Spotting scope recommendations

[J-W-G]

Im currently at a crossroads as to what spotting scope to upgrade to, currently have an old Leupold SX1 Ventana. Will be mainly used for long range alps hunting so ideally needs to be rugged with good warranty.

Ive narrowed down my list to:
- Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45x65
- Delta Titanium ED 2 15-45x65
- Leupold SX-2 Alpine HD 20-60x60
- Maven CS.1 15-45x65

Does anyone have experience with any of the above, in particular the Leupold and Delta as their are next to no reviews i can find online.

Cheers

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Your timing is perfect as we just started our July 4th Sale at Camera Land Sport Optics. It's our pleasure, as a long standing supporting vendor here, to discuss the different available options and special opportunities with you. Please give a call, 516-217-1000, when you have the time. Thanks

 

[FNG1001]

Im currently at a crossroads as to what spotting scope to upgrade to, currently have an old Leupold SX1 Ventana. Will be mainly used for long range alps hunting so ideally needs to be rugged with good warranty.

Ive narrowed down my list to:
- Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45x65
- Delta Titanium ED 2 15-45x65
- Leupold SX-2 Alpine HD 20-60x60
- Maven CS.1 15-45x65

Does anyone have experience with any of the above, in particular the Leupold and Delta as their are next to no reviews i can find online.

Cheers

Why not Vortex Razor?

 

[Ex E6]

Im currently at a crossroads as to what spotting scope to upgrade to, currently have an old Leupold SX1 Ventana. Will be mainly used for long range alps hunting so ideally needs to be rugged with good warranty.

Ive narrowed down my list to:
- Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45x65
- Delta Titanium ED 2 15-45x65
- Leupold SX-2 Alpine HD 20-60x60
- Maven CS.1 15-45x65

Does anyone have experience with any of the above, in particular the Leupold and Delta as their are next to no reviews i can find online.

Cheers

NO experience other than Athlon and it's OK . One of the TOP line spotting scopes is Meopta S2 80mm Angled body ,has ED flouride glass
It's also north of $3K . Can You give a budget range instead of manufacturers ,it would help .

It helps to figure yardage it would primarily be used at ,so as to determine effective magnification as well as clarity . I use an older Nikon Monarch and it's extremely sharp ,however not as powerful as I'd have liked .

Perhaps a video receiver and transmitter or still camera setup would serve You better ?. Cost vary from $125-600.00 , from what I've seen yardage 0-600 yd. to over 2 miles . I've yet to look through any spotting scope and see bullet holes beyond 500 yd. Regardless of make or cost .

Athlon Optics Cronus Gen II 20-60x86mm UHD Spotting Scope is just South of $1K .​

 

[J-W-G]

Why not Vortex Razor?

Hadnt thought of the Vortex, can defininately add that to the list

 

[J-W-G]

NO experience other than Athlon and it's OK . One of the TOP line spotting scopes is Meopta S2 80mm Angled body ,has ED flouride glass
It's also north of $3K . Can You give a budget range instead of manufacturers ,it would help .

It helps to figure yardage it would primarily be used at ,so as to determine effective magnification as well as clarity . I use an older Nikon Monarch and it's extremely sharp ,however not as powerful as I'd have liked .

Perhaps a video receiver and transmitter or still camera setup would serve You better ?. Cost vary from $125-600.00 , from what I've seen yardage 0-600 yd. to over 2 miles . I've yet to look through any spotting scope and see bullet holes beyond 500 yd. Regardless of make or cost .

Athlon Optics Cronus Gen II 20-60x86mm UHD Spotting Scope is just South of $1K .​

Apologies for the confusion. I thought with the scopes listed would have indicated a budget of $600usd ($1000nzd)

It will be for hunting in New Zealand southern alps out to 1500m to spot Himalayan Tahr and Deer. Ideally a 60-65mm lens to save on some weight (under 1.5kg-ish) has i clock up a good amount of kilometers.

Have used a camera in the past and found it clunky, battery life sucks in minus temperatures and hated having to carry spare batteries for multi-day hunts where i could glass a face for an hour. Found clarity lacking compared to a spotting scope.

Looking for personal experience with either listed scopes as down here in New Zealand we dont exactly have a load of choice

 

[Ex E6]

Apologies for the confusion. I thought with the scopes listed would have indicated a budget of $600usd ($1000nzd)

It will be for hunting in New Zealand southern alps out to 1500m to spot Himalayan Tahr and Deer. Ideally a 60-65mm lens to save on some weight (under 1.5kg-ish) has i clock up a good amount of kilometers.

Have used a camera in the past and found it clunky, battery life sucks in minus temperatures and hated having to carry spare batteries for multi-day hunts where i could glass a face for an hour. Found clarity lacking compared to a spotting scope.

Looking for personal experience with either listed scopes as down here in New Zealand we dont exactly have a load of choice

OK now fully understood in the field Hunting and not observing groups at distances . YOU must look through each but Nikon lens quality to ME ,would be 1 St. choice IF You can obtain one . Oh and I know about Tahr and Chamois down NZ way . BoL

Nikon :

PROSTAFF 5 20-60x82mm Straight Body​

Vortex :

Vortex Optics Viper HD Spotting Scope Angled body 15-45x65​

 

[chevy_man]

Im currently at a crossroads as to what spotting scope to upgrade to, currently have an old Leupold SX1 Ventana. Will be mainly used for long range alps hunting so ideally needs to be rugged with good warranty.

Ive narrowed down my list to:
- Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45x65
- Delta Titanium ED 2 15-45x65
- Leupold SX-2 Alpine HD 20-60x60
- Maven CS.1 15-45x65

Does anyone have experience with any of the above, in particular the Leupold and Delta as their are next to no reviews i can find online.

Cheers

None of those are what I would consider a meaningful upgrade.

My Dad ended up with an SX-1 for free, BIL won an SX-2. They aren't much different.
I bought an SX-4 and it's actually usable. I was looking at elk 5 miles away and while I couldn't judge the antlers, I could see that there were bulls.

Still haven't figured out why I can clearly look at craters on the moon, yet still haven't maxed out the focus. But it is cool to get pictures of stuff like that with a phone scope.