Celestron 52250 Ultima 20-60x80mm Angled Refractor Spotting Scope Telescope with Multi-Coated Optics, Waterproof Rubber Tubing and Soft Carry Case, Green

Since I'm reading several reviews for this product from unrealistic people who seem to expect $2500 performance from a sub $200 scope, please keep in mind I am reviewing a $160 scope, and not a $2500 dollar scope, and FOR THE MONEY (and over YEARS of use) I've found this to be an awesome little scope. As a tour guide, I don't want to spend a huge amount on a spotting scope to use on tours that is going to get kicked, knocked over, thrown on a dusty van floor and generally abused in situations involving crowds of people. My first Celestron scope was irreparably damaged by an unfortunate incident where it got knocked over and struck a boulder in Yellowstone and lost its focus, but by that time I'd had years of good service out of it, so for the price of a new one, I wasn't upset over replacing it. This scope does the trick for wildlife viewing and birdwatching with very good resolution and durability. People are always impressed by the wonders of high magnification even when comparing an inexpensive scope with an expensive pair of binoculars. This scope certainly is subject to some chromatic fringing towards the edges (mostly noticeable in snowy terrain) but it doesn't detract too much and is still an excellent view, quite sharp and overall very nice. People are totally wowed the first time they see that moving dot in a meadow over a half mile away suddenly transformed into a bear! My only criticism would be that the zoom function is frankly rather worthless, especially at the higher end and I seldom use it. I also have had clients unscrew the eyepiece inadvertently while trying to focus, even though I demonstrate where the actual focus is, so I make sure I check that the eyepiece is on tight. You can bet that when my current scope has another accident, I'll be replacing it with this scope once again.

This is the first spotting scope I have owned and I use it for bird watching. As an entry level spotting scope this is a worthwhile option. Everything works well. The scope is basic, has no adjustable eye relief, the scope can't be rotated once on a tripod, no dual focusing and no sun shade. You do get decent optics and good build quality. I have no problem getting a bright and clear image even on 60 x magnification which is very impressive ( with a stable tripod). You will get blue fringing from about 40 x magnification but at $167 that comes with the territory. This is fantastuc entry level spotting scope that will add greatly to your bird viewing even if it is not perfect.

Humm, hit the tab key and my review in progress disappeared! The scope has a very nice overall fit and finish with good deep coatings on all visible lens surfaces. The focus knob is silky smooth with no detectable backlash. The eyepiece eye-relief is ample (I don't require glasses when viewing--see below) and the zoom is smooth. An audible sliding sound is heard when zooming, but it isn't objectionable. Speaking of glasses, if your glasses just correct for near or far sightedness, you don't really nead them at the scope; the focus range of the eyepiece will compensate for your correction without glasses. Those with astigmatism problems will need glasses however. Owning a premium 80mm ED telescope, I was able to do a side-by-side test with it and this scope. Overall, the optical performance is impressive. Some chromatic abberation is present at the higher magnifications, but even then, it wasn't objectionable. At 60X the ED scope clearly edged out the 52250, with sharper fine detail and a slightly brighter image. To be fair though, the ED telescope had fewer air-to-glass surfaces and the eyepieces (10mm and 30mm) were fixed focal length so that is to be expected. I'd say the Celestron 52250 gave 95% of the performance of the high-priced ED scope. At 20X I was hard pressed to see a significant difference. At 40-60X the image didn't have the crisp detail of the ED scope, but it was quite usable. Most of my birding is done at lower magnification anyway, so I'm not loosing much. On the moon, I was really impressed at an almost total lack of chromatic abberation! I could not see any "blue haze"--just a thin yellow edge. As a rough estimation of optical quality, I performed what is called a star test. In this test one looks at a star image inside and outside of focus. Frankly, I was very surprised by the test. I saw no optical defects and in fact, the patterns were text book perfect! It is amazing what can be done with computer generated optics these days. This isn't a $1000 scope, but if you want 90% of the performance at a fraction of the money, this scope will work for you. I'd recommend it to a friend. At the %154 price I paid for it, this is a real value!

