Spotting scope upgrade

baconeater20 said:

Really wanting to upgrade my Vanguard 82A Spotter. Very nice optic for distances up to about 650 yards and since I am SLOWLY getting better at further distances really wanting to upgrade. I know they have some really high dollar ones but really wanting to stay around 1500 to 2200 dollar range.

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You can definitely step up in quality of glass. Leupold is a great option as well as if your focused more on clarity than magnification maven just released a 12-27 for $1000 and it only weighs 30 ounces.

megastink said:

I'm looking for small and compact for scouting and hunting. Doug at Cameraland suggested the Kowa. My ranges top out at 600, and I use shoot n see targets for closer practice.

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Try the Nikon ED50 with the 13-40x eyepiece with the Vortex Summit tripod comes in a hair over 3lbs, it's my solo hunting rig. For comparison I also have the Meopta S2 and a 65mm Swarovski, each has their place.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FJH1IA/?tag=lrhmag19-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BAROFS/?tag=lrhmag19-20

I used to have a gen 1 vortex razor 20-60x85. It was a big heavy spotter with decent glass. I've since sold it and got a nice deal on a friends swarovski sts65hd. I'm much happier now. It's much lighter and better glass to my eye. You can find them for $1600 and up.

With a budget of $2k, you have options.
Rule #1: When buying glass, (and most other things) you get what you pay for.
Rule #2: see rule #1.
Also, as mentioned in previous posts, a spotter (even the best of them) is limited by the conditions that you are using it in. The image quality at 10,000 ft on a 30 degree clear sunny day will be much different than the image quality at 100 ft in July on a humid day in the south.

I had a Vortex Razor HD 65mm spotter for a couple seasons and it served me fairly well. In good conditions, it performed surprisingly well. In poor conditions, the image quality suffered significantly. On a hunt, I had the opportunity to compare my spotter side by side with my buddies Swaro sts HD 65 mm spotter. In less than ideal lighting, the performance of the Swaro was MUCH better. I sold my Razor and bought a Swaro sts HD 65 mm and have never felt like I needed more scope. This spotter is amazing.
I went with the 65mm because I pack my spotter on my back, so I didn't want the extra weight and bulk of an 80mm spotter. I also read good things about certain Kowa spotters, but I have never looked through one.

Good Luck

A bit more money the Nightforce 82mm has beat everything I've compared it to side by side! I have multiple spotters and the Nightforce tops them all, in several hunting situations I've been lucky enough to compare to scopes others had with them.
Haven't found any thing else that even compares, the binocular Swarovski spotter is close but color is not as true and at more than double weight and cost I'll keep using my Nightforce
Pay once.....cry once and your done. Don't do what I did over 10 years, buying everything out there to finally find what is always my go to now.

CUTTER1 said:

A bit more money the Nightforce 82mm has beat everything I've compared it to side by side! I have multiple spotters and the Nightforce tops them all, in several hunting situations I've been lucky enough to compare to scopes others had with them.
Haven't found any thing else that even compares, the binocular Swarovski spotter is close but color is not as true and at more than double weight and cost I'll keep using my Nightforce
Pay once.....cry once and your done. Don't do what I did over 10 years, buying everything out there to finally find what is always my go to now.

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The Nightforce spotter is a rebranded Meopta S2 as is the Cabelas Euro Instinct