Spotting scopes

[abunaitoo]

I know people who spend $1000 and more on a spotting scope.
One I have now, I got a while ago.
Vortex bird watching scope. 15x to 45x
Light, compact, was very clear.
Noticed it's just not as clear as it used to be.
I've heard they were gas filled, and when the gas leaks out, it's not as clear.
It's still usable.
Can anything be done??????

[BrassMagnet]

Sometimes for a nominal fee they will clean, re-seal, and replace the inert gas. It is worth a shot. It should make it as good as new.

[DocSavage]

I've a couple of Vortex scopes and a spotting scope and IIRC they have a lifetime warranty. Even if the warranty has expired call them what's the worst that can they say other than sorry we can't help you.

[Kraschenbirn]

Not pulling your chain but have you tried cleaning the lenses? I mean really cleaning; not just wiping them down the with "lens cloth" that came with the scope? I clean my spotting scope the same way I clean my rifle scopes and astronomical telescopes...lens cleaning solution and a couple microfiber cloths (both readily available from any optometrist shop). I'm not familiar with Vortex scopes so I'm not certain whether or not your objective lens is plastic or glass but, if it's plastic, then proper cleaning is more critical than with glass (even multi-coated plastic lenses scratch easily). I've had my Meade 20-60x80mm (plastic lenses) for about four years and it's still as clear as it was when I first mounted it.

Losing some of the nitrogen fill shouldn't really effect the clarity/resolution; the gas fill during assembly is, primarily, to eliminate any moisture inside the tube. My astro scopes all have interchangeable eyepieces/filters and have remained clear for years and years without a gas fill.

Bill

[abunaitoo]

I did contact Vortex.
They were very nice, but said they no longer have that model.
I think they might have changed owners, and won't work on older scopes.
They did offer a discount if I wanted to get a newer model.
Even with the discount, it was more than I paid for my scope new.

I do clean the outside lens with eye glass spray cleaner.
Found that works the best.
They are glass, and I don't see any fogging on the inside.
It's still usable, so I'm going to just keep on using it.
Thanks

[Land Owner]

For decades the cheapskate in me wouldn't opt for an expensive spotting scope (say $500). I used an El Cheapo scope (~$50 iirc) with a pencil thin objective lens. I had to "search" for the image at the scope's highest magnification (30-ish X). Every butterfly sneeze on the far (or near) side of the planet would send the image into a fit of vibration. Focus was as if the eyeball had just been poked by a sharp stick and you were looking through the tears. I blame that scope for contributing to my wearing of glasses today (not really).

Upon retirement, after 30 YEARS of use of that (cannot use the word "quality" even with pre-cursor words such as ****-poor, bad, no, etc.) POC scope, I chose a parting gift, a Nikon spotting scope. My reloading and shooting mentor had already purchased a Leupold spotting scope and I was having "scope envy" issues when we went to the range.

I cannot quantify how much "larger" the Nikon's image is to the POC, but it certainly is easier to find the target. Focus and clarity are both understandably better.

Are these high end scopes 10-20X better than the POC scope? Yes and no. I did "fine" with the old scope. I made it work and it did. Optics are great, the human eye is greater, and don't let the advertising hype fool you.

I am not saying that I recommend some cheap POC spotting scope. If you have the money, go BIG. If not, you may, like me, do more with less.

Thanks for the opportunity to rant. To the OP, I hope you get your clarity issue resolved, air, after all, is ~80% nitrogen, so the Mfg's purge is to keep out humidity and prevent the scope tube from internal "sweating" as thermal shock "sucks" in moisture from every environment to which it is subjected. Taking the scope from the house (say 60% relative humidity) to the car (say 85% relative humidity), produces this imbalance. Introduce the scope after the car's heater/AC has driven off the ambient moisture. Let the scope "heat up" and "cool down" in the car slowly. The faster these temperature changes occur, the greater will be the "suck".

I too like to watch the birds and being able to ID minute detail is important. I couldn't do that with my POC scope.

[country gent]

I have a couple kowas that arnt a sealed scope interchangeable eye pieces. very clear but will fog up in some conditions. I have a meade 100mm astronomical scope is very good uses telescope eye pieces its very good but requires a reversing lenses to spot with. It is bulkier than the scopes meant for spotting.Also a little heavier. One of my favorites for spotting silhouettes is a set of celestron 25 x 100 binoculars, clear and crisp allow both eyes to work together which saves on strain and fatigue. Also require a heavy tripod as the sail area is larger and breezes affect them more.

I have had the opportunity to look thru use some others also Battle ship binoculars, both US and Japanese. These were very good and would show 30 cal holes at 600 yds. Very heavy requires a very well built tripod and stable surface. But would allow very long distance spotting and viewing. The older unertal 60 mm 20x is a very good scope that does a very goo job, these are getting old and hard to find now. The 60x x 1000mm unertals were great team scopes but heavy and long. But also very clear and crisp again older and hard to find as fewer were made.

In order of best to less of what I have for spotting
The Kowas
The celestron binoculars
The meade scope

I will state here to watch the eye relief on the scopes you look at. Wearing glasses may make it hard to get close enough to the eye piece. Also consider what you want for the eye piece straight or 45, unertal made a few 90* but they are rare as hens teeth. most position shooters prefer the 45* eyepiece.

