very true. Way too many varibles involved with digiscoping to rate scopes off of the pics. Between wind shake of the pics, setup of the digiscoping, camera used, tripod used, and more its best to compare apples to apples with you eyes not pics via the internet.

But here is a pic of a moose at 1/2 mile through the Zeiss

 

[pyroducksx3]

Thanks luke thats an amazing image to be able to get at 800 something yards! Where you using your olympus and tinesup adapter?

 

[luke moffat]

Yeah, Olympus TG-1 got the lens adapter from Olympus that that sell to put difference lenses on it, then the adpater ring to size to the tines up. Won't use a non-waterproof camera in Alaska. The cannon that Tines up sold me lasted only one trip adn was dead due to a small amount of moisture made it in the ziploc bag it was in during a very wet trip last summer. Olympus takes great pics and is waterproof so its good enough for me. The 1080 hd video is also very good for what it is. I thnk the rangefinder read 828 on the moose at that distance at the time but I can't remember exactly.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Those pics that BB has posted must be way over 1000 yards because they are only slightly larger than the elk I was looking at at 930 yards on my 30x minox but that moose is filling the frame. I could have easily determined elk at the 930 yards if the image looked like that!

 

[Matt Cashell]

The NEX system does not currently have a great Digiscoping-compatible lens that I have seen. I know GMan has had some trouble removing vignetting. I use the Nikon 1 w/ 10-30 and tu adapter and it does very well with the Zeiss, but I had to epoxy on my own threading adapter to make it work. Many point and shoots will work very well with the tines up system.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Those pics that BB has posted must be way over 1000 yards because they are only slightly larger than the elk I was looking at at 930 yards on my 30x minox but that moose is filling the frame. I could have easily determined elk at the 930 yards if the image looked like that!

Luke's pic is cropped and/or using a bit of camera zoom. A moose will not fill the field of view at 800 yards.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I just checked the map and those elk are just under a mile ( almost 1600 yards) away.

 

[pyroducksx3]

That amazing to get that kind of image at that range. Im thinking I really want the 75X over the 60. I imagine the 70x of the meopta is significant over the 60 as well. I know I cant judge the image based off internet pics but that meopta color saturation is impressive over the ziess pic. I imagine with equal adapters the images would actually be quite close and not as different as they appear? Im still leaning on the ziess but the meopta is interesting. I really like the ziess focus, although I havent got to use it but I like the focus on top (like the ziess or vortex). Ziess is also has a rebate for the ziess tripod so with the 500$ rebate and the free tripod rebate it seems pretty hard to beat. Does anyone know what sprecific tripod it is and if its any good or not?