Whether you have a great view, travel to wildlife reserves, live near an airport, watch nesting birds, or just want to enjoy your garden, spotting telescopes can give you marvellous, close-up views. We have an extensive range to choose from, most of which are lightweight (some amazingly so), waterproof, and can be coupled to SLR cameras (adaptors are available in our "Accessories" section).
All our instruments represent excellent value for money, and with modern production techniques, give images you couldn't imagine only a few years ago. Prices quoted are all that you pay for purchase and delivery to any UK mainland address.
Format
Land telescopes are often called "Spotting `scopes."
All of our `scopes are prismatic - ie they will give you a corrected image (the right way up, and the right way around). As with binoculars, the larger the instrument's front (objective) lens, the more light it will collect. On the one hand this will give you a sharper picture, and be especially important if you want to use the `scope in poor light levels (dusk), high contrast areas (looking into heavy foliage on a bright day), or at the higher power ranges (where increased magnification will reduce the light and therefore sharpness). On the other hand, in general the larger the objective, the larger the instrument, which will have implications for siting, portability, and stability.
Denomination
Aside from instrument quality, three figures are usually used to denominate a Spotting Telescope - 18x-36x 50mm, or simply 20-60x 60 for example.
The first two figures state the magnification (power) range on a standardised scale. Think of this as giving an image eighteen to thirty six times or twenty to sixty times closer to your subject.
The final figure is the diameter of the front (objective) lens, which indicates both how much light can enter that instrument, and (generally) what sort of size the telescope will be.
Power and Field of View
You will want a telescope to have high power viewing, but it is still a fact that the more you magnify your subject, the less of it you will see. If at twenty times you can see a family of ducks, at thirty times you will probably only see the tail-ender. This effect is often described as the field (or width) of view, so the greater the power, the narrower the field of view.
Power is varied by rotating the eyepiece (sometimes called the zoom-opter) and a simple wheel on the top of the `scope allows smooth focussing.
As a guide, most users will operate in the 20x to 40x range of magnification. This gives a lot of power but retains a more comfortable field of view and greater stability.
Because of the relatively high magnifications, which give a narrow field of view, it is important to mount telescopes on a sufficiently stable tripod or you will simply not be able to enjoy their full potential. The heavier or longer a telescope, the more substantial the tripod needs to be. Use of wind-up height extenders can also significantly reduce stability – leave the connector mount resting firmly on its pivot base wherever possible when using a lightweight tripod.
Telescopes versus Binoculars
Binoculars are usually hand-held instruments, give a 3D image over the near distance, and can be used quickly, virtually anywhere.
Depending on the conditions, at some point over 12x magnification standard binoculars cease to be effective. If you need more power to magnify a small object such as a bird’s nest, or for a coastal view, you will need to consider a telescope, or possibly a large observation point binocular.
Most telescopes have a zoom facility ranging from about 18 or 20x up to 60x or more. They are easily set-up, and most of our models are waterproof. Observation binoculars often have fixed power but very large objective lenses, they are less versatile but can be more comfortable for sustained viewing and give the 3D effect (which telescopes do not) over extended distances. Both need to be tripod mounted, both can be used for star-gazing, and, being prismatic, will always give a corrected image, not the inverted image of an astroscope.
Photography
Camera adaptors (and the camera specific bit - the T2 ring) are available for most of our telescopes - see the "Accessories" section. These simply screw onto the eyepiece cover thread, so lining the camera up perfectly with the exit pupil. A telescope can thus make a lot better telephoto lens than vice versa, and often much more cheaply. You can achieve stunning results with just a simple set-up and a little care.
|
