Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!spool.mu.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!eru!hagbard!sunic!news.funet.fi!ra!misan From: misan@ra.abo.fi (Annika Forsten DC) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: SPOTTING SCOPE RECOMMENDATIONS NEEDED Message-ID: Date: 6 May 91 13:48:30 GMT References: <72035@microsoft.UUCP> <1991May3.130407.9279@verdix.com> Sender: misan@ra.abo.fi Organization: Abo Academy, Finland Lines: 54 In-reply-to: edm@verdix.com's message of 3 May 91 13:04:07 GMT In article <1991May3.130407.9279@verdix.com> edm@verdix.com (Ed Matthews) writes: >So what I need to know is >1. What brand? Optolyth, Kowa, Zeiss, Nikon. Perhaps cheaper: Mirador. > I understand binocular optics: do scopes operate the same way? Mostly, except for those that turn the picture around, i.e. you need to turn your scope to the right in order to see to the left. What power range is most useful for birding? 20 wide and 27-30 (wide). 30 is cheaper than 20, but more difficult to use in finding birds. It does bring the birds a lot nearer though. With practice it's not too difficult to find flying birds. Kowa's 30x is very good indeed, Optolyth's less so, but I believe they are soon launching a new better one. On the other hand Optolyth's 40x and 20x are better than Kowa's. 40x is not for ordinary watching, it can usually be used only for looking at stationary birds in good light, no heat waves and no wind. I haven't used mine for years. I'm satisfied with my 27x wide. What are pros and cons of fixed power versus interchangeable power? Interchangeable power oculars need more light. Often they are rather good at the lower ranger, but less so at 60x. Here in Finland allmost everybody use a fixed power lens, whenever I've seen somebody with an interchangeable piece they are allmost always beginners. What makes a tripod worth having? It is quite neccessary. Anything over 12x is unusable without one. You can choose between shoulder, carwindow or ordinary tripods though. I believe shoulder tripods are pretty popular in Canada, how is it in the US? What makes a tripod cumbersome? The heavier they are, the steadier they are. But get one you can carry. As a weak woman I've found out that a SLIK Master is about the heaviest I can manage to carry around. Slik, Manfrotto, Gitzo are known brands. > Can reasonable quality optics be had affordably? I'd love to have Kowa, > but it's not in my budget. Here in Finland the cheapest Kowa is about $500 including eyepiece. Cheapest tripod about $200. In the US they should be considerably cheaper. What reasonable optics are probably depends on how much you go out birding. Getting your eyes destroyed by bad optics is not such a good idea either. I don't think you can get cheap telescopes, but there are lots of cheap binoculars around. Annika Forsten