Ultralight optics... spotter vs image Stabilized Binos

[packgoatguy]

I've used a lightweight quality spotter setup (sub 30oz Kowa 553 15-45x) coupled with a tiny 10x28 binocular (8oz) for a number of years. This combo has served me well. I can scan quickly with the lightweight binos, and switch to the tripod mounted spotter for a more detailed look. Plus I can mount my smart phone camera to the spotter to film distant wildlife and record shots taken.

However, I'm always looking for a better system...

I've considered swapping to an image stabilized bino, something like the 12 or 15x Zulu6, and having it do double duty (ditch the small binos and spotter in favor of one IS Bino). There would be significant weight savings (38oz now, vs 22oz with the Zulu6). I assume I could still get a phoneskope adapter to fit on the Zulu6 so I could still record/digiscope. I've wondered if it would even make sense to add a 2x doubler monocular to the Zulu6 for filming with the smartphone... not sure how this would work in reality though...

I would miss not being able to zoom in to 45x on the spotter... and not having the 10x scanning ability would be something I'd have to get used to if I was limited to just 12 or 15x... but do the weight savings justify the sacrifice? Has anyone gone with a similar setup?

 

[PredatorSlayer]

What 8oz 10x28 bino are you using? I can’t imagine it has very good glass.

 

[packgoatguy]

What 8oz 10x28 bino are you using? I can’t imagine it has very good glass.

Sorry, actually 10x25. Its the bushnell legend ultra HD. Its actually very impressive how good they are. However, their main advantage is how lightweight they are. Because of their weight, I get less hand-shake/fatigue, which for me makes them more effective than heavier binos with better glass. This spring, my son and I have spotted several bears well beyond a mile with the little binos.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Sorry, actually 10x25. Its the bushnell legend ultra HD. Its actually very impressive how good they are. However, their main advantage is how lightweight they are. Because of their weight, I get less hand-shake/fatigue, which for me makes them more effective than heavier binos with better glass. This spring, my son and I have spotted several bears well beyond a mile with the little binos.

Impressive.

 

[180ls1]

If you are interested. I have the lightest Kowa Spotter tsn-502 (14oz I believe) and a Vortex Bino doubler I would sell both to you for $300 shipped?

As much as I want to be, I am not a glassing with 1 eye type so I carry 2x pairs of binos and just eat the weight.

 

[packgoatguy]

If you are interested. I have the lightest Kowa Spotter tsn-502 (14oz I believe) and a Vortex Bino doubler I would sell both to you for $300 shipped?

As much as I want to be, I am not a glassing with 1 eye type so I carry 2x pairs of binos and just eat the weight.

Thanks, but I already have both of the little 500 series kowas as well. They don't get used nearly as much as the 550 series in my camp. The low end 15x vs 20x makes a huge difference. Let alone the glass quality.

 

[drpnw]

I was thinking through the same logic as you this past year and I made the switch to the sig zulu6 16x and I’m very glad I did. Huge weight reduction and less bulk. The IS is fantastic and makes long glassing sessions a bit less of a grind. The thing I missed the most during spring bear was the mathematical perfection of gridding with a tripod but it isn’t enough to justify the weight for me.

I heavily debated the 12x versus the 16x (better low light & field of view versus magnification on par with my spotter). I think most ppl are probably better off with 12s due to the expanded field of view

 

[Beendare]

I can see using the tiny 10x25's to pull up and check something...but Glassing for any length of time with those- nope.

I've tried the image stabilized binos [12x Canon and 20x Zeiss] and I just don't think you will find any one unit that will do it all. I've thought about this myself- trying to consolidate to one unit. It won't work for me.

Scanning with good glass rock steady on a tripod is super effective.

My system is the Swaro 10x NL....and the UL Sirui Tripod with their ball head and the Vortex UHD 18x that are excellent. {I know Vortex? these are far better than their others]

If I had to do it- ONE UNIT for everything...it would be the Swaro 12x...and have a tripod mount. You can pull those up and brace against your bow or rifle...then use them on a tripod with darn good performance.

.

 

[packgoatguy]

My main issue isn't so much replacing my 10x25s (I do take a lot of flack for using those... but they are great when paired with a lower power spotter like the kowa 15x-45x. And because they are so lightweight, they are ideal for 1 handed use while holding my bow or rifle in the other). My main issue is whether I could live without the zoom capability of my little spotter. I find that I use the spotter at greater magnification a lot when using the phone skope to record wildlife.

