First of all what are spotting scopes?

Spotting scopes are similar to binoculars but with a difference which is that these have the single eyepiece and very large magnification. These spotting scopes will help you in selecting an animal far away in the herd. This helps as a lot of people will like to have that animal spotted first rather than going any closer and once that is done you will be able to use the binoculars later when the animal is closer.

Spotting scope is like a small telescope though in construction and the features it is like binoculars as opposed to a telescope. Spotting scopes always will give out an image which is not reversed which is what happens in a telescope.

There are some of the known brands when it comes to spotting scopes and these are

Barska spotting scopes

Burris spotting scopes

Celestrion spotting scopes

Konus spotting scopes

Leupold spotting scopes

Nikom Spotting scopes

Pentax spotting scopes

Zeiss spotting scopes

ATN spotting scopes

Bushnell spotting scopes

I have a detailed reference guide on the best hunting spotting scopes in my earlier post.

Here is my list of top ten spotting scopes

Cabela’s Big Sky ED 20-60×66

Nikon Prostaff 20-60×82

Leupold Sequoia 20-60×80

Bushnell Excursion FLP 20-60×80

Cabela’s Alaskan Guide 20-60×70

LEUPOLD Golden Ring 10-20×40 Compact Spotting Scope

Konus Konuscamo 20-60 x 70 Spotting Scope

Pentax PF-80ED (20 - 60×80 mm)

Bushnell Elite® 78-8045 (20 - 60×80 mm)

Swarovski Optik STS 80 HD

As far as digital products are concerned there are digital spotting scopes now available in the market for about $500.00. One of the brands that come to my mind for that is Celestron VistaPix IS70

As far as the usage is concerned you can use the spotting scopes for a wide variety of uses though I must say that a lot of people use them for general wildlife viewing also. Always check to see what is the need that you have while selecting the scopes. Since the scopes are heavy you will in all probability need the tripod for stabilization. Also the best design is different than the binoculars. They come in either straight barrel design or in the angled design. You can use these spotting scopes for digiscoping and that is where you get those beautiful pictures of the birds or the wildlife from close quarters without actually being that close.

Here is my list of the top ten range finders

Nikon LR 1200 rangefinder

Bushnell yardage pro Sport rangefinder

Bushnell PinSeeker 1500 20-5102 Rangefinder

Leica CRF 1200 Rangefinder

Nikon Laser 1200 TeamRealtreeRange Finders

Swarovski 8×30 Laser Guide Rangefinder

Bushnell Elite 20-5100 rangefinder

Nikon ProStaff 550 Laser Rangefinders

Leupold Digital RX-I Rangefinders

What is a rangefinder anyway?

Rangefinder as the name suggests is for finding the range or the distance whether you are playing golf or hunting. It will measure the distance of the object which is at a distance and then you can use that distance to have a good shot at the hunt using your rifle. There are different types of rangefinders available in the market and these rangefinders work on the principle that of reflection or that of triangulation to find out the distance.

For example in case of laser rangefinders the laser beam is bounced off the object whose distance you are trying to measure and the time taken for the laser to hit the object and come back will be noted to measure the distance. There are laser rangefinders, sonar rangefinders and the radar rangefinders. In the case of sonar rangefinders it is the sound that bounces off the object to give the distance whereas in the case of the radar it is the radio waves that will give the distance. 

GPS rangefinders – Now with GPS or Global Navigation Satellite System available at affordable costs it has spread its usage to rangefinders. These rangefinders use the location of the person and the object to get the distance using the satellites. 

Golf laser range finders are very popular nowadays because of the way the golf is played it is very much desired that you should be able to accurately get the distance and then try to select a perfect a club as well as a good swing.

Here is my guide to help you understand how to choose binoculars for your use.

Selection based on the use

The first thing that you need to define for yourself is the fact about the potential usage of these binoculars.

Decide if you need the binoculars for

Hunting

Bird watching

Kayaking/canoeing

Boating or Marine

Hiking

Astronomy

Spectator events

All purpose

This use in turn will determine the specifications of the binoculars that you need.

Here is the overview of the main features/specification of the binoculars.

