Best Spotting Scope in 2021 For Hunting | Ultimate Buyers Guide

Best Spotting Scope Comparison

Things that you need to notice in Spotting Scope

First of all, Spotting scope is not another astronomy scope or telescope. You may ask why? The very basic reasoning of this question will be, a telescope or an astronomy scope produces a reverse or inverse (upside down) image, whereas Spotting Scope produces an exact image of any object. Besides, the astronomy scopes are larger in size and weight and have tremendous magnification ability. 

Before investing money in scope, one must find out the best kind of spotting scopes that suits him/her. Based on structure this scopes are of two types, To learn about your scope, you need to know about the features of it. Here are some of the important feature and their description-

Objective lens: is a large lens or glass at the end of scope that is directed towards an object which will be magnified by spotting scope. In camera language, the diameter of the objective lens is called Aperture. Normally, an objective lens has diameters of 50 to 90 millimeters. The larger the diameters of an objective lens, greater the amount of light it let through inside the scope, thus clearer the target is.

Apart from diameters the quality of the glass also plays an important role in increasing image clarity. Nowadays, special glasses like ED glass, APO glass or HD glass are being used in scopes. This is why many smaller spotting scopes can create as clear an image as the larger ones.

Eyepieces: is the part of scope which is the nearest to users’ eye. This small part has the most important functions like Amount of Magnification, Field of View, Exit Pupil Size and Eye Relief.  

Starting with Magnification, many cheap scopes have fixed magnification of eyepieces but as the price goes up you can unlock the feature of changing eyepieces with higher magnification like 60x to 80x. But in every scope magnification range is genuinely set in up to 40x. You also have to remember, bad weather, like heat waves, dust and fog etc. hampers the image quality at higher magnification. As an equipment every scope has a limitation in magnification. The image quality will always drop in the higher magnification. Only solution is spending more money to have a better spotting scope in which this magnification problem will occur less.

Field of view: indicates the viewing area that is seen through a scope. Field of view is measured both in yards and in angular degrees. As the magnification increases the field of view starts to decrease. Most of the scope in the market has a field of view between 1 degree or 52.5 feet to 3 degrees or 152 feet. The measurement of field of view in feet is determined in every 1000 yard. Based on the eyepieces of spotting scope, the field of view can also be wide ranged.

Eye Relief: is one of the most important features provided by eyepieces of scope. It indicates the maximum distance between users' eyes and eyepieces of the scope where the user can still see the image clearly. As light passes through the scope, the optical system of the spotting scope leads the light through the Exit Pupil of the eyepieces. Eye relief gives the vertical point where all those lights intersect each other. So if you already have glasses in your eyes, you need a scope with better eye relief. 

Lens coating: improves the overall quality of image as it reduces harmful component or excess component in light waves. It also improves the durability of the lens. At present, spotting scopes comes with fully coated, multi coated and in fully multi coated lenses that allows the user to use the scopes without harming their eyes.

Prism: this component of the spotting scopes helps bending light waves so that users can get the exact and clear image of the object they are looking at. The reflection of light inside the scope happens based on prism types. Most of the scope which are considered best among peers has Porro Prism made of Bak-4 glass in them. Some of the cheap spotting scope has Porro Prism made of Bk-7 glass. Surely this type of scopes doesn’t provide standard clarity according to users' demand.

Another type of prism that is used in spotting scopes is Roof Prism. This type of prism is used for increasing compactness in scope. The Spotting scopes which have roof prisms lack features like changeable eyepiece and camera adapters etc. Thus the spotting scopes are comparatively less heavy and more portable than other scopes.

Aside from these features of spotting scope buyers can also look for the presence of a camera adapter for digiscoping, armoring of scope for durability, weights of scopes for extreme portability and waterproof or fog proof body. So one thing for sure, to get better features in your spotting scope, you have to spend more. 

Top 10 Recommended Best Spotting Scope

According to customers choice, reviews and buying behavior, these 10 spotting scopes are in the top of current scope market.

1. Celestron Ultima Spotting Scope

2. Creative XP Glasshawak HD spotting scope

3. Vanguard Endeavour HD Spotting Scope

4. Celestron Hummingbird ED Spotting Scope

5. Gosky 20-60x80 Dual focusing ED Spotting Scope

This spotting scope will provide you with an objective lens of 80 mm and regular magnification is 20x - 60x. As the name sounds, all the lenses are made with ED glasses and are multi coated. Apart from regular features they also made the spotting scope waterproof and fog proof. The spotting scope also has retractable sun shade. The spotting scope itself has fully robber armor increasing its durability and granting it a shock proof body. So undoubtedly this is one of the best scope available for digiscoping.

6. MINOX MD 50 W Spotting Scope

MINOX MD 50 W is one of these hunting accessories. With an observation lens of 50mm the spotting scope has 16x - 30x magnification ability. This spotting scope is submergible upto 16 ft. With many other features, it can be surely said that MINOX MD 50 W is the best for 50 to 100 yards view.

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7. Celestron Regal M2 100 ED Spotting Scope

Premium ED glass and fully multi coated lens confirm about the clear image quality. Bak-4 porro prism is used in this spotting scope. Like all other Celestron spotting scope it is also waterproof. Twisted eye cap, excellent close focus range and 20 mm eye relief are some of the services the scope will provide to the users. To watch birds, digiscoping, hunting and in firing range this spotting scope will be a blessing to its user.

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8. Vortex Optics Razor HD Spotting Scope

Based on price and features, Razor HD includes a variety of Objective lenses like 50 mm, 65 mm and 85 mm. The magnification ability also differs according to specific objective lenses. All the lenses are fully multi coated with XR coating. But the best feature of the spotting scope is flexible viewing angles. Basically if you are buying a Vortex Optics Razor HD you’re buying an extra vision which is worth the money you're spending.

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9. Burris Signature HD Spotting Scope

The built in sunshade is also very useful to the users as it makes sure the user doesn’t get disturbed with sun glare and even in snow. Also User can easily adjust the eyecap if he or she wears eyeglasses. HD quality glass with fully multi coated lenses allows this spotting scope to provide it’s user with crystal clear image. If you decide to purchase Burris Signature HD Spotting scope,  you will feel relaxed as you are including yourself in the Burris family which itself is reassuring as they give a life long warranty on all Burris products.

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10. Swarovski ATS-80 HD Spotting Scope

So there are already new lineups of Spotting Scopes like Swarovski ATX, STX & BTX, but Swarovski ATS product line  still seems to be dominating the high end spotting scope market. That is because these ATS spotting scopes maintain proven quality. These machines were tried and tested by professionals whom you will find a lot on the web. Interchangeable parts and excellent availability of mixing them is another major reason why Swarovski Spotting scope is top tier spotting scope. For Example, you can use the objective lens of Swarovski ATS-100 HD with the eyepiece of Swarovski ATS-65 HD. Basically, with money you can have your own poison. Every Swarovski ATS-80 HD spotting scope has 10 years of warranty. Here are some features of the Swarovski ATS-80 HD.  

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Final Verdict