This is a video I took yesterday of a Fox den... well over 1000 yards away across a canyon. I don't think this would have been do-able without the 45x capability.

 

[Beendare]

A valid point. Of course it depends on your use…and it seems we use optics differently.

I use optics to find critters…and I’m not so concerned with counting points

 

[LostWapiti]

I’ve been thinking about some similar things to you. The sig 20x binos seem very intriguing but I haven’t heard much about them. I have used the 10s, 12s, and 16s though and they are all awesome but each have their drawbacks.

Right now I don’t think you can do what you are thinking because the FOV is just to narrow on the Zulu’s to be your primary binos. Now if they can get big FOV on the 16s or 20s then now the 1 optic idea is very real.

I would carry the 12s but the FOV on those really sucks so I’m sticking with NL Pure.

I do own the 10s and plan to use them from the truck and for more run and gun style hunting like archery.

 

[eaglemountainman]

Sounds like you've already got the perfect (for you) set up. You seem extremely happy with your 10X25s. And you won't find a lighter spotter with the optical quality of a Kowa 553/554.
My set up is light, also, though not as light as yours. If I'm running and gunning, I carry Kowa Genny 8X33s on my chest, and I don't leave the truck without a 554 in my pack.
If I anticipate a long day of stationary glassing off the tripod, I add a pair of 10.5X44 Gennies to the pack. But that blows the whole lightweight aspect out of the water.

 

[oregonoutdoors]

I sold my Leica rangefinding binos and picked up the Sig IS in 12x and 20x. Idea is to leave the spotter and tripod in camp. 12x in the chest rig and 20x in the backpack to use like a spotter. Headed out for 5 days of spring bear hunting next week. Will report back.

 

[LostWapiti]

ple

I sold my Leica rangefinding binos and picked up the Sig IS in 12x and 20x. Idea is to leave the spotter and tripod in camp. 12x in the chest rig and 20x in the backpack to use like a spotter. Headed out for 5 days of spring bear hunting next week. Will report back.

Please send a follow up and good luck!

 

[Bobrobheimer]

My buddy and I split a pair of the pervious generation of zulu6’s in 16x thinking they could replace a spotter and tripod for certain hunts. They could and they do work very well - BUT I don’t enjoy looking through them for even mildly extended amounts of time and their clarity and light transmission isn’t super awesome. I really enjoy glassing from a tripod with regular binos and recently got a pair of NL pures in 12x hoping those and a light tripod will be the ticket for me. That said the Zulu’s are really impressive when compared to just hand holding other binos. For a rifle hunt since I could shoot off a tripod that’s another justification to carry it for glassing purposes.

 

[curtinalaska]

this is a great thread

 

[packgoatguy]

Sounds like you've already got the perfect (for you) set up. You seem extremely happy with your 10X25s. And you won't find a lighter spotter with the optical quality of a Kowa 553/554.
My set up is light, also, though not as light as yours. If I'm running and gunning, I carry Kowa Genny 8X33s on my chest, and I don't leave the truck without a 554 in my pack.
If I anticipate a long day of stationary glassing off the tripod, I add a pair of 10.5X44 Gennies to the pack. But that blows the whole lightweight aspect out of the water.

I agree that this setup has worked well for me. I probably get more use out of the 553/554 kowa than most, because I have it on top of my hiking staff instead of in my pack (staff opens into a tripod) so it's in my hands at all times. Plus I made a mount for my little binos to sit on top of the spotter, so I can look through them supported.

But, I'm always looking for ways to improve my setup. Thinking the OIS 10x could be good for archery, as long as I can use them effectively one handed.

 

[TheGDog]

UltraLight setup levels.

- Just the ZEISS Conquest HD 10x42 only.

- If I really think some 15's are in order for a return trip to some place, I might bring my Compact 8x28 Vortex Diamondback for hand-held viewing (but I also have an Outdoorsman's bino stud even on that one too!) and then the 15x56 ZEISS Conquest HD. Liked the 10's soo much I just had to get the 15's!

- Sometimes I've done only 15's w/ me as my only optic. Not optimal, but you can make it work.

- After last years season, I learned for this steep area I was climbing up thru, pioneering from 6600 to 9000 EV, the 65mm ZEISS Dialyt spotter I picked up, which also has a great image like those 10x42's and can see for a reDONKulously long way away. Added just a lil more weight to the pack than I was comfortable with for this horrible steep climb up a mountain carpeted in nasty buckthorn all the way up.

