I need a kidney! I'm on the kidney transplant list..
Craig Higson said
Sun May 22 9:44 PM, 2011
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Beg, steal or borrow (well perhaps not steal!). Sell a kidney, get a loan from a guy who'll break you legs if you miss a repayment or sit outside a cash machine on a Saturday night with a dirty face and a mangy old dog asking "spare some change for a Swarovski sir". But whatever you do, if you're serious about your birding, get yourself some top end optics. Yes, two and a half grand for a scope is ridiculous but the view through them cannot be underestimated. They genuinley give new, exciting dimension to birding and are truly breathtaking, anything else is selling yourself short! You only have one set of eyes and one life, give yourself the best
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 21st of May 2011 06:37:51 PM
You know what though Ian, I looked through some blokes Opticron HR something or other at Martin Mere last year. It was a £200 scope plus £100 for the eyepiece and although not as good as my own scope, it wasnt half bad. Personally I think the price of optics has gone slightly bonkers. I was tempted to buy a new pair of Bins after xmas, but really couldnt justify spending £1600 on a pair that just weren't £1600 better than my current ones. It wouldnt be too bad if you got a decent amount in part ex but all your'e talking is £400 for a pair of Leica BA's in damn good nick!
Rick Hall said
Sat May 21 3:11 PM, 2011
Anybody need a kidney?
Adam Jones said
Sat May 21 2:10 PM, 2011
You only have one set of eyes and one life, give yourself the best
Ian, I will try that line on my wife next time I want to upgrade my equipment, and will direct her comments to you. It won't be my fault then.
Ian McKerchar said
Sat May 21 11:11 AM, 2011
Beg, steal or borrow (well perhaps not steal!). Sell a kidney, get a loan from a guy who'll break you legs if you miss a repayment or sit outside a cash machine on a Saturday night with a dirty face and a mangy old dog asking "spare some change for a Swarovski sir". But whatever you do, if you're serious about your birding, get yourself some top end optics. Yes, two and a half grand for a scope is ridiculous but the view through them cannot be underestimated. They genuinley give new, exciting dimension to birding and are truly breathtaking, anything else is selling yourself short! You only have one set of eyes and one life, give yourself the best
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 21st of May 2011 06:37:51 PM
Tony Coatsworth said
Sat May 21 10:45 AM, 2011
Mine came with the 60S-W22X eyepiece which gives quite a wide field of view.
(I should say mine is the 60mm ED MKII Piccolo which is now long discontinued)
However for sea-watching and more distant specks at say Martin Mere - I bought the 30xW which gives you more range.
I would strongly recommend getting a 62mm skylight filter (from Jessops or other photo shops) to protect the objective lens - I've gone through about 3 of these now over the years, through bashing the end or dropping the scope.
-- Edited by Tony Coatsworth on Saturday 21st of May 2011 10:51:03 AM
Mike Price said
Fri May 20 6:17 PM, 2011
One thing I don't think anyone mentioned is that you need to consider a sturdy tripod as well as a scope in your budget (unless you already have one)
-- Edited by Mike Price on Friday 20th of May 2011 06:17:35 PM
Craig Higson said
Fri May 20 5:01 PM, 2011
Ollie - maybe a bit late for you this. First although the gap between quality (optical and build) of scopes has decreased, its still pretty wide so the more you spend the more you get. Buying cheap is often false economy, so whilst you might not go for that Leica at £2500 straight off, an investment of £200 will repay itself over time. Second - there are some really decent scopes out there around the £200 quid mark. Most of the big retailers will have something, either new or second hand. Just remember some of them sell the body and the eyepiece seperate, so what starts off looking like a bargain can rack up to being quite expensive when you have to add on an eyepiece that costs £100+.
I'd also say Opticron stuff is pretty good having used one myself for a number of years. personally I'd avoid the mighty midget types (OK for a backup or travel scope) and go for a full size 60mm Objecive lens type (or 50mm Nikon spotting scope if you can find one). Have you checked the classifieds on here? there were a couple of scopes for sale if I remember right. One was a Bushnell Spacemaster which are cracking scopes.
-- Edited by Craig Higson on Friday 20th of May 2011 05:02:26 PM
-- Edited by Craig Higson on Friday 20th of May 2011 05:03:21 PM
Ollie Wright said
Thu May 19 6:10 PM, 2011
Thanks for the brilliant advice chaps, I've just found an Opticron Piccolo on eBay, so will give that a go and see how I get on.
