Spotting scope

A spotting scope (abbreviated from perspective of Latin perspectivus, by, through, looking, . Engl spotting scope), also called observation telescope, is a for Earth observation in the day -constructed, usually monocular telescope or optical telescope. Binocular devices are sometimes called double spotting scopes. In contrast to the astronomical telescope Kepler shear- type spotting scopes produce upright laterally correct images.

Areas of application

Typical applications include the observation of nature (hunting, bird watching ), spotting, sports ( eg target of observation) as well as the civil and military surveillance.

Type

To be easy to transport and can also be used in all weathers along with a tripod, a spotting scope is ideally compact, relatively easy (depending on lens size between 500 and 2000 grams) and robust ( shock resistant, waterproof). For easy viewing, most models are available with a 45 ° inclined, but also spotting scopes with straight view it can be produced. In addition to the widely used models of rigid body also known as spotting scopes are offered. These can be pushed together telescopically for compact pack size. For design reasons this Spektivtyp but not waterproof. As with binoculars, the trend in total to ever lighter and more compact designs.

Frequently encountered Lens Diameter ( apertures) are 50, 60, 62, 65, 77, 80, 82, 85 and 100 millimeters with magnifications of 20 - 80x Zoom Eyepiece with AC or. At high magnifications Apochromats and expensive special glasses are required in order to avoid color bleeding. Such designs can be seen for example on shortcuts such as Apo, ED, FL, HD. But even this can not prevent blurring caused by atmospheric haze and summery heat shimmer that make often more noticeable with increasing magnification.

As with astronomical telescopes and various eyepieces are mounted to adjust depending on the purpose magnification and field of view. Distinction can be made between fixed focal lengths and Eyepiece. The former have a fixed magnification (eg, 20 -, 30 - or 40 - x magnification ) and are often produced as a special wide angle eyepieces. Zoom or variable eyepieces usually have a rotating ring, over which the magnification (zoom) can vary.

The vast number of scopes are structurally telescopes, rare mirror telescopes, such as by Maksutov.

Others

To avoid camera shake, a spotting scope should be mounted on a sufficiently stable tripod with a suitable two-way Panhead.

As a recent development video or photo cameras can be connected using special adapter directly on the scope's body or to the eyepiece. The spotting scope is a photographic telephoto lens. This photographic technology Engl. called digiscoping, digiscoping German.

On the other hand, changing lenses can be converted from SLR cameras with an adapter for a spotting scope. This includes a fixed eyepieces. The magnification results divided by the eyepiece focal length of the lens focal length. With a lens Canon EF 100 -400mm in conjunction with a Kenko Lens2scope with 10 mm results in the 10 - 40x magnification. Teleconverters can be used and increase the magnification accordingly ( 1.4x, 2x, 3x ). The image quality equivalent to a Mittelklassespektiv.

The above characteristics make a spotting scope as a " travel scope " for amateur astronomers interesting because the imaging performance are a "real" telescope equal. To this end, 1 ¼ -inch astroeyepieces be connected with some spotting scopes eyepiece by particularly high quality. With this connection with so-called Astro adapter is to be noted however that very few astroeyepieces fit. Mostly, the problem then is to be able to focus to infinity. However, there are scopes with standard 1 ¼ -inch Okularanschluss. There, almost all astroeyepieces so affixed.

Manufacturer

Manufacturer of spotting scopes are for example Carl Zeiss Sports Optics, Kowa, Leica, Meade, Meopta, Minox, Nikon, Optolyth, Pentax, Swarovski and Yukon.