Hi, I am a newbie. I’m planning a trip to the US and hope to do a bit of low-level twitching. I have searched on the web and found some blogs about spotting scopes. But I do not understand which one will better. Does anyone have any recommendations for a cheapis, smallish, rugged spotter scope, please? Thanks
Price range is very important when considering optics. You can spend a LOT of money! Over three grand for a good model. We had a Bushnell scope that served us reasonably well, which is a “budget” scope; around $300 fifteen years ago, and have since given it to our son’s family when we upgraded to a Nikon. In all honesty, after years in the field & traveling, I’ve found a good pair of binoculars is really more serviceable and usable than a spotting scope (spotting scopes are not very portable). Don’t be fooled that “cheaper” optics will suffice; last year we splurged and bought a pair of Steiner 10X56 binoculars and they’re amazing!! And at a thousand dollars, they’re not even near the most expensive. Questions to ask yourself is how you’ll use them (from the trunk of your car, or in a backpack makes a huge difference). Your budget (more expensive usually means better quality & performance). Seriously, we always take our spotting scope, but it mostly stays in the camper; binoculars are the real go-to units.