Thanks again!
Tony Coatsworth said
Thu May 19 5:34 PM, 2011
I've an ancient Opticron Piccolo which is optically brilliant with ED glass so it's pretty bright, and very light to carry around.
Mike Price said
Thu May 19 4:39 PM, 2011
Joe Wynn wrote:
I'd reccomend an opticron mighty midget- its a bit more than 60 quid, but its a good enough quality to see the far end of the spit, and even digiscope with! The other big bonus is its dead light, so its easy to carry about.
Agreed, I have been through the buying really cheap scopes phase and could of done myself a favour as they were all useless, finally spent a bit more on an opticron scope and although it doesn't compete with the high end scopes its a cracking scope
Joe Wynn said
Thu May 19 4:33 PM, 2011
I'd reccomend an opticron mighty midget- its a bit more than 60 quid, but its a good enough quality to see the far end of the spit, and even digiscope with! The other big bonus is its dead light, so its easy to carry about.
Joey Eccles said
Thu May 19 2:16 PM, 2011
The Visionary V60/V80 is fantastic value at just under £90 and £150 respectively. Own one myself and it compares very favorably indeed to some big name brands
Ollie Wright said
Thu May 19 12:18 PM, 2011
Dear all,
Newbie looking for a bit of advice... I'm wanting to buy a telescope, but the prices I've seen people quoting have scared the bejesus out of me. Are there any decent budget range / beginner-type scopes people would recommend? A couple of hundred quid is about as far as I could stretch at the minute.
It's clear that you can spend as much as you like on these things. I'd just like to be able to go to Pennington Flash and see stuff at the far end of the spit, really. I've seen one called a Draper 10 - 30 x 60 spotter scope, which seems almost too cheap, at around £60. Is that one any good?
You know what though Ian, I looked through some blokes Opticron HR something or other at Martin Mere last year. It was a £200 scope plus £100 for the eyepiece and although not as good as my own scope, it wasnt half bad. Personally I think the price of optics has gone slightly bonkers. I was tempted to buy a new pair of Bins after xmas, but really couldnt justify spending £1600 on a pair that just weren't £1600 better than my current ones. It wouldnt be too bad if you got a decent amount in part ex but all your'e talking is £400 for a pair of Leica BA's in damn good nick!
Ian, I will try that line on my wife next time I want to upgrade my equipment, and will direct her comments to you. It won't be my fault then.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 21st of May 2011 06:37:51 PM
(I should say mine is the 60mm ED MKII Piccolo which is now long discontinued)
However for sea-watching and more distant specks at say Martin Mere - I bought the 30xW which gives you more range.
I would strongly recommend getting a 62mm skylight filter (from Jessops or other photo shops) to protect the objective lens - I've gone through about 3 of these now over the years, through bashing the end or dropping the scope.
-- Edited by Tony Coatsworth on Saturday 21st of May 2011 10:51:03 AM
-- Edited by Mike Price on Friday 20th of May 2011 06:17:35 PM
I'd also say Opticron stuff is pretty good having used one myself for a number of years. personally I'd avoid the mighty midget types (OK for a backup or travel scope) and go for a full size 60mm Objecive lens type (or 50mm Nikon spotting scope if you can find one). Have you checked the classifieds on here? there were a couple of scopes for sale if I remember right. One was a Bushnell Spacemaster which are cracking scopes.
-- Edited by Craig Higson on Friday 20th of May 2011 05:02:26 PM
-- Edited by Craig Higson on Friday 20th of May 2011 05:03:21 PM
Thanks again!
Agreed, I have been through the buying really cheap scopes phase and could of done myself a favour as they were all useless, finally spent a bit more on an opticron scope and although it doesn't compete with the high end scopes its a cracking scope
Own one myself and it compares very favorably indeed to some big name brands
Newbie looking for a bit of advice... I'm wanting to buy a telescope, but the prices I've seen people quoting have scared the bejesus out of me. Are there any decent budget range / beginner-type scopes people would recommend? A couple of hundred quid is about as far as I could stretch at the minute.
It's clear that you can spend as much as you like on these things. I'd just like to be able to go to Pennington Flash and see stuff at the far end of the spit, really. I've seen one called a Draper 10 - 30 x 60 spotter scope, which seems almost too cheap, at around £60. Is that one any good?
Any recommendations would be gratefully received.
Thank you,
Ollie