Binocular Magnification or power of the binoculars

If you read the specification of any manufacturer for a pair of binoculars it has the first thing written as NxN for example 10×50 or 7×35. The first number is the magnification which means that how much closer you would be able to see the object. The second part of the equation is that objective lens diameter

Then there are zoom binoculars which have the option of a range of magnification for example 10-22×82 will mean that magnification can be varied from 10x to 22x .

Simple guideline for magnification is

Lower the magnification the more sharp and bright is the object and vice versa

Lower the magnification the more field of view or span you will be able to see and vice versa

Bigger is the objective lens diameter the more light it will receive.

Lens coatings and Image brightness

You will see these three or four shortened versions specified as FC, MC, FMC as the lens coating nomenclature. The coating on the lens means that the lens is coated with material it will increase the light transmission through the lens to your eyes.

Guideline

More light means brighter image

FC – fully coated – Single layer of magnesium fluoride

MC – Multi-coated – Some lenses are multi-coated

FMC – All lenses will be multi-coated.

Focus

Center focus and Individual piece focus

Center focus in binoculars has a single wheel with which you can focus the binoculars rather than having to focus each eyepiece In the Individual piece focus – Each eyepiece will have to be focused individually

Close focus

It is the distance at which the objects are very sharp when viewed thorough the binoculars.

 Field of view or FOV

This means the span of area that you can see from one end to the other through your binoculars at a distance of 1000 yards.

Guideline

Large the magnification the smaller is the FOV and vice versa.

For this reason only it is important that you know the use of the binoculars. For birding binoculars it is very important that you have a large FOV as you need to spot the birds in a larger area than you would do an animal in a hunting area.

Waterproof and Fogproof

If you are using the binoculars for outdoor purpose then it is always better to go in for waterproof binoculars especially hunting, birding or boating. If you are using the binoculars only for theater of general use then may be you do not need the waterproof binoculars.

Eye relief for people who wear eyeglasses

Very important feature that you should know if you wear sunglasses. The eye relief is a must if you wear eye glasses to see properly from the binoculars.

This is the distance between your eye and the eyepiece at which you can still see the entire span of the view or the filed of view. Needed for eyeglass wearing people as they will not be able to bring their eyes much closer to the eyepiece.

Digital camera Binoculars

As the name suggests these binoculars are those which have a digital camera also in-built along with the binoculars. You should know about the following things about the specifications of the digital camera binoculars

Internal memory capacity

SD memory card slot

Instant replay function – This will mean that it has to have a LCD screen

Exit Pupil

This is calculated as the objective lens diameter divided by the magnification and it will mean that a 10×50 bino will have 5 as exit pupil. This gives an indication if image sharpness and rightness

Guideline

A 2.5mm -3mm exit pupil is good during daylight

7mm is what a human eye can easily dilate to means an exit pupil of more than 7mm is not useful

Binocular design

Porro prism or the roof prism.

Porro prism are the older design of the binoculars and the roof prism is the more recent one. As far as viewing capability is concerned there is really no difference. The porro prism has more is more easy to manufacture and in general will cost less than the rood prism.

The rood prism is more compact and trendier.

Guideline

Roof prism binoculars are more rugged as well as more trendy but expensive to make.

Binocular accessories

Neck straps – A must for the ease of carrying as well as for the reason that it will prevent them from falling or you forgetting the binoculars somewhere unattended.

Tripod  - This is required if you are using the binoculars with large objective lens diameter normally above 50mm. Till 50 mm the binoculars you will get are relatively Ok to hold in hand but above that they become too heavy to be steady in your hand.

Always visit an offline store and make sure that you feel the binoculars in hand before making a decision about binoculars to buy. 

Astronomy binoculars have a set of requirements which are very different from the requirements that are there for the normal hunting binoculars or the bird watching binoculars.

A lot of astronomy enthusiasts have bought this as at 100mm objective lens diameter and the cost of less than $200.00. It is a deal and for sure it helps to know that a lot of others are available with 7×50 or 12×80 Celestron at double the costs.

Here are the specifications

Field of View is 3.5 degrees

Bak-4 prisms

Multi-coated optics

No center focusing knob

Built-in dark sky nebula filter for the 12×60 range.

The 25×100 have a weight of approx 10 pounds

Objective lens have deep green multi-coating

The nebula filters are required in astronomy so that you can view the entire nebula like Veil Nebula in Cygnus. You need to view the entire nebula and for that you will need lower magnification provided by the binoculars like Apogee or Celestron.