In the downtime since then, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a used Maven s.2 12x27.

Got something urgent at work atm, I gotta finish by August. So for now, it's been just trips to a local Wetlands reserve. Shows good promise on much smaller targets within a sub-mile distance. When conditions are right.


Thing of it is I wanted to change over to Straight-Body spotter since I always start with my binos first... Then if see something, and wanted ability to switch to higher magnification, I hated having to fuss so much with raising or lowering my lil angled vortex 11-33x50m spotter and re-acquiring your target, when I'd change from bino to spotter.

When the target's farther away I almost always had to memorize a nearby larger landmark, and about where the actual object was located, in relation to that landmark. For myself I noticed I was outta the glass a little longer when adjusting the tripod when switching from binos to angled spotter, vs binos to straight spotter. And when switching to binos to straight? It's like a no-brainer with the Outdoorsman's Bino Adapter / Plate Adapter system. I often don't even have to re-adjust the tripod at all when going from binos to straight!

I don't know if I'll be able to use it on scouting missions this year yet, I skipped BigGame this year because I need to schedule a surgery to fix a stomach issue and it's like 12 weeks healing time with modified diet so I figured there'd be no way in hell I could do both of those in same year.

 

[Bobrobheimer]

UltraLight setup levels.

- Just the ZEISS Conquest HD 10x42 only.

- If I really think some 15's are in order for a return trip to some place, I might bring my Compact 8x28 Vortex Diamondback for hand-held viewing (but I also have an Outdoorsman's bino stud even on that one too!) and then the 15x56 ZEISS Conquest HD. Liked the 10's soo much I just had to get the 15's!

- Sometimes I've done only 15's w/ me as my only optic. Not optimal, but you can make it work.

- After last years season, I learned for this steep area I was climbing up thru, pioneering from 6600 to 9000 EV, the 65mm ZEISS Dialyt spotter I picked up, which also has a great image like those 10x42's and can see for a reDONKulously long way away. Added just a lil more weight to the pack than I was comfortable with for this horrible steep climb up a mountain carpeted in nasty buckthorn all the way up.

In the downtime since then, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a used Maven s.2 12x27.

Got something urgent at work atm, I gotta finish by August. So for now, it's been just trips to a local Wetlands reserve. Shows good promise on much smaller targets within a sub-mile distance. When conditions are right.


Thing of it is I wanted to change over to Straight-Body spotter since I always start with my binos first... Then if see something, and wanted ability to switch to higher magnification, I hated having to fuss so much with raising or lowering my lil angled vortex 11-33x50m spotter and re-acquiring your target, when I'd change from bino to spotter.

When the target's farther away I almost always had to memorize a nearby larger landmark, and about where the actual object was located, in relation to that landmark. For myself I noticed I was outta the glass a little longer when adjusting the tripod when switching from binos to angled spotter, vs binos to straight spotter. And when switching to binos to straight? It's like a no-brainer with the Outdoorsman's Bino Adapter / Plate Adapter system. I often don't even have to re-adjust the tripod at all when going from binos to straight!

I don't know if I'll be able to use it on scouting missions this year yet, I skipped BigGame this year because I need to schedule a surgery to fix a stomach issue and it's like 12 weeks healing time with modified diet so I figured there'd be no way in hell I could do both of those in same year.

I have been thinking when I replace my little angled vortex spotted eventually that a straight spotter would be better for this same reason. I glass with my binos and then check stuff with the spotter primarily.

 

[bigbuckdj]

I think this is kind of the opposite of what you were thinking but hear me out. I have the 10s and 16s in the zulu 6s and the 10s are really a workhorse for me, The 16s can’t be beat for 3d archery and they are better for scanning at long distances but I don’t think they replace a spotter in a lot of scenarios.

I actually think this year I’ll be carrying my small spotter, tiny little tripod and the 10 Zulu 6s most of the time. I don’t need a tall or beefy tripod to support my spotter, and I like being able to quickly look through my binos and then the spotter without fiddling with the tripod. The perfectly stable 10s, even with one hand, with a much larger field of view, they are pretty sweet.

Edit to add: To confuse you a bit and contradict myself, the 16s with the 3x optical zoom of an iPhone and a scopecam adapter works pretty well.