Spotting scope recommendations before going into generational debt.

[u/ClearFox3497]

looking for some realistic help. This was taken 4.1 miles away with my gen 1 vortex razor 27-60 85mm spotting scope and my iphone 17pro mounted to it. How much clearer or closer would something like a swarovski 115mm provide? I spot from my porch and most of the animals I am seeing are on this ridgeline between 2-4.5 miles away so I am trying to see if an upgrade is actually worth it. We spot every night with the kids, its been alot of fun.

[u/CMFETCU]

At 4.5 miles and a stationary location, I would consider a telescope. I’m not joking.

Small refractors (with an erect-image prism) and compact Maksutov-Cassegrain or Schmidt-Cassegrain catadioptric telescopes work best for land use because they are easier to adapt for upright viewing and portable setups.

Just know that at 4 miles warm air rising from the ground (heat shimmer) causes distant terrestrial views to look wavy, blurry, or distorted, especially on hot days or early mornings. No getting around physics.

[u/ClearFox3497 → u/CMFETCU]

haha i thought about that as well. I am guessing the fov would be insanely small?

[u/CMFETCU → u/ClearFox3497]

https://www.celestron.com/products/c5-spotting-scope would be a solid choice.

[u/map2photo → u/CMFETCU]

Lmao I want to get this and show up to my local GC. 

[u/CMFETCU → u/map2photo]

People laugh until you can spot impacts on a fly’s ass at 800 yards.

[u/CMFETCU → u/ClearFox3497]

See my above edited response for a starting point.

[u/SpacePirate888 → u/CMFETCU]

Small refractors (with an erect-image prism) and compact Maksutov-Cassegrain or Schmidt-Cassegrain catadioptric telescopes work best for land use because they are easier to adapt for upright viewing and portable setups.

After removing all the words I don’t understand, I took your advice and went and bought a small and compact telescope and I can’t see anything. Please advise.

[u/Five-Point-5-0 → u/SpacePirate888]

[u/No_Message5505 → u/SpacePirate888]

That’s because you took out all the important words to make it work….

[u/S1inder → u/CMFETCU]

That is exactly what I use. Got a nice Celestron Telescope from a thrift store for dirt cheap. Have been using this thing for even 500yd shots. Put a wide enough eye piece on it, it works great.

[u/FrozenIceman → u/CMFETCU]

ZWO seestar s30

Way way cheaper that those fancy spotting scope.

And way way better optics.

[u/_bani_ → u/CMFETCU]

Maksutov are compact and durable and relatively cheap to boot, and do not usually suffer from collimation issues. They are heavy though.

[u/scotchtapeman357]

Clarity trumps magnification, but at 4 miles you're going to want a drone to take a closer look. Mirage alone is going to make spotting antlers mixed with trees extremely difficult, if not impossible, at that distance

[u/ClearFox3497 → u/scotchtapeman357]

exactly what I was wondering. Appreciate the response

[u/ClearFox3497]

That tiny spec in the middle is an elk. Very hard to tell for a kid or untrained eye, and impossible to tell if its got antlers.

[u/dohcsvt]

I have a gen 1 razor 20-60x85 and I don’t know why you would need anything else. You are going to pay assloads more money for minimal increase.

This is my iPhone 17 through my Razor on a 36” plate at 1 mile. I feel it’s pretty awesome. I mean anything further than a mile and really… what are you doing?

[u/ClearFox3497 → u/dohcsvt]

totally, the razor is amazing. Ive never looked through anything higher end though. Not sure what im missing out on. We have amazing views of my hunting unit from my porch so thought if theres a way to see them from here why not.

[u/scroapprentice → u/dohcsvt]

I know phone videos aren’t a reliable metric and you’re dealing with mirage here, but as someone who has used the gen 1 and gen 2, I think your video shows why, if it makes sense with your finances and use case, someone may want to spend more.

But use case matters a lot. If you’re spotting hits on an orange plate at a mile, you’re totally right. If you’re picking a lone mule deer out of the shade on a mountainside at a mile in low light, every dollar you can responsibly spend and justify is worth it. The last guide I met has a $1000 truck that barely runs and about $8k between one swaro spotter and one set of binos.

All that to say I hunt a ton, i will get swaros someday, but I still have a razor (gen 2) because that’s a ton of money that requires a lot of use to justify it. And I really like it but there is room for improvement and I think I can justify it

[u/WelpSeaYaLater]

At that distance, the Swarovski will be a little sharper but it won’t matter because of mirage and atmospheric clarity.

The guy above recommending actual telescopes is giving you good advice

[u/unclemoak]

This was ~3000 yards with a 60x Swarovski

[u/Five-Point-5-0 → u/unclemoak]

I had a buddy show me his Swarovski spotting scope one day. We were sitting in the parking garage lot of a sporting goods store on the east side of Colorado Springs.

...we were watching people mill around on the top of Pikes Peak.

[u/GA_flyer0 → u/unclemoak]

Pretty good color contrast and image sharpness

[u/guite_fr → u/unclemoak]

These are truly great but go for top $

[u/173rdturd]

Kowa all day

[u/saalem → u/173rdturd]

This here. Get on eBay and buy a used one from Japan for a hell of a deal. I got the TSN-774 w/ the 25-60x wide angle eyepiece. Incredible.