As is the case most of the manufacturing is done China and the quality is good. These do not have a rubber armor which is the most common thing nowadays in almost all the binoculars.

For Beginners

For the price and the features the Apogee binoculars pack in a lot of punch and that means that they are a must purchase for someone who is beginning to get into astronomy and star-gazing.

You can easily set them up as opposed to a lot of other binoculars with which you will have to struggle as a beginner. These are what is called as value for money binoculars .

For more detailed discussion on astronomy binoculars read my post here on the features of the astronomy binoculars

Here is the list of binoculars available via Apogee

Galileo LE-856 Long Eye-Relief Binoculars

12×60mm Astrovue Binocular

20×100mm Astrovue Binoculars

alileo GR-BC3 2 MegaPixel Digital Binocular Camera

Astro-vue RA-88SA binoculars

Some of the other astronomy binoculars are

Celestron 20×80 SkyMaster Giant Binoculars

Bushnell Legend 12×50 Porro Prism Binoculars

Celestron 25×100 Astronomy Binoculars

Bushnell Powerview 16×50 Porro Prism Binoculars

If you need to know more Bushnell digital camera binoculars then read here and also about Bushnell Digital Camera binoculars

What is Sync Focus technology?

Sync focus as the name suggests is a technology which focuses the animal or the object in sight in tandem for both the digital camera lenses as well as the binocular lenses.

What is instant replay?

The instant replay means that you can easily shoot clips using the built in digital camera and then replay those using the LCD screen.

The Bushnell 5MP Sync Focus Digital Camera Binoculars have the following specifications

Magnification - 8x

Objective lens diameter – 30mm

Bak4 prism

Fully Multi-coated lens

FOV - 320 ft@1000yds

As the name suggests the digital camera has a high resolution of 5MP. It has a 1.5 inches LCD screen.

Internal memory is only 16MB and that will mean that you will have to use the SD card slot for making use of the digital camera.

Close Focus

The best thing to happen is that the close focus of the camera is about 10 feet as opposed to 45 feet earlier.

A very good thing for the birding enthusiasts.

Close focus in binoculars is a measure to suggest the minimum distance you can focus in a binocular or in a spotting scope. In general most of the bird watching folks will be using this as they in generally like to see the details. In fact this helps when viewing butterflies at close quarters.

That said Bushnell 5MP Sync Focus is definitely very good with a close focus of 10 feet.

The main Nikon Prostaff spotting scope in the series is the Nikon 20-60x 82 ProStaff Spotting Scopes. It is a zoom spotting scope.

In general the spotting scopes come in two major styles and these are the angled one and the straight ones.

For the Nikon Prostaff 20-60×82 series the specification are

• Close focus of 20 feet
• Field of view 99 feet @ 1000 yards
• Exit pupil – 4.1mm @20x
• The straight spotting scope has a length of 15 inches
• The angled body spotting scope is 15.4 inches long.
• Eye relief – 15.2mm at 20x

The spotting scope is O-ring sealed as well as Nitrogen purged to make it fogproof as well as waterproof.

The lenses are multicoated to make sure that it has better light transmission and the glass on the lenses is Eco-Glass. Now Eco-glass means that it does not have the arsenic or lead in it.

The body of the spotting scope is rugged and textured and hence the grip for the hunter will be firm. Generally it is always recommended to buy a tripod along with the spotting scope so that you can get the maximum out of the spotting scope. This spotting scope is most preferred in Charcoal grey. However if you prefer the camouflage option then there are three camo options and these are Black,  Realtree Hardwoods Green® HD™

These come with a Vue-Thru case and a tripod. Generally the reviews of these have suggested that it is better to buy your own tripod as the tripod that comes with this is very bad and cheap.

Nikon – Optical company

Nikon is a precision optical company with good worldwide manufacturing, research and marketing capabilities. Nikon is know for its great quality products across all market ranges and has become a good recognized name for quality hunting optics including the best hunting spotting scopes.

More about spotting scopes

Spotting scopes are the shortened versions of the telescopes and have a small focal length. Most hunters use the spotting scopes to avoid detection and check is the animal or the prey is good enough to be hunted.

The spotting scopes are definitely worth the money and much better than binoculars give if you have the budget for the same.

