Athlon Cronus 20-60x86

[TheMoondog]

Athlon makes a wide range of spotters but doesn't have as storied name recognition as other bigger brands. The Cronus is Athlon’s top tier product line. Their Gen2 UHD 20-60x86mm spotting scope is not in the same class as a Kowa or Swarski, it still does not disappoint.

The Cronos comes with a set of rubber lens caps. The front has a loop for a lanyard but no lanyard was included. The body is rubberized and armored for durability and grip. The body comes with an ARCA-Swiss compatible tripod ring which rotates 180º with indexing for an easy return to 0º. The eyepiece has a large diameter lens for a wide eyebox and a built in retracting eye cup.

The Cronos sports UHD glass which is Athlon’s term for their flavor of Extra Low Dispersion glass. While my testing camera does show some slight chromatic aberration at 60x, this is not noticeable with the naked eye. The image I was seeing was clean, accurate, and sharp from center to outer edge.

The only disappointing aspect of this scope isn’t the scope but its accessories. The padded sleeve style case is designed to allow you to keep the scope inside the soft case while mounting and using the scope on a tripod. While a laudable attempt, the materials and construction feel a bit cheap compared to the the scope. And the lens caps should have come with optional lanyards to keep them retained onto the scope. These issues are superficial and don’t detract from the actual performance of the Cronos.

Athlon sent me their new dual focus model with a fine focus knob sitting on top of the fast focus. This model is not yet released but their standard model with a large focus ring around the tube is widely available.

BUY IT​

Ring focus Cronos G2 on Amazon https://amzn.to/3CIiwJh

SPECS​

CRONOS G2

Magnification: 20-60x

Objective: 86mm

Eye Relief: .79 – .7”

Close Focus : 29.5 ft

FOV: 117 – 60 ft @ 1000 yrds

Coating: XPL

Glass: UHD

Prism: BaK-4

Waterproof: IPX 7

Purge Gas: Argon

Weight: 73.5 oz

Dimensions: 15.2 “x 6.7”

 

[Alcanino]

Does thus spotting scope have a mrad reticle ?

 

[Tiger_Shilone]

Looks an awful lot like the first gen vortex razor and burris spotting scopes. Same dimensional layout, magnification range, rotating mount, extending sunshade and fine/course focus system.

I am fairly pleased with my gen one razor, especially for what I paid for it new and vortex’s warranty. It has “ made in china” on it, the only downside. Vortex’s gen two razor spotting scopes are now sourced out of japan. I have the 16-48 straight body, and again, I am satisfied with what I spent on it. The smaller 16-48 packs easily into my range bag and I put the fixed power 18x extended eye relief lens on it which give a lot of FOV. I generally use it for most matches unless it’s 500 plus yards. Then I will dig out the 20-60x.

I had a great little 60mm Minox 21-42 get knocked over with the tripod straight face first onto the concrete. minox said too bad, just a decade out of warranty and there are no spare parts. I really can’t complain as i got about 14 years of service out of it, but that is why I went with vortex this time for spotting scopes.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

BUY IT​

Ring focus Cronos G2 on Amazon https://amzn.to/3CIiwJh

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Why buy it from a huge corporate giant when you can buy the Cronus G2 UHD Dual Focus 20-60x86 45º Spotting Scope for less from a supporting vendor. There's a bunch of us supporting vendors here on The Hide, that are here offering advice and customer support.

Does thus spotting scope have a mrad reticle ?

This spotter does not have a reticle. The Athlon Cronus G2 7-42x60 UHD Spotting Scope has a TSSR FFP MIL reticle