spotting scope power question

[400bull]

I have an old Bushnell 15-45X50 spotting scope that I NEED to replace this summer. I am still searching to find what brand/model I want to get. I am noticing that most models come in 15-45 power or 20-80 power. With my current set up (scope and tri-pod) anything over 35 power is pretty much use less. How many of you have a 20-80 that actually use the scope much above the 45 power settings? I am trying to get a feel if the 80 power is really that use full. I will be using it mostly for scouting deer and elk but I will use it at the range from time to time.

400bull

 

[deerfanatic]

It depends on the area you use it. If your area is glassing across deep dark canyons, the little extra power may be usable. Or if you like to look at the stars, then the high power will be good. The unavoidable culprit that limits the max power usage on even the most expensive sporting optics are heat waves.

The lower end on the power range may need more consideration than the upper end. If your deer and elk area focus your attention on areas that are primarily one mile or less, the larger field of view from the 15 power may be what you really want. If your spotter is used mainly at longer distance, than you may have plenty FOV with a 20 power low end.

 

[fatrooster]

Depending on the quality of your scope and the conditions of light, yes, a 20x60 power scope is useful. There are many times that you will not be able to use your scope past 45 power due to heat waves or lighting, but there will be many times that you can use it to 50 power or even 60 power. To me it is worth it to have the extra power.
Keep in mind that the quality of scope also has a lot to do with how well your upper power range will look. I have a cheap scope that zooms up to 75 power but is no good past 30 power where as my swarovski scope is great at 40 power and many times is great at 50 and 60 power. fatrooster.

 

[SteveC]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-12 AT 08:00AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-12 AT 07:58?AM (MST)

Pretty much an across the board problem with magnification is that there are not very many days, regardless of who made your scope, that conditions will let you get much use out of much more than 30x. Sometimes 40x. Two problems. One is mirage (heat waves) as has been pointed out. The second one is depth of focus. This depth decreases drastically with increase in magnification. This is mostly why so many scopes don't work well at high power. The depth of focus is so shallow you run right through it pretty easily. Another thing I find is that (again it does not matter so much who made it either) is that when the magnification gets high enough to get the exit pupil below 2.0 mm (30x in a 60mm scope, 40x in and 80mm scope) that image degradation can be problematic. Certainly good optics are desirable, but at the magnification and distances spotters sometimes need to be used at, sometimes nothing much works real well.

Edit to add that the tripod is, in my mind maybe more important than the scope. Don't skimp there/

 

[dang302]

I have a swarovski 20-60X80 and I spend 90% of my time on 20X and maybe 9% on 30X and once in a while when I am bored I will turn it to 60 (and then immediately turn it back down so that I can actually see what I'm looking at. I could have saved a few pennies and got the wide angle 30X lense instead of this variable one...but then again sometime 30 is too much. I have had a time or two when i could almost focus it at 60X, but for the most part the image is just bigger and blurrier and I can see it better smaller and sharper.