Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!bu-cs!purdue!decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!edsews!edsdrd!gss
From: gss@edsdrd.eds.com (Gary Schiltz)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: telescopes
Message-ID: <113@arcturus.edsdrd.eds.com>
Date: 29 Nov 88 17:06:37 GMT
References: <7823@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Distribution: all
Organization: EDS Research and Development, Auburn Hills, MI  48057
Lines: 72

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,