e299-ao@sim.uucp (Brenda Baker) (11/29/88)
My Mother is trying to decide on a telescope to buy for bird watching. We've looked at the Discoverer by Bausch and Lomb and were not very impressed. She has also looked at the Renaissance by Televue. Does any one have any comments on it or any other brands? Brenda Baker e299-ao@sim.berkeley.edu
gss@edsdrd.eds.com (Gary Schiltz) (11/30/88)
In article <7823@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, e299-ao@sim.uucp (Brenda Baker) writes: > My Mother is trying to decide on a telescope to buy for bird watching. > We've looked at the Discoverer by Bausch and Lomb and were not very > impressed. She has also looked at the Renaissance by Televue. Does > any one have any comments on it or any other brands? > My wife Karen and I were also in the market for a spotting scope a couple of years ago, and eventually bought a Bushnell Spacemaster II (the old standby). It has a 60 mm objective lens that is very bright. We got it with a 20X wide-angle eyepiece. It has a bright, sharp image, and had a reasonable price at the time (under $250 locally). The only reservation I have about it is that it doesn't focus as close as I'd like. Just after we bought the scope, Bushnell discontinued it in favor of a new "improved" (and even less expensive) Spacemaster II. The new scope featurs a square body, a 70 mm objective lens with "insta-focus", the rocker arm focusing bar. This scope is much heavier than the old Spacemaster II, so I wouldn't want to lug it around a marsh all day. Also, with a 22X wide-angle lens, is much LESS bright than the old model. Since the bigger objective lens should make the image brighter (even with the 2 extra power eyepiece), and since the scope is cheaper, I have to assume it is made with cheaper optics (probably inferior lens coatings). I don't like the insta-focus, but Karen does. Overall, I wouldn't reccommend the new model. And, just lately, I've heard that Bushnell has discontinued the "new improved" model in favor of the "old improved" model. Anyway, I'd stay away from the 70 mm models that may remain out there. I haven't seen the new version of the old model, so I can't comment on it, other than to say that if it is as good as the one I bought, at a comparable price, it would still be a good buy. We also looked at the Bausch & Lomb Discoverer, and were similarly unimpressed. We also looked at some other brands (I don't remember model numbers): Celestron (60 mm) - Not the stargazing type, but one that looked almost exactly like the Spacemaster II. It seemed to have pretty good optics, but not as clear as the Spacemaster II. It was about $50 cheaper than the Spacemaster II, though. Nikon (60 mm) - This was a very nice scope. It focused very closely, and had even clearer optics than the Spacemaster II. It was, however, much more expensive (the cheapest price I could find at the New York camera mail-order stores was almost $300). Since I wanted to buy it locally, I decided on the less expensive Spacemaster II. Kowa (60 mm) - This was another nice scope for about the same price (or a little cheaper) as the Spacemaster II. It focused closer than ours, but the optics seemed just a little less sharp. If the "old improved" Spacemaster II has degraded in quality since reintroduction, the Kowa may be the better buy. Swift (60 mm) - This is an interesting scope. The rear of the scope twists so that one of two attached eyepieces (20X and 45X, I think) can be used without changing lenses. This offers a much crisper image than a zoom eyepiece. The price was a little higher than the Spacemaster II and Kowa, and it was also quite a bit heavier (although still much lighter than the "hunk of mud" 70 mm Spacemaster II. Anyway, I've rambled long enough. Hope this helps, and good luck in your search. I'm posting this instead of emailing it, since traffic on rec.birds has been light lately, and this might be of general interest. BTW, did my posting on differeitiation between Common and Forster's Terns ever make it out? I've never received any responses. --- /\ What cheer, /\ | Gary Schiltz, EDS R&D, 3551 Hamlin Road | / o< cheer, <o \ | Auburn Hills, MI 48057, (313) 370-1737 | \\/ ) / cheer, \ ( \// | | \ / cheer!!! \ / | "Have bird will watch ..." |
gpasq@picuxa.UUCP (Greg Pasquariello X1190) (11/30/88)
In article <7823@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> e299-ao@sim.UUCP (Brenda Baker) writes:
-My Mother is trying to decide on a telescope to buy for bird watching.
