short form of my question: which scope should i get for bird watching? price range: 30$-100$, but 45-80 $ is better. what brands to choose from? I have binoculars 8 by 56 but i would like to see things that are further away e.g. birds perched on a tree or to look at the distant bushland for animals. there's just times when the binocs don't go far enough. and let me know of any shops you know of.
(i posted this question under bird identificaiton forum too)
I would be very surprised if you could buy any scopes in the price range you're quoting.
Well, not a half good scope anyway. DId you do any google searching first?
I was thinking the same thing. Put a 0 at the end of your budget figures and you have a better chance. I bought a decent pair of Binos for about $80 (They were half price) and I find I use my camera lens still. The beauty being is I can take a photo and then zoom in more on my camera. Good when trying to ID birds that are far away.
hello Raven, am I right in assuming that you are a younger person, if so you may have to get your mum or dad interested in birdwatching and then in buying a spotting scope of better binoculars
Peter
i'm not young . middle 30. but i can't afford much (everything is expensive, getting a house is expensive)
keep the suggestions/advice rolling...
i have searched google, but just a bit. just want some brands/ideas from people , at different prices.
i had a look at my video camera. it's 24 optical zoom, while my binocs are 8by56. i tested it oustide and my binocs are better and the magnification didn't seem even noticably different (maybe worse). that's intersting (your camera lense). what magnificaiton is that. maybe i can get something else instead that is cheaper and magnifies for me from far away. how good would it be to be able to zoom in from far away on some branch. binocs can only go so far.
maybe 2nd hand off ebay or from china is the way to go..
My camera lens is a cheaper option than the scopes but not even close to the budget you are after.
The problem if you have a small budget is the big brands come with big price tags.
The trick is to find something thats not cheap and nasty but middle of the road. As I mentioned I got some Binos at Anaconda for half price on one of their sales.
Good thing with them is you can test them in store first to see the difference and why you pay extra for different features etc.
Whereas ebay is Russian Roulette if you don't know what you are looking for.
For me I had to weigh up size vs Focal length. I could have gotten bigger, better binos but the ones I got are smaller, lighter and more compact, which is what I needed.
So now that I have waffled, go into a store that has them. Ask questions, have a feel and a play with them to see what you like. If the shop is too expensive, then maybe try looking for the same thing on ebay.
I hope this has been of some use.
Cheers
Devon
thanks for your advice. my budget is now under 200 bucks. i've seen some 320 brand new , used for half price. so something like that could be an option. but i need to keep fighting for lower prices...
i thought of being able to scower the bushland on the other of this place i go to excites me much. couldn't do that with binos.
what do you guys think of the brand australian geographic spotting scopes. i'm just worried about the brand, but they have 2 scopes for between 200 to about 300 bucks. is that brand alright? it's not one of the common brands. i might be able to get one for cheaper. i'm just concerned about the brand. was thinking of testing it out in the shop.
thanks
(i went to a store today and i tried some saxons
been a while since i've been here... i eneded up getting saxon 60X 80mm lense spotting scope. so far seems like it's worth it. that coupled with my decent 8X binocs is quite helpful . ID a brown falcon today. couldn't know what it was without my scope..