Purchased the Ultima 80 - 45 degree spotting scope about a month ago and for the purpose of sighting in my Remington 700 SPS 7mm Rem Ultra Mag. I used it a couple times around the house with the RetiCam Tabletop tripod, familiarizing myself with the features before taking it to the range. The spotting scope has some weight to it and feels very well put together.... feels like a quality product. Got to the range today and the spotting scope was overkill for 100 yds, as our rifle scope were adequate for that range. Targets could be seen easily on 20 or 40 power. At 200 yds the spotting scope clearly shows every detail of the target when properly focused. At one point, while my buddy was steadying for his shot, I could see a house fly walking around on the target, which was a black 'splatter splots' (with bright green burst). At this same distance, plain paper shots were also easy to see. LIKE High Definition!! Next, out to 400 yds (actually 412 yds) the spotting scope had to be set at 80X and the focus was a little more touchy, but once it was dialed in I could still see may of the target features, including the lines. The green burst were east to see. We never tried plain paper target, but they would have been harder to see, I believe. I am certain, I would be able to see 'splatter spots' targets out to 500 yds with this spotting scope; possibly out to 600 yds, but I'm not sure. Very happy with this purchase. Would recommend this scope, especially at the price.

No argument, you get a decent scope for the money. I bought mine off Amazon 10 years ago and it's still going strong. At low magnification, you get a decent image. Crank up to 60x and there's significant CA. Most of which, if you're using an adapter to get pictures, can be removed in your post processing software. For casual viewing, it's definitely a fine scope, just don't expect to get crystal clear images at anything past mid point on the power. These pics were taken with my phone through the viewfinder. They are straight out of the phone without any processing. Obviously, I could have done a better job aligning the phone with the eye piece.

Added 2/9/2016: I've used it on 300-yard targets now, and my .223" / 5.56 mm holes are visible, especially on white paper. Holes in the colored part are harder, of course, but visible. I also want to mention that the focus knob is perfect. It turns easily and smoothly, without being loose. It's placed on top, just behind the tripod mounting point, so you can rest your hand over the balance point of the scope and gently roll one finger over the focus knob, causing very little motion in the image. [Original text -->] I read a lot of reviews and Q & A's on Amazon before purchasing the Celestron 80mm Ultima Zoom, and I have a little to add for future shoppers. While I hope to use this for viewing wildlife and maybe the moon and neighboring planets, I bought it mainly for rifle shooting, to see little holes in paper downrange. The photos I'm posting today are all the same shot through the scope, left full-frame to show how my smartphone camera sees it, and cropped to better see the holes. The target is 200 yards away, and the holes are .223 inch / 5.56mm. The grid lines on the targets are spaced at 1 inch / 25mm. Camera was an LG G4 smartphone, mounted to the Celestron's eyepiece with a Gosky Universal Cell Phone Adapter Mount, also purchased from Amazon. Photo conditions were less than ideal: a very gray afternoon, shooting through 200 yards of light rain. The full-frame photo was reduced in size from 5212 x 2988 down to 1600 x 900, in hopes Amazon won't ruin it with extreme compression. The other two were severely cropped, but left at full resolution to show detail. It was taken at 60X, the maximum zoom, and the image suffers a bit from being pushed to the max, but not terribly. The colors aren't as sharp as at the lower end of the zoom range, and as other reviewers have mentioned, that's a compromise. If you want perfect sharpness through the whole zoom range, buy the ED (Extra Dispersion) version of the scope. It's built with lens elements made of more exotic glass that corrects the focus of the different colors of light. It will cost you about 4 times as much. This Ultima 80 is good enough for me. Something I hadn't noticed until I viewed the photos is the curvature of the bottom board of the target frame. That's not bent wood, it's a defect of the scope, called pincushion distortion. If I was using the scope for some kind of architectural photography, where straight lines must show straight, this would be a problem, but I bought this to see where holes are punched in paper, and a bit of curvature is no problem at all. If you're photographing duck on a pond surface and don't want your water horizon to be curved, position the scope so that horizon is in the center of the frame. The top board of the target frame is centered, and it doesn't look bent at all. Better yet, back off the zoom to a lower ratio and get straighter lines and a sharper image. The two detail shots aren't perfectly sharp, but more than good enough to see every hole, even the ones in the dark blue target. I'm impressed. The range I go to also has targets at 300 yards. That might be pushing this scope's capability. I'll try it some time when I have better weather and have settled on ammunition I can trust to fly straight that far. On the drive home from the range I passed a tree with a huge new nest in it, and today a bald eagle was perched near it. But I was cold and tired, and if I'd stopped and got out of the car to reach the scope in the back, the eagle would have left. Would have been a great inaugural wildlife shot for my new spotting scope, but I'm left with only the memory of it, and you'll have to picture it in your mind until you get your own spotting scope and venture into eagle country. Hope you like yours; it's just right for me, at a price I can justify.