-We've looked at the Discoverer by Bausch and Lomb and were not very
-impressed. She has also looked at the Renaissance by Televue. Does
-any one have any comments on it or any other brands?
-
-Brenda Baker
-e299-ao@sim.berkeley.edu
A friend of mine has a Discoverer... I wear glasses and can barely see through
it!
I own a Nikon scope. It was priced about $300 (I think), is _VERY_ clear, and
has a rather quick, easy to use focus adjustment. You can buy the Nikon scope
with special lenses (I don't know if they are coated or made with special
glass), but the price is almost twice as much. Unless you are trying to see
feather mites at dusk, I would go with the cheaper model.
Be aware that, almost as important as the scope, is your choice of tripod.
I believe that in an upcoming issue of Birding, there is a very good article
on tripod selection by Rich Ditch (Hi Rich). If you don't get the magazine,
or it's not in the next issue or so, drop me a note, and I will send a copy
of the article.
Greg
--
=============================================================================
By the time they had diminished from Greg Pasquariello AT&T PMTC
50 to 8, the dwarves began to suspect Hungry. att!picuxa!gpasq
=============================================================================mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (12/03/88)
In article <7823@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, e299-ao@sim.uucp (Brenda Baker) writes: > My Mother is trying to decide on a telescope to buy for bird watching. > We've looked at the Discoverer by Bausch and Lomb and were not very > impressed. She has also looked at the Renaissance by Televue. Does > any one have any comments on it or any other brands? One of the more popular brands of scope that I have seen is the Bushnell Spacemaster II. It has a 60 mm objective lens and accommodates screw-on eye pieces. I don't know if it comes with a standard eye piece or if you have to purchase it separately. The most popular eye piece seems to be the 25x, but the scope can be fitted with higher magnification eye pieces or even a zoom lens. I own one of these and am quite happy with it. There are other manufacturers who make functionally equivalent scopes to the one above, including Celestron and Kowa. Kowa even makes one with a 70 mm objective lens, for even brighter images. Some of the Kowa model numbers are TSN2 and TSN4 (I think). Then again, if you're rich, you may want to consider a 3.5 inch aperture Questar. It shouldn't run you more than about $4000. :-) Good luck, Mike
matt@marge.math.binghamton.edu (matt brin) (12/04/88)
In article <7823@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> e299-ao@sim.UUCP (Brenda Baker) writes: >My Mother is trying to decide on a telescope to buy for bird watching. >We've looked at the Discoverer by Bausch and Lomb and were not very >impressed. She has also looked at the Renaissance by Televue. Does >any one have any comments on it or any other brands? > I have had a Bushnell spotting scope (60mm diam front lense and 10 to 60 power eyepieces available) and have enjoyed it immensely. (The front lens is not good enough to support the 60 power eyepiece by the way. The "total visual information" does not increase much over the 25 power. I would recommend the 25 power if you get only one.) It cost about $125 over a dozen years ago. I do not know the "discoverer" and cannot tell you how the spotting scope compares. None of these scopes can be used successfully withouut a tripod. Birding is usually an outdoor activity, and put tripods in their worst situations (high winds) a lot. Take your newly purchased scope with you when you shop for a tripod, and try the scope out on the floor models. See how much wiggle you can see through the scope when you gently tap the pod. Zero wiggle is not possible - you are searching for a minumum. Best pods for strength vs weight are Gitzo's, but they are killers in price. Bogens are good but weigh like tanks. Do not skimp on the tripod. matt brin / math. dept / SUNY / Binghamton, NY 13901 matt@marge.math.binghamton.edu INTERNET fac119@bingvaxb.bitnet BITNET
morel@m-net.UUCP (Mike Smerza) (12/07/88)
In article <33579@oliveb.olivetti.com>, mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) writes: > Then again, if you're rich, you may want to consider a 3.5 inch > aperture Questar. It shouldn't run you more than about $4000. :-) > I've been using a Celestron C-90 (90mm aperture, which is about 3.5 inches) for several years and really enjoy using it. I recently purchased a 24mm wide angle eyepiece for it, which is about 40x, and I love the brightness, clarity and wide field of view. And best of all, it cost nowhere near $4000. It was about $300 when I bought it, though they're probably in the $5-600 range now. (Oh yeah, I also use it as a 1000mm telephoto lens at times.)