The best spotting scope under $300 helps to watch your target when it comes to your vision field, even if they are far away from you. You can experience the beauty of nature without even hurting your eyes. They are perfect for hunting, bird watching, wildlife observations, etc. You may get confused about which spotting scope to purchase after watching numerous in the market. Do not worry; we got you covered.
If you are looking for a professional yet best spotting scope, you are at the right place. Go through the article to know more about the features, advantages, and disadvantages of the products. Before purchasing one, you should always keep in mind to look out for features like magnification, the field of view, objective lens diameter, coatings, eye relief, and the exit pupil. These attributes not only help you to hold the product firmly but also acts as a relaxing element to your eyes.
Best Selling Spotting Scope Under $300
Although there is numerous spotting scope available in the market, we have discussed the best five products that are rich in their characteristics.
1. Landove 20 – 60 X 80
The Landove Prism 20 – 60 X 80 is one of the best spotting scopes under $300. It is best used for bird watching, hunting, astronomy, and even marine observation as it provides you with a clear picture of your target.
Feature
The spotting scope is designed with a lens focusing system, which makes the user easier to zoom. The feature helps to look at your target by zooming in from 20 X to 60 X magnification. It makes the product an ideal one for shooting, archery, hunting, bird watching, wildlife watching, hiking, camping, scenery, outdoor sporting, astronomical observation, etc.
Compared with other products, it has a bigger lens with an 80 mm multi-coated green film objective providing you with a clear picture but lesser in contrast and brightness. It has a BAK4 prism that helps to prevent the extra light from entering the lens. It helps to get crisp images even in dark light.
The product is durable with a sealed-design, solid metal frame along with rubber armor i.e, it has a non-slip and shock-proof grip to make sure it does not fall off from your hands. The built-in retractable sunshade, eyepiece shield relaxes your eyes with a better view. Moreover, the Landove is portable and nitrogen filled waterproof and fog-proof, making it perfect for carrying to any place regardless of the weather. The product captures and records every adventure that you experience. It also comes with a cell phone adapter that helps you transfer your images and videos to your devices. Although the spotting scope is within a decent budget, it has a disadvantage, focusing on the 200 – 300 yards range.
- Water-proof / Fog-proof
- Prism Description – Porro Prism
- Objective Lens Diameter – 80 mm
- Magnification – 20 X – 60 X
- Eyepiece diameter – 20 mm
- Prism Type – BAK4
- F.O.V (m / 1000m) – 27.6 m – 16 m (48 ft )
- Exit Pupil – 3.3 mm @ 20 X, 1.22 mm @ 60 X
- Eye Relief – 17.9 mm -15 mm
- Near Focus – 6 m
Verdict
The Landove Prism Spotting Scope has all the best features that a professional would want to purchase. Apart from the weight and focusing glitch, you can easily enjoy it during your adventurous trip.
2. Bushnell Trophy Xtreme Spotting Scope
The Bushnell Trophy Xtreme is best if you are a hunter, target shooter, or a bird watcher. You can fit it in a tripod for a better view of your target.
Features
The spotting scope is designed with BAK4 Porro prisms. They are affordable and light-efficient at the same time. When compared to the roof prisms, these lenses can display clear and bright images. The High-Definition images soothe your eyes and you can enjoy your adventure. Bushnell provides you with a multi-coated lens that prevents any reflection in the glass by forming clearer and brighter images.
The product has a wide range of magnification, helping user flexibility for long-range view finding. You can watch your target even if they are far away as the scope offers 65 X zoom and an increased field of view with 20 X zoom.
As the scope is lightweight, it is easy to use and is portable. Moreover, the weather-proof and fog-proof features make it perfect for carrying it anywhere irrespective of the weather conditions. It also prevents lens fogging from risky temperatures. The Bushnell scope has a firm outer coating with rubber armor preventing it from slipping off from your hand.
- Magnification – 20 – 60 X 65mm
- Eye Relief – 14 mm
- Exit Pupil – 3.1-1.5mm
- Objective Lens – 50 millimeters
- Close Focus – 12 feet
- Field of View at 12 x – 140 feet at 1000 yards / 46 meters at 1000 meters
- Field of View at 36 x – 65 feet at 1000 yards / 21 meters at 1000 meters
Verdict
The Bushnell Trophy Xtreme is one of the most affordable spotting scopes under $300 available in the market. Although it has certain limitations, no spotting scope is perfect in its way. The product is strong, durable, and easy to use.
3. Huicocy 20 – 60 x 60 mm
The Huicocy spotting scope is perfect for hunting and shooting because of its specifications. Alongside this, you can also use it for bird watching, wildlife observation, or any astronomical endeavours.
Features
The light-gathering abilities and the resolution of the scope are true of a kind with a 60 mm objective lens. The superior light transmission and the bright, broad view help get a clear picture of the target for shooting range. You can magnify up to 60 X and get the best shots of your target. The product has an eyepiece of 45degress, enabling a comfortable look while watching the targets. It has a non-slip rubber casing, which helps to fit the scope in a tripod easily. Being lightweight, waterproof, and fog-proof, you can carry it to any weather conditions. It will never dishearten you. As the product provides a tripod and a phone mount free while purchasing, the mounting area is standard so that you can use different apparatus as per your choice. Moreover, you can also connect it to your smartphone.
