Mixed feelings on Elite 20-60x70mm Spotting Scope

[BowhunterNJ]

Well I've been out a few times with my recently received 20-60x70mm Elite and have mixed feelings on its performance.

I'm hoping some of you can let me know if what I am finding is normal, expected, etc...since I do not have much experience with spotting scopes in general.

Basically, the 20x performance is pretty outstanding in both daylight and lowlight conditions.  But in lowlight conditions, from about 45-60x is extremely dark, essentially any time shortly after sunset.  In the last 20 minutes of light, these ranges are nearly unusable.

I am wondering if this is expected performance from such a spotting scope?  Do many of you use just the lower power range come sunset and beyond?

The other thing is the eye relief, again this could be because I am not used to using spotting scopes, but at 60x...I nearly have to have my eye ON the scope to get a full sight picture.  This is incredibly hard to do with glasses on.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

[Squirrelsaurus Rex]

I would never buy a spotter that powerful.  I'm not surprised you're getting those results.  That much power with only a 70mm lens is basically useless.  Yes, a 70mm lens is big.  But it's not big enough in relation to how much magnification the scope has.  I'd return it for a refund or exchange for one less powerful.  Are you familiar with the term "exit pupil"?  Not being sarcastic, I just thought I'd ask before I go into a lengthy explanation.  Besides, some of the other guys here can probably explain it better than I can anyway.

What application did you buy it for?  Hunting?

[BowhunterNJ]

The application is primary for spotting from a vehicle, but some hunting use involved when going out west.

What is the "balance" between power and objective one should look to achieve in a spotting scope?

Please feel free to elaborate as much as you'd like, any information you can provide would be a great learning process for me.

Thanks!

[Squirrelsaurus Rex]

Check your messages.

[oldelkhunter]

Squirrel whatever lighten up a bit will you.   Leica,Swarovski,Bausch,Kowa and Lomb and Pentax make 65-80mm scopes in the same power range but offer the option of different power eyepieces. That unfortunately is not the case here.  I have the same scope in 60mm 15-45x and it is a great scope. Not many days I can use the top end power however because of mirage and  wind even though I have a Bogen tripod which is extremely steady. For low light conditions at very long range your going to have a problem gathering light with the small exit pupil this scope offers or for that matter of any similiar sized scopes of same or better optical quality. The resolution should be fine at long range with the higher powers at other times of the day however.  This Spotter has excellent optics so no concern there and for the price point is a good value. Just don't expect to use it past 30x or so and maybe on an absolutely still day 45.

[Squirrelsaurus Rex]

Squirrel whatever lighten up a bit will you.

 :?:
 :?
oldelkwhatever,
my opinion is just that: an opinion.  Nothing I say is set in stone, nor do I claim it to be.  I'm just saying what I've found works for me.  If you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine.  Your experiences are different from mine, and I'm not going to tell you you're wrong, because I don't know what your needs are, what terrain or conditions you hunt in, or in what ways you use your hunting gear.  But I do know one solution to your problem:  If you don't like my posts, use your ignore feature.

[oldelkhunter]

Squirrel your were pretty sarcastic in your reply I thought and there is no need for that. Someone that supposedly knows anything about optics shouldn't reply like that.

[Squirrelsaurus Rex]

You thought wrong.  What I was telling him was something that makes perfect sense.  Magnification of 60x with a 70mm objective lens gives you an exit pupil of 1.16mm (regardless of how wonderful the lens quality may be).  With that little light coming through, and the eye relief reduced so much that you have to have your eye on the lens (which makes it impossible to use for someone who wears glasses, as he stated), how can that possibly be useful when searching the hills for deer (especially in lowlight conditions, as he stated), or whatever it is you're searching for?  In my opinion, that much magnification with a lens that size is useless in a practical sense.  And his description of the problem in his original post seems to agree with my opinion.  So I told him how I see it:  Why spend a bunch of extra money for something that would rarely be useful?  I sent him a PM going into more detail about how that stuff works (exit pupil, eye relief, etc) and why I think that scope isn't a very good choice for hunting if he's planning to use the higher end of the magnification.  I also told him of some other options he might want to look into if he really does need that much magnification.  He doesn't have to agree with my own opinion, he can take or leave it as he pleases, that's his choice.  But now he has one more view point to consider.  I chose to do it via PM because of replies like yours.  I've learned from experience that too many people will knock you down if they don't agree with you, so these days I often choose to reply to someone's post via PM just to avoid arguments.  I wasn't being sarcastic, but perhaps you missed this part of my post:

Not being sarcastic...

I've said what I have to say and I'm done posting on this topic.