On Sat, 11 Mar 2000 Birding4Brad at aol.com wrote:


[snip..]

> I'm looking for some advice on buying a spotting scope. I don't have a
> lot of $ and this is my first scope. I'm leaning towards buying the Nikon
> sky & earth 60 mm with a 15-45 zoom. My second choice is the Bushnell
> Spacemaster same size.

of those two, I'd buy the Nikon..

it really depends on the type of birding you do..
if you're a "sit and observe" person, than weight
isn't as much of a consideration.. if you're going
to lug it around the 6 mile loop at Nisqually
the lighter scopes might be more to your liking..
i.e., a Swarovski is a wonderful scope, but it's
not light.


Better View Desired at a lot of optic information
someone on this list could give you the URL...
or go to Yahoo and search..

One thing to consider...

David Jennings, former Black Hills Audubon president
local birder and environmental activist, has a hand
out he gave people when making presentations on
birding equipment.. at the top of the page he
had a statement that went something like this:

Buy the best pair of binoculars you can possibly
afford.. then he repeated the statment..
i.e., the first 2 things to do when considering
birding optics are:

1. buy the best binoculars you can afford
2. buy the best biniculars you can afford

Before you consider a scope or anything other piece
of optical equipment you might want to upgrade
to high end binoculars...

my old grad school buddy, retired U Texas prof,
was in town to see his daughter married..
he had 2 sets of Leica bins with him.. 7 power
(which he bought in Alaska on his way here and
10 power which he used as his main bins.. he also
has a Leica scope.

life's too short to do otherwise, he sez..
wise man, I say.

Tom