Thread: Compact Spotting scopes

I can't remember how much it cost - too long ago - but would not have been more than $1500.

Originally Posted by hotsoup

Fair call, a fair way off then.... ha.

Have you looked through an ATC?

No I haven't.
But I suspect you are going to make me.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of options. The Swaro ATC would be fantastic but $4k is not my budget. I must confess to not fully disclosing my hand. But I didn’t want to put any boundaries on ideas or inputs. I’ve got an older model Minox 16-40x60, had it for 6-7 years & bought 2nd hand at the time. Was wondering about options for upgrade. It’s nice and compact & light. Glass quality is quite good but no way is it euro alpha glass. But it ain’t $4k either. Have a Sth Is alpine mission coming up in March so been tossing up between taking the spotting scope or Canon superzoom camera. The camera is bulkier but takes better pics…. Well better when you down load them to laptop after trip. But in terms of assessing details at 1000-1100 yards on the hill, the small screen on superzoom is not great, especially in bright sunlight. I can see significantly better detail thru Minox. But struggle to get photo in spotting scope using iPhone camera. Image below is stags at neighbours place at just over 1000 yds using Minox & iPhone. The sharpness & clarity of image to the eye looking through objective is much better than iPhone pic.

Delta make a compact spotting scope and vortex have released some new ones too - a couple of options there-

Full transparency I don’t own either of them so have no feedback on glass but did look at the vortex at sika show and seemed okay but was also indoors…

I use the swarovski stc. Suits my purposes well. Driving around or sitting down I find it easier to get on target than an atc. But everyone's different. It's like using a mono scope binocular because of the lightweight. Taking videos can also be down but an atc would be better maybe because of the angle. Good luck with finding something that fits your purpose. It's definitely fun trying out new stuff as long as the wife thinks your not buying it lol

As much of a swaro slut I am can't bring myself to put $4k on a compact 56mm obj spotter. Family member has one and id still pick my "cheap" delta over it, although much bigger and heavier its still a reasonable unit when it comes to spotters. Yes it's probably the pick of the bunch when it comes to tiny spotters but do you really want to shave a bit of space and weight that much? You can get a lot of glass for $4k that would well outperform the atc if you're willing to take the weight and space penalty