There are a lot of things that you need to consider when you are buying the spotting scopes I have detailed everything about spotting scopes here.

Some of the important things that you need to consider are

• Field of View
• Aperture
• Focus
• Design
• Refractors

Other Brands

There are a lot of brands which are there in the spotting scopes with 20-60 zoom feature but nothing with 82mm aperture. For that to happen make sure that you checked some of those brands which are 85mm or 80mm

Zeiss Victory Diascope Fl Spotting Scope 20-60×85 Angled $2

Leupold Sequoia 20-60×80 Spotting Scope 20-60×80 Angled

Bushnell Excursion Flp Spotting Scope 20-60×80

These particulars were released approximately 3-4 years ago

It has the following specifications and these are

• Multi-coated lens
• 342ft @1000 yds is the field of view
• Focusing distance is 23 ft
• Weight is 33.8oz
• Aspherical lens system – gives distortion free images
• BaK4 high index prisms
• Polycarbonate body shell
• Diopter control for regulating vision imbalancing

Another one which is very famous in the Nikon Action VII series is the

Nikon Action VII 8×40 CF

• Very light in weight
• Waterproof
• Wide angle
• Fogproof
• Ergonomic design
• Tripod adaptable
• Field of view: 430′ @ 1000 yds
• Fold out rubber eyecups
• Weight –26oz

Note : There is another Nikon in the8×40 specification and that is the Nikon Action Extreme 8×40. There are definitely some difference between the two which you can read in detail here at http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1856112&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=all&vc=1

These binoculars though have significant image distortion as well as do not have a very good close focus.

These are just average prices however there are better brands from Nikon available which are better than this.

Within these series only there are binoculars which are definitely going to be better than this and these are the

Nikon 8×40 Action VII, Weather resistant Porro prism Binocular with 8.2D.

Here is the list of the Nikon Action Series binoculars

Nikon Action VII 8×40 Wide Angle Porro Prism Binocular

Nikon 7248 8×40 Action VII Binocular

Nikon 12×50 Action VII Binocular (Clamshell

Nikon 7218 Action 10 X 50mm Binoculars

Nikon Action VII 8×40 Wide Angle Porro Prism Binocular

Nikon 8×40 Action Binoculars VII Ultra NI-BI-Action Options

Nikon Action binoculars 7 x 50 Nikon Action VII - binoculars 10 x 50

Nikon Action VII Binoculars 16 x 50 CF review

• Length – 7in.
• Weight is – 34.9 oz
• Other specifications are
• Magnification – 16x
• Objective lens is – 50mm
• Focus – center focus
• Coating – Multicoated
• Relative brightness – 9.6
• Field of view is – 216ft @1000 yds

Most of these models are low cost and made in China but do not be disappointed as that can only mean fewer amounts you will be paying. This good for the price and the magnification. You can use it for bird watching as well as hunting or even for astronomy.

Other brands which are available in the similar category and price are

Bushnell Tactical Binoculars with Compass - 7×50

NRA Sports Optics by Brunton Bridger Binoculars - 8×28, Waterproof

Steiner Peregrine Binoculars – 8×42

About Nikon

Nikon is a precision optical company with worldwide manufacturing, research and marketing capabilities. The Nikon name is equated with extraordinary photographic performance, innovation, precision and optical quality.

Let me just briefly outline what all things come under the hunting optics. I am listing only the broad categories and will be detailing each one of these in my subsequent posts.

Riflescopes

This is a piece of equipment which is mounted on the rifle and these act as magnifying glass for you while shooting.

Spotting Scopes

There are single straight barrel lenses which have much larger magnification than the conventional binoculars

Digiscoping attachments

Digiscoping is a method to attach a digital camera to a spotting scope and get good pictures of objects which are far away.

Binoculars

Binoculars are the most common optics use in hunting. They give you the opportunity to view the target from far and also view the overall area by magnifying the objects by a certain factor.

Monocular

These are similar to the binoculars but as the name suggests these are in fact have single eye piece and you will have to use a tripod for best viewing.

Rangefinders or Range Finders

These rangefinders as the name suggests are for the purpose of finding the distance of the target. They fire laser which after hitting the target will calculate the exact distance for you.

Night Vision Scopes

These scopes have the night vision technology in it which means that you will have the green images in the night while hunting.

