Minox MD50

[mnhoundman]

Need to get a spotting scope, and have heard these are the best for the buck. Anyways was looking and found refurbished scopes that are quite a bit cheaper, so just wondering from your guy's experience, do you think they would be ok or has anyone had refurbished before or not worth it? Go for new ones? Thanks!

 

[hardstalk]

I spent some time with a md50.

Is this your primary scope or a "packing" only scope?

I enjoyed the md 50 clarity but couldn't quite get used to the field of view. Or lack thereof I should say. Another bit of grief I had with the minox was the zoom was pretty tight. Once something was acquired in the picture, and you wanted to get a closer look. I (this is me personally) would get frustrated with the narrow field of view and the tight zoom and end up losing the object I desired to zoom in on. This may be a common issue with all 50mm spotters? And I lack serious patience! I only have hands on with the md50. I believe the ed50 and razor 50 have a different design that does not encompass the whole body or eyepiece to try and zoom the spotter.

 

[ando_31]

Refurbished would be fine if the warranty was the same as new. I do have a couple minox products and they work well but aren't of that swaro, zeiss, vortex, or leica quality.

As for the affordable 50mm spotters I have heard the same reports as you. The minox is great for the money but the best would be vortex razor or nikon 50ed but they are quite the set back financially. I have a pair of 50mm leica binos and I've used a doubler on them a few times. When the binos get to that 30 power they are substantially darker then when at the 15 power so I would strongly recommend a larger obj lens if weight and size isn't the number one factor in your spotter. Also that 30ish power doesn't always seem to be enough. I have a 80mm swaro spotter that I routinely use on 60 power and sometimes still find myself wishing I could get a bit closer view to see if the animal in sight is really worth the effort to close the distance. I prefer to have a 15 power bino for my come along optic and my spotter for early morning hill top sits.

 

[mnhoundman]

Thanks for the info! I haven't had a spotter yet this will be my first, living in Minnesota I don't use a spotter, but want to get one for out west. Don't really want to spend alot being I'm just getting into Western hunting its fairly spendy all at once but want a good one. If you know what I'm saying. Something that will be good for a starter.

 

[hardstalk]

I would look more at an entry level diamondback spotter by vortex or vanguard, possibly brunton as well. As your first spotter and only spotter for a while I would opt for at least a 65mm objective. Once you get a quality 65 or 80-85 than you can look back at the 50mm for those ounces count type of hunts.

It wont be long until you acquire a quality spotter. Its an addiction and typically you drastically notice each 100 dollar upgrade.

 

[Musket Man]

I believe cheap glass is the most expensive thing you can buy after you decide in a year or 2 your not happy with it and end up replacing it. I did this with binos years ago. I can understand that new gear gets expensive and looking for the most bang for your buck too. I have never used any of the spotters mentioned above so I cant say anything good or bad about them. The only 50 I ever had was a leupold gold ring that I didnt like at all and really it couldnt do anything my swaro 10x42 binos couldnt and I ended up returning it after using it once. I would rather go without a spotter untill I could afford a good quality one then get a lower quality one I wasnt happy with. You might want to look around for a used spotter also, I got my Ziess used for about 1/2 of a new one and it was in like new condition. Another thing to consider is how good of binos you have. If you have really good binos a lower quality spotter will look alot worse next to them then if you had lower quality binos.

 

[mnhoundman]

Thanks for all the good advice! I do have 12x42 monarchs, so you think I should go with a bigger mm maybe in a cheaper brand would be better than a smaller mm in a more expensive brand? It's such a toss up, but maybe a bigger mm would been better?

 

[Musket Man]

IMO a 65mm spotter is the best all around. I would like to have a quality 50mm someday for back pack hunts only because they are lighter but its not in my budget rightnow and the 65 is light enough to pack anywhere. Whatever size you decide on I would get the best quality you can. Smaller good quality glass will do more then bigger cheaper glass and you need a good quality spotter to get a clear image at higher magnifications.

 

[mnhoundman]

Thanks MM! I'll have to check out a few and see what I find!

 

[mnhoundman]

How are Leupold spotters? Looking on eBay the SX-1 Germans 20-60x80mm is around 400.00 anyone know anything about them?

 

[Musket Man]

I dont know anything about that model. I believe the gold rings are the only ones made in the USA.

 

[mnhoundman]

Oops! I meant ventana, auto correct.

 

[ando_31]

I had a leupold sequola. It was alright for lower magnifications. I think the power range was from 15-45. It was pretty clear up to 30 power but anything above that started to get blurry. After that I bought a swaro 80mm hd. Hands down that is the best purchase I ever made for hunting muleys. I spot many deer bedded that I know I would have otherwise missed if I was still using that leupold.

From the sounds of other's opinions on here there are many other high end spotters that are up there in quality and you wouldn't need to drop that kind of money to have a top of the line spotter. I think bushnell makes a ridiculous amount of sub par optics but many rave about their higher quality optics for being a good bang for the buck.

I would certainly stick with a 60-80mm obj if you want to have a spotter that you will get your moneys worth.

 

[ando_31]

I don't have any personal experience with the vanguard spotting scopes but I know they also have some great reviews for their higher end optics.

Here is a website that is dedicated to bino and spotting scope reviews. http://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/spotting-scopes/

Here is the 82mm and 65mm obj vanguard on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Vanguard-Endeavor-HD-82A-Magnification/dp/B00BJFAYJ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388338638&sr=8-1&keywords=Vanguard+Spotting+Scope

http://www.amazon.com/Vanguard-Endeavor-HD-82A-Magnification/dp/B00BJFAYJ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388338638&sr=8-1&keywords=Vanguard+Spotting+Scope

I wonder if anyone on here has used these...

 

[ando_31]

After you pick one out you'll also have to decide on angle or straight if your scope comes with that choice. Straight is great for target acquisition and angled is great for comfort. After using angled for a while you'll get good at target acquisition with it as well but it takes some getting used. I think there is a thread somewhere on here dedicated to the straight or angled preference.

 

[mnhoundman]

Thanks ando! Would about vortex dimondback there about that price range!

 

[hardstalk]

Thanks ando! Would about vortex dimondback there about that price range!

Check your pm's.

 

[ando_31]

Its either the diamondback or the viper that I've heard some negative comments about in their rifle scope line. But any spotter in that $400 price range is going to be less than impressive when compared to a $1000-$3000 benchmark scope. People on this site seem to favor the vortex brand due to their warranty and the value for their upper level optics. I can't say for certain which is the better buy but people here swear by the vortex brand and just about all the vanguard endeavor optics have excellent reviews all over the internet. I wish I knew where you could go to get your hands on the two of them to compare them but neither of those optics are very prevalent in our area. Scheels just finally got vortex in its store a while ago but the last time I looked the only one they carried was the diamondback bino. I don't know if they carry vortex or not. Not to sure what gander carries here or cabellas in gf.

 

[mnhoundman]

A guy I went antelope hunting with last year had just got a new pair of vortex binos and wasn't real impressed, but not sure witch ones they were .

 

[hardstalk]

Ill send you the diamondback free of charge. You can spend a week with it and then decide if you want to buy it.