Binoculars are a great choice for anyone into hiking, hunting, birding or even stargazing, but they have two important drawbacks - they’re frequently limited to a maximum magnification of 20x and a maximum aperture of around 70mm. So what if you need more power? 

That’s where a spotting scope comes in. A spotting (or spotter) scope is designed to be both portable and powerful to meet the needs of anyone who loves the outdoors. But what should you look for when choosing a spotting scope? And which ones are best?

What Do the Numbers Mean?

Spotting scopes, like binoculars, have a magnification and an aperture you need to be aware of. In both cases, the first number is the magnification and the second number is the aperture of the large objective lenses, as measured in millimeters.

For example, 10x50 binoculars have a magnification of 10x and an aperture of 50mm. However, one key difference between binoculars and spotting scopes is that binoculars tend to have a fixed magnification, whereas spotting scopes will have a range.

(There are exceptions, of course. There are some binoculars that have a zoom magnification, but they tend to be of lower quality.)

When it comes to spotting scopes, you might see something like 20-60x80. This means the scope has a magnification range of between 20x and 60x and an aperture of 80mm.

Magnification, of course, means how much larger your target will appear through the spotting scope. Aperture refers to the diameter of the large lens that points toward your target; the larger the aperture, the more light it can gather. This may be an important consideration if you want to use the scope in low light conditions (for example, twilight.)

Why Use a Spotting Scope?

A spotting scope has a lot of advantages over binoculars. For starters, spotting scopes have a greater magnification, so while fixed-magnification binoculars often have a maximum magnification of around 20x, this will typically be the minimum for many spotting scopes.

Similarly, spotting scopes have larger apertures, so whereas many binoculars will have a maximum aperture of around 70mm, spotting scopes will range from about 60mm to 90mm.

At this point, you may be thinking that a spotting scope is basically a telescope - and you’d be right, but there are a number of key differences. Firstly, modern telescopes are not meant to be hand-held, and the majority are designed to stay in one place. As such, they’re attached to tripods or some other mount, and while there are some that are designed to be portable, most are impractical for activities like hiking, where you are often on the move.

Another key difference is that a good quality telescope will reverse the view. This can be horizontally, vertically or both. If you’re into astronomy, this isn’t really an issue, but if you’re a hunter or birder, this could be a problem!

Here’s the reason why this happens: the lenses and/or mirrors of a telescope cause the image to flip as the light moves along its length. An additional lens or mirror is required to rectify the orientation of the image, but in doing so, this causes a slight loss of image quality.

Again, this is important for astronomy, but not so much for other hobbies. In astronomy, that difference in quality could make it difficult to split close, double stars or to see the finer details in nebulae, galaxies and other deep sky objects.

A dedicated astronomical telescope will therefore always avoid the extra lens and produce an inverted image. If you want to use the same telescope for a daytime hobby, such as birding, it’s possible to buy an accessory to correct the orientation, but it’s best to buy a telescope that’s been designed for that purpose.

Lastly, an astronomical telescope is designed to produce a high magnification image, as it’s sometimes necessary to have a magnification of over 150x to get the best view of an object. Eyepieces can be interchanged to produce a range of magnifications, but a spotting scope has a single, fixed eyepiece that will produce a range of lower magnifications instead.

Since a higher magnification isn’t typically needed for an activity like bird watching, the smaller magnification provided by a spotting scope is often more than adequate.

In short, an astronomical telescope is designed to stay in one place, produces an inverted or reversed image and is capable of high magnification. A spotting scope is almost always the opposite. Hikers, campers, birders and hunters can take their scope almost anywhere and enjoy the lower magnification, correctly oriented views better suited to their needs.

How to Choose the Best Spotting Scopes

There are a number of factors you should take into consideration when buying spotter scopes, but the key factors are:

• Straight vs Angled
• Magnification and Aperture
• Weight

Straight vs Angled Spotting Scopes

Spotter scopes essentially come in two varieties: angled or straight. An angled spotting scope is curved at one end to allow the eyepiece to be angled upwards, whereas the eyepiece of a straight spotting scope is in-line with the scope itself.

An angled spotting scope allows for a more comfortable observing experience in most situations, but it really depends upon your own specific needs. If you’re standing and your target is much higher or lower than yourself, then an angled spotting scope is the better choice.

For example, birders, hikers and astronomers will find it easier to use an angled spotting scope as the scope can be turned so that the eyepiece is in a comfortable position for the observer.

A straight spotting scope can be problematic for activities like astronomy, as the observer must essentially contort themselves below the eyepiece in order to look through it.

Straight spotting scopes are best used in situations where you might be lying on the ground for an extended period of time. In this case, looking straight through the telescope is a more comfortable option, rather than having to look down through an eyepiece that might be positioned at a 45 degree angle in relation to the telescope itself.

An advantage of straight spotters is that you can hold them up to your eye, like a traditional hand-held telescope. This allows you to observe objects at any angle above or below you, but without a tripod you’ll find the view could be a little shaky.

Magnification and Aperture

Like angled vs straight spotting scopes, which magnification and aperture is best for you depends on what you need the scope for. 

Magnification really depends on how far away and/or large you anticipate your target being. Generally speaking, most users will find a good range of magnifications to be best, as this will allow you to see targets that are both near and/or large and more distant and/or small. 

The possible exception is astronomy; a spotting scope can be used to help observers locate a target for a larger telescope, but otherwise many spotters don’t have the magnification or aperture for anything more than casual observing of brighter and larger targets.

When it comes to aperture, if you want something you can use at twilight, during the night or for casual astronomy, then a larger aperture would be better. Since aperture determines how much light the scope can gather, you’ll need as much light as possible under those conditions.

Weight

Since spotting scopes are designed to be compact and portable, the majority of them don’t weigh very much at all. On average, most weigh about 1.9kg (4.2 pounds), which is about twice as much as a regular set of 10x50 porro prism binoculars, but less than the average weight of most astronomical telescopes of a similar aperture. While this makes them a little heavy to be hand-held for an extended period of time, they’re perfect for hikers, campers and hunters who want something lightweight they can take with them.

Frequently Asked Questions