Laser Scopes

These are scopes mounted on the rifle and these will emit a laser beam targeted at the animal or the hunt.

Red Dot sights

Hunting trail cameras

Optics accessories

These include scope mounts, tripods, neck straps, lens pens, cleaning cloths, cleaner sprays and flashlights

Best Brands in the market

For all the hunting optics that I mentioned above there are a lot of companies that manufacture these but the best among them are

Nikon

Leupold

Swarovski

Zeiss

Bushnell and

ATN.

For more detailed information on best brands you can visit here.

Features and factors

For selecting the best hunting optics you will have to understand your needs and what are the features that each kind of hunting equipment offers.

For example you can be hunting from a long distance which will mean you will need spotting scopes or binoculars whereas for the close range hunting you will only need probably regular compact binoculars.

The type of hunting that you do will also determine the optics and these can be coyote hunting, whitetail deer hunting or even fowl hunting.

The other way of looking at it is that you will need to see what is the budget that you have for buying the hunting optics.

For example the spotting scopes can be far more expensive than the regular binoculars. This alone can be a big factor while selecting the various optics that you would ideally love to have with you on your hunting expedition.

Happy hunting!

Photo Credits : bemvindo,mamgill

These waterproof binoculars will not be damaged because these are coated with special things as well as the body is such that it will have no effect of water on it.

If you are hunting then also you will need the waterproof hunting binoculars if you are hunting in a place which has high humidity or it is at the time of the year when it will be raining.

In fact these waterproof binoculars are great when you are fishing as you are close to the water body and hence the chances of water splashes are the most.

How waterproof binoculars are made waterproof.

The waterproof binoculars are made waterproof when those binoculars have rubber O-rings as well as have the nitrogen purging done.

A lot of binoculars will have the rubber armored shell but generally that is there to prevent the water drops from not sticking and also absorb the shock of the fall. However the correct waterproof hunting binoculars will be those which will have the O-rings.

Moisture prevention

It is not always rain which can cause damage but also the moisture and the mildew. To prevent that from happening make sure that you have the proper nitrogen purging done and the binoculars should be in sealed housings.

The top brands of binoculars which are good for marine use and have the waterproofing done are the

Most of the marine binoculars have the compass along with as that helps locating the position as opposed to carrying another compass along with you.

Bushnell Marine 7×50 Binoculars with Rangefinder & Illuminated Compass.

Bushnell H2O 10×42 Waterproof/Fogproof Binocular w/Roof Prism

Canon 15×50 Image Stabilization All Weather Binoculars w/Case, Neck Strap & Batteries

Steiner 7×50 Marine Binocular

Celestron Outland 10X42 Waterproof Binoculars with Rubber Coating & Comfort Grip

Nikon prostaff binoculars

Tip: Make sure that the binoculars have the good construction and also you are able to hold them easily while they are wet.

Make sure that the binoculars are also resistant to saltwater corrosion. That is why always go for the best boating binoculars

Also when you are buying marine binoculars which are waterproof also check if they are image stabilized or not and the reason for that is that for all sorts of boating binoculars the  image stabilization will come in handy while you get rocked with shaking and vibrations on the boat or on your yacht

The compact binoculars for hunting based on the specification that we have specified above will not be able to have a good hunting as the size 30mm is not very good. Generally the best binoculars for hunting will require the hunting binoculars to be have the specification as 7×35 or even 8×42.

Some of the best binoculars Leica Ultravid Compact 8×20 and the Leica Ultravid Compact 10×25 in the compact category.

Another which is the e Zeiss Victory B T* Compact 8×20 binoculars and Zeiss Victory Compact 10×25 binoculars are very good compact binoculars. These are very highly costly though and these definitely do not fall under the budget category.

Bushnell Legend series are also very good in the compact category and that will mean that you can have

Steiner has compact binoculars which are Steiner 12×40 Predator Pro Compact Hunting Binoculars

Roof prism binoculars are generally compact in design than the porro prism binoculars. For more detailed design considerations you can read about these in my post here on roof prism versus porro prism.

In general the advice is that as far as compact binoculars goes that do not use these binoculars if you are really serious about hunting. Use them as a second pair .If you a kid going along with you on a hunt then these are the best as the diameter of the objective lens is small.

These are easily pocketable.

As far as the usabilioty goes because of their exit pupil being less they will not very great.