I may make the beat of both here shortly. a mount with adjusting thread to mount 2 straight eye piece kowas side by side this will adjust the scopes to width of users eye.@ kowa 88mms mounted side by side with 30-60 eyepieces, allowing the eyes to work together. Should be a great set of mounted binoculars

[abunaitoo]

Friend bought a Konus spotting scope.
He thought it read Kowa.
It's OK
About the same as my old Vortex when it was new.

[mickbr]

Apart from the elite brands( ziess, lieca, kowa etc) spotting scope brands are less important than where their actual models are being made. Konus for example is a lesser product than vortex usually. They are italian owned but chinese made. Vortex are US owned, asian made, but like some others brands their higher end models will be farmed out to the Japanese factories. Some of the optics and features on Chinese units can be excellent but their quality control is what it is. I aim for Japanese made units where possible. High end Nikon are good. Pentax are possibly the best bang for the buck out there, only just behind the elite Euro brands, and a fraction the cost. Unfortunately they are being phased out by their parent company Ricoh. I think because the scopes last so long and do so well at modest price points, the company doesnt make enough money out of them.

As to old scopes losing their purge, it may be less important for target shooters or hunters, than it is say for a digiscoper who is trying to capture all the colors of some bird in a swamp. Here unpurged optics fog and mould quickly, I cant use them.

[garywg]

Sounds like a good test for the famous Vortex Lifetime warranty.

[abunaitoo]

I got it new when they were first starting out, so it's old.
It's a good scope.
Good eye relief, light, was really clear and bright when it was new.
Got a good deal on it because it was a year old model.
People at Vortex were nice about it.
I think they had changed manufacturer, which is why they can't clean it.
No parts probably.
They just don't make anything, of the same quality, as what I have, for the price I paid.
I'll just live with it for now.
It still works fine, just not as good as before.
Or maybe it's just my eyes are not what they were before.

[samari46]

Have an old Bausch & Lomb with an 80mm lens very good optics, the other is a Konus when Jim Owens was selling them. My really old spotting scope is a cheapie and fits in a small suitcase with tripod and shooting stuff. Of the three the first has the best clarity and sharpness. And no longer made. Frank

[fcvan]

Call me a cheapskate but I bought one from Harbor Freight, 20-60. I was an 'open box' read, returned item, and thus discounted. I put a %30 discount coupon on top of that. Got it home and realized why it had been returned, the mounting bolt for the included tripod was not long enough to engage the threads. A quick trip to the hardware store and .35 later, I was set.

Then, I purchased an adapter so I could mount my Iphone to the optic. The Iphone will take pictures on voice command so I don't have to disturb the scope by pressing the camera. The tripod is meant for table top and pretty cheesy, a slight wind and the camera wobbles. Thank goodness my brother is an avid photographer and owns several high end and stable tripods. I don't need to save targets to verify groups, I can snap a picture between each shot, log the chronograph reading, and edit the photos to show load stats and group size, all for the cost of a few electrons.

I don't use it as much for shooting, when I am in CA seeing the grand kids, we can whale watch (I am a mile from the beach, they are 2 blocks) and we can all sit at a park bench on a bluff and look at the Iphone screen. No kids saying 'my turn' or bumping the scope off target. That and we can snap a photo to show what they saw. Spotting game will be as easy. I could snap a photo and use the voice command 'gotcha' and the hunt is over, no need for tags, license, or even a season. Just catch the photo to prove the stalk. Heck, I read an article of a hunter who mounted a camera on a gun stock, the shutter controlled by a regular trigger. I don't remember how he focused or adjusted his f stop without spooking the game, it was not a new fangled digital that does everything for you.

The last photo I took of a big mule deer was to within 10 feet. He startled when I opened the back door, and again when the phone made the shutter sound. He was in the yard so often my Wife took a picture of him every week, showing bud, spike, fork, branch, full velvet, then sharpened up. My Wife named him 'Boss Hawg' because his horns were very fat at the base and very much wider than his ears.

One of the other deer she named 'Girl.' I told her Does don't have horns. She said 'I know that, but those are girly horns.' They were much thinner than Boss Hawg, but still tall and wide. My Wife calls the deer (they used to be in the back yard every day 9 months out of the year) and they come to her, I've watched her do it. I had a neighbor, whose yard like mine was also not fenced. He had a ratty old apple tree just for the deer. I told him I would love to bow shoot a deer from the upstairs bedroom. He said 'I would be afraid of shooting someone's pet.' I told him 'they should be afraid they were petting someone's shoot.' He replied 'I like how you think.' He was and avid hunter and angler.

Both yards are fenced now, the deer still occasionally get in the back yard, just not every day. Good thing though, I don't have the occasional mountain lion sitting under my sun porch waiting for dinner to come by. Did I mention Colorado Springs has over 400 thousand people?

My Wife has taken pictures of bear in the back yard, and the sand box for the grand kids off the front porch, 7 or 8 Big horn sheep one block away walking in line near the curb, and an antelope in the field 3 blocks away. I haven't taken photos of the neighborhood fox across the street, the occasional coyote, the rabbits, the other critters. The picture I wish I got was the yearling mule deer walking the sidewalk with the trick or treaters. With those kind of distances, I don't need a 20-60 cheapo Harbor Freight spotting scope, just need the Iphone.