Top Birding Scopes
Personally Reviewed

How we tested the scopes
How we scored the scopes optically
Reviews of individual scopes

How we tested the birding scopes
Because zooms tend to be popular with birder, we tested scopes with zoom eyepieces installed whenever possible. For the smaller scopes, we tested at 20x and 40x, and the large scopes at 20x, 40x, and 60x. If only a fixed eyepiece was available, the scores of those tests include an "F" in the chart.

Note: these results show the combined optical quality of both the scope and the zoom eyepiece. Fixed eyepieces undoubtedly would have produced different results. Also, we tested only one sample of each scope, and it might have been atypical.

How we scored the birding scopes
We tested all the scopes at the same distance and under similar lighting conditions. The resolution test chart we used had progressively smaller groups of lines. To the smallest group we were able to resolve, we assigned a score of 20; the next larger group 19, then 18, etc. The difference in resolution between two consecutive scores was small but perceptible.

Much of the time birders use scopes at 20x, and you'll notice that at 20x most of the test scores don't vary a great deal. We were impressed at the high quality of the scopes we tested. In choosing the right scope for you, the ergonomic qualities, such as size, weight, and focusing method, might outweigh a small difference in optical quality.

REVIEWS
of individual scopes

Bausch & Lomb
Brandon (Vernon)
Bushnell Spacemaster
Deutsche Optik Optolyth
Eagle Optics Raven
Fujinon
Kowa
Leica
Nikon
Pentax
Questar
Swarovski
Swift
Tele Vue Ranger
Zeiss (new review, added Jan. 2003)

The Scopes at a Glance - A Chart
Here we tabulate the essential specs on all the scopes we tested and their closely-related models.