The scope is built with a durable aluminum outer frame with a rubber armour construction. This ensures you have a stronghold on the scope to not slip off your hand while working. It has extendable and retractable eyepiece to relax your eyes while watching with or without glasses. The green film multi-coated optical lens helps to achieve a precise and bright image. Also, the extendable sunshade built onto the main barrel helps to reduce glare.
- Magnification – 20 x – 60 x
- Objective lens diameter – 60 mm
- Eyepiece diameter – 16 mm
- Distance of Exit Pupil – 13 – 16 mm
- The diameter of Exit Pupil – 1.3 – 4.0 mm
- F.O.V – 66 -131 ft / 1000 yard
Verdict
Apart from the phone mount and the focus ring, the product has the best features available within $300. Therefore, you can always get your hand on ignoring the minor faults.
4. FEEMIC Upgrade 20-60×60
The spotting scope has a fully multi-coated green film 60 mm objective lens and a high-quality Porro BaK-4 prism that enables it to prevent extra light from getting inside the lens. Therefore, as it removes haze, you get crisp, clear, and bright images.
Features
It has two coaxial two-speed focusing wheels helping to track your target quickly. As the slow focusing wheel zooms in on your target, you get more details. The large eyepieces of 24 mm relax your eyes while you are trying hard to watch your target. With 20 x to 60 x magnification and a field of view of 47 – 23.5 M / 1000 M, you can easily view your target. The scope is ideal for target shooting, hunting, bird watching wildlife, astronomical observation, and scenery, etc.
The product is built with shock-absorbing rubber armour for maximum protection. It ensures it does not slip off from your hands. Due to the optical anti-shake design, you can observe clear images even while watching a fast-moving object. The nitrogen-filled waterproof and fog-proof O-ring seals prevent moisture, dust, and debris from penetrating the scope. Therefore, you can carry it to any weather conditions. The scope comes with a tripod and a carrying case. The tripod is quite complicated while adjusting it; you might break it.
- Magnification – 20 x – 60 x
- Objective lens diameter – 60 mm
- Eyepiece diameter – 24 mm
- Number Of Lens Pieces & Groups – 9 Pcs / 4 Groups
- Field of View – 47 – 23.5 M / 1000 M
- Focusing Method – Central focus
Verdict
One should buy this product because of its best features. It is one of the pocket-friendly yet best spotting scope under $300. Keeping aside the limitations, it is the right product.
5. Celestron – Ultima 80 Angled Spotting Scope
Another spotting scope that is under your budget with amazing features. As it is easy to use and sturdy, it is the most accepted scope amongst the professionals.
Features
The scope is inbuilt with features like an 80 mm objective lens, 20 to 60 zoom power. As the scope is angled, it becomes easier on the neck and eyes of the user. The lenses are multi-coated to provide clear and bright images. The field of vision of the scope is wide, with 105 down to 53 ft at 1000 yards. It also has an eye relief of 18 mm, helps to watch the target without straining your eyes easily.
The product is filled with nitrogen inside and is fog-proof and waterproof. Hence, you can carry them in any weather conditions. The lenses of the scope are multi-coated, helping by not allowing extra light to enter. Therefore, you get bright images with higher resolution. You get an eyepiece lens cap and port cover and eyepiece carrying case and pouch along with the product.
- Field of view – 53 ft at 1000 yards.
- Magnification – 20 x to 60 x
- Objective lens – 80 mm
- Eye Relief – 18 mm
Verdict
Although the weight of the product is its only concern, it is loved by the professionals. Rich in features, you should get your hands on this product.
Spotting Scope vs. Binocular
For birding, the most common optics is binocular. You can easily adjust it according to the visual acuity. They are fast and also easy to use. The advantage of the binoculars is that they are lighter, portable, and attached to straps and harnesses to avoid using hands. Due to the lightweight and portability, it is easy to move the optics and change the position by refocusing. The binoculars are relatively cheaper than the spotting scopes.
However, they are always not the perfect choice, as they cover the lower end of the visual magnification spectrum, it is difficult to get the details when you watch birds from a long distance. Even the smallest of the lenses bring light colour in the eyepiece; hence, the target seems bland and can lack details. Moreover, binoculars can even lead to back and neck aches according to the pay you carry a binocular. People with less hand or arm strength might face problems keeping the binoculars steady for a longer time.
The spotting scopes are single tube optics usually more massive and more extensive than the binoculars. Due to their large size, the terrestrial telescopes have much greater magnification than binoculars. These are ideal for distance viewing, which makes it a perfect choice for birding. You can watch them without even disturbing them as getting close to a nest or rookery is likely to stress the birds. Moreover, if you mount the device in a tripod, your hands do not strain as they are wonderfully stable, unlike the binoculars.
Do you think the larger size of the spotting scope is sometimes a limitation? Yes, you are correct. They have less flexibility when trying to watch moving or active birds. It may take time to adjust the scope and usually has less field of view than the binoculars. As they are larger, tripods are necessary; therefore, carrying a heavy scope along with other apparatus becomes difficult to carry during hikes. Moreover, these are way more expensive.
Conclusion
The article has all the key characteristics that one should keep in mind while making a purchase. You do not need to spend lots of money on the product when you have the best spotting scope under $300. If you are a professional, these amazing scopes mentioned in the article will help to choose the right product for you. Go through the reviews thoroughly before making up your mind.