After going on a few bird walks with our local Audubon Society, I decided to bring my own scope. I’m using this primarily for birdwatching. If you haven’t tried it for birdwatching, a scope is much better than binoculars once you have found your subject. The key factor being a higher magnification with no shaking. Your tripod has a lot to do with that so make sure it’s pretty steady and the right height. The scope yields nice sharp images at 20 power, but as you increase power on the zoom eyepice, the image does degrade a bit, some refocusing will be necessary. The blue fringing becomes quite noticeable at 60 power. Still reasonably sharp. Focus helps, but the fringing is purely because it does not have the ED glass. Those scopes will cost about three times more. For the money, this is a wonderful value. I highly recommend it. For the semi casual birder or backyard viewer it’s ideal! The 80 mm objective means nice, bright views, and decent field of view so finding your subject becomes a little easier. The little slight tube on the side helps to get the scope in the general direction you’d like it to be. The build is nice and sturdy with a metal main tube. Be careful installing the eyepiece when you receive it. The threads are quite fine and easily damaged. Once assembled, you probably won’t be disassembling it. It comes with a cheap-feeling lightly padded zipper case that can be applied to the scope, while it is mounted to the tripod. A handy feature for storing or just walking around, or putting in your trunk. Great choice for the budget conscious birder.

I was a bit sceptical with the price. I have long been searching for a great spotting scope for a good price. I have tested out many different scopes at the range that we have a membership at. I have looked through $1200 to $400 to $300 scopes and made notes. First Test: At home - My neighbors are about 1.3 miles away. The best scopes you could identify eyes and ears on a clear day. The lower end scopes you can tell there is a house and that there is an animal in the yard. The middle of ground scopes you could tell what kind of animal is in the yard and distinguish people walking around easily. This scope was able to almost identify 4 inch features on a human. You were able to see their dogs and would be able to distinguish breed for the most part. Second Test: The Moon: I only tested this scope, it's a Celestron, same maker of my childhood telescope. It was a 7% illuminated on a clear Colorado evening. I could easily distinguish craters and surface features. The scope is larger than I thought it would be and will be hard to keep in my bag for hunting. Great for trip OVERALL: This is a must buy for a spotting scope. I am going to buy this for a present for my parents who live with great views of wildlife and unobstructed mountains.

Bought another spotter scope in a similar price point on Amazon. It seemed allright out of box but had damaged threads on the mount. Returned it no hasstle and bought this one. Way better quality right out of box and clearer glass, happy accident that I switched out. Works well with Amazon basics tripod and for the price point of those two together still cheaper then some then come with worse tripod.

Servizio veloce di amazon.Ottimo l'imballo. Non ho mai comprato cannocchiali, ma ho un superbo binocolo zenit 7x50 e da fotografo ho una certa esperienza di ottica per avere un discreto parco obbiettivi.quindi posso dire che la qualità del cannocchiale è davvero ottima. Ma andiamo con ordine: La costruzione è molto buona(metallo e buonissima gomma)le lenti sono trattate in modo multistrato e sono ottime nel complesso,in pratica...da 20 a quasi 50 ingrandimenti si vede benissimo (in particolare da 20 a 40 una definizione direi quasi eccellente...)poi diciamo che da 45 a 60 ingrandimenti la qualità ottica cade man mano ma ancora a 60 si vede discretamente anche se appaiono (ma in modo poco fastidioso) aberrazioni ed occorre curare la messa a fuoco.Il cavalletto è indispensabile sempre, anche a 20 ingrandimenti. La luminosita' è ottima per una buona visione anche di sera.La caduta fisiologica di qualità dopo i circa 50x è, per il limite fisiologico di tutti gli oculari zoom, ma anche il pulviscolo dell'aria a grandi lontananze fanno la loro parte, probabilmente vetri pregiati di binocoli più costosi bucano meglio l'atmosfera. da notare che questa stessa caduta in tutto il range da 20 a 60..è minore per soggetti meno lontani.Sono sicuro che cannocchiali con vetri apocromatici sono migliori ma non credo proporzionale al salto di prezzo. inoltre chi ha fatto la comparazione tra questo obbiettivo ed altri che costano anche 10 volte di più ha dedotto che sui bassi ingrandimenti (da 20 a 40) la differenza con cannocchiali blasonati sia addirittura minima.La custodia è discreta...ma avrei preferito un pò imbottita tipo borse fotografiche. Metto 5 stelle per il prezzo che ho pagato...difficilmente si trova di meglio.E' un cannocchiale ottimo,discreto e luminoso, anche al crepuscolo si vede bene e da usare anche per visioni astronomiche non impegnative come la luna o saturno....magari con un oculare fisso...per sfruttarlo al meglio.

ne correspond pas à mes attentes

Produit de qualité, précis, d'une grande luminosité et une bonne netteté.

excelente calidad precio, cumple con mis expectativas de visión de naturaleza