My comments were made in the context of my spotting scope - it has a magnification range of 20 (FOV about 3 degrees) to 65, the eyepiece is at 45 degrees (not straight through) and weighs well over 2 kgms.
It needs it's own red dot finder as it is impossible to line up objects with a 45 deg angled eyepiece. I certainly cannot hold mag of 20X steady enough to observe effectively. I think most people find about 10x the max to hold comfortably steady for any period of time. The final "nail in the coffin" is the weight.
Perhaps you can judge the specs for the spotting scope you are thinking about against these comments and your intended use.
I am away from home at the moment, otherwise I could have posted an image or two to show what I mean.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stonius
Thanks for your considered reply. I was hoping to replace the binos with a low power spotting scope - maybe like the celestron hummingbird 56ED w/9-27x Zoom. Can you tell me a little more about why the spotting scope is too difficult to use hand-held? Is there something about the nature of the way a pair of binoculars is held that lends more stability?
Best,
Markus
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