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The Scopes Advisorby Michael and Diane Porter
Q. Which spotting scope is the best at any price? A. There are several incredibly good scopes out there now. To choose among them, you need to prioritize what scope qualities you care most about. Here are the ones we consider the best scopes in the world. Click on the links for more details about each scope. If you are looking for the scope with the greatest resolving power, it's the 88mm Kowa Prominar. In our many and varied tests, we always saw finer details through the Kowa than any other full-sized scope. The other scopes were sharp, but not as sharp as the 88mm Kowa. However, an extra wide field of view also contributes a lot to the pleasure of looking through a scope. Another scope with great optical resolution is the new 82mm Leica APO Televid, but it also has an astonishingly wide field of view. It also focuses closer (12.5 ft) than any other scope we've found. Taking field of view and close focus into account, we credit the Leica with the best overall image quality. For sheer beauty of design and ergonomics, we pick the new Swarovski ATM-80 HD. It is the smoothest scope we've ever zoomed and focused with. It has the most ergonomic and graceful lines we've ever seen, and the best balance. It also has great optics and an exceptionally wide field of view. And a great peep sight for aiming. Q. What is the best buy (over $1500)? A. Among the highest-quality scopes, one stands out for value. It's the 85mm Vortex Razor HD. It's in league with the Kowa, Leica, and Swarovski for optical quality and ergonomics, but it costs about half as much. We have found no other scope that makes it into the high-end category for quality while selling for such a moderate price. Q. What's the best buy between $1000 and $1500? A. There is a scope that is only a little less sharp than the top scopes mentioned above, but costing much less. It's the Pentax PF-80EDA. What you give up in getting the Pentax is compactness. Counting the 20-60x zoom eyepiece, the Pentax is 19.1 ounces long and weighs 73.1 ounces. That makes it longer and a few ounces heavier than the top-end birding scopes such as Zeiss, Leica, Swarovski, and Vortex Razor. But if compactness and light weight are not major concerns, the Pentax offers great value for the money. Q. What's the best buy under $500? A. We believe it's the Alpen 788. This is an amazing scope. We tested it against other mid-priced scopes in March of 2009 for the Mid-priced Scopes Round-up, for Bird Watcher's Digest. The Alpen 788 was the best full-sized scope in the survey. And it outperformed scopes that cost much more. This one is really a bargain! Q. What's the best lightweight scope for travel? A. If you want a scope that is almost pocketable, check out the Nikon 50mm ED Fieldscope. Diane puts hers in her purse to take on plane flights, along with a super-lightweight carbon fiber tripod (see the Guatemala Kit). This one is a little gem. We reviewed for it the March of 2009 issue of Bird Watcher's Digest. (See Mid-priced Scopes Round-up), and it took top honors as the best small scope. Copyright 2009 by Michael and Diane Porter.
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