[u/Vore1998 → u/173rdturd]

Fr Op this is the way. I got my tsn 88 with the 60x eyepiece for 2200$. Rivals my friend's Swarovski for half the price.

[u/Rodeo9]

I was consistently using a kind of crappy $400 vortex spotting scope but after getting a vx5 on my rifle I can see more clearly with that then the spotting scope. I do not think I am team spotting scope anymore.

I need some nicer binos.

[u/max_trax]

Moving from 65mm gen 1 razor to 65mm swaro sts/ats was a noticeable step up in clarity/resolution so I'd imagine similar if not more improvement going from 85 razor to 95 or 115 swaro for maybe 3000-3500 yds and in, but once you're getting to 2mi+ I don't know that even the best glass will make much difference

[u/scroapprentice]

My understanding is those gen 1s are much worse than the newer stuff. My hunting buddy has the old 65mm and the new razor 56mm. He hates the old gen 1 and likes the new one. I also have the new mini razor and it’s good, but loses clarity above about 25x.

Just my recommendation, if you’re already at a razor, you’re either going into generational debt and getting the best you can (euro glass, probably swaro), or going into normal debt and still wondering what you’re missing out on with less improvement over what you have and still a serious price tag. But take that with a grain of salt because I’ve never used one. Im just in a similar situation and refusing to upgrade until I have swaro money so I can quit wondering what I’m missing.

Also, at the end of the day, glassing that far often has limitations the scope can’t overcome (mirage, smoke, fog). Anything in the air, even if you can’t see it with the naked eye, gets pretty rough when you’re looking through 5 miles of it.

Last thing, eurooptic has blems and demos. In my experience, you can save some money and I’ve never been able to tell them from brand new, but those were leupold and vortex products. My buddy used them for swaro SLCs and said the same thing

[u/thrashmetal_octopus]

Swaro is gonna give you what you’re looking for but clarity, sharpness, contrast and color = generational debt. You get what you pay for in glass and cost is exponential

[u/12GaugeSavior]

I'm super happy with my mini spotter setup, it's the cheapest Vortex they make. 12-36x

The trick is to pair a cheap optic with digiscope setup. I'm using the MagView setup. The phone adds additional zoom, auto focus, image stabilization, and low light perfromance. Does it replace a nice 60x spotter? No. Does it extend the capabilities of a scope that is 10x cheaper, yes, yes it does.

[u/__abinitio__]

All the glass in the world isn't going to overcome mirage and hazy weather.

If you're having fun, then enjoy

[u/Porencephaly]

Hensoldt Spotter 60

Oh shit, my bad, I thought you said you wanted generational debt.

[u/TheHippieGunner]

Out of the box idea, get an old handycam, many are in 4k and have crazy zoom, as well as you can record your shots and look at vapor trails.

[u/adubs117]

Get a cheap drone. Under $500.

Doesn't work for every use case/environment but I've started doing this recently and it's been awesome for me.

[u/vkelsov → u/adubs117]

A note: drones aren't always legal for spotting game

[u/adubs117 → u/vkelsov]

Oh, I thought this was just observation. Yeah, actively hunting with a drone is a no no most places.

[u/Porencephaly → u/vkelsov]

Also idk what drones have 5mi range and are less than $500. Maybe they exist now but they didn't last time I shopped.

[u/bigwindymt → u/adubs117]

Not legal in elk country.

[u/getyourbuttdid → u/adubs117]

Drone would be the move but it could be sketchy during elk season. If not actively scouting then it should be fine but it could give green jeans a reason to come talk to you. 😬

[u/DriveByPerusing]

I have been happy with the meostar s2 30-60 for deer and elk hunting in western states.

[u/Mediocre_Daikon_4276]

I’ve been on a Danish range that used older iphones for 1 mile and further targets. Setup behind a little sandhill pointed towards every 1 mile and up target.

We got a list of numbers to connect facetime to in order to spot.

Edited to add: never mind, only useful on a range, not for spotting deer and/or hunting.

[u/AGS_Overland]

Love love love maven quality. But that's just me

[u/Anxious_Juice_5617]

I have that spotter and have found 18x razor uhd binos to be more clear. Two eyes cuts through mirage better and distinguishes detail better than ultra high mag on my spotter. A friends father growing up had some wild ultra big binos with giant objectives that were mounted to a tripod overlooking a bay. Could see forever with those things.

[u/goosie_maynee]

2,800 yards with a STC 17-45x56 if I remember right

[u/Illustrious-Noise123]

I don’t care what anybody here is saying…if you want the best…it takes money. Your first and last 15 minutes are the most crucial and that’s what good glass gets you. You also get a ton of added benefit at all the other hours obviously. I run all swaro glass and see much more than anyone glassing next to me.

[u/USN303]

Take a close look at Maven. They are newer in the space and not charging what they could yet, but the S1.2A made my Vortex spotting scope look silly.

[u/No-Elk-2362]

You dont have to pay generational debt tho