A spottingscope is easily distinguishable from its distant cousin, the telescope. It’s considerably smaller, very portable and uses relatively low magnification – although for scopes with similar uses, it does have a considerably powerful magnification capability. Unlike the telescope, the spotting scope does not produce an upside down image of an object but instead presents an upright one. Among the manufacturers of spotting scopes, one of the most reliable is Yukon Advanced Optics, already a recognized name in the industry.
Spotting Scopes
Spottingscopes are a favorite instrument for use for observing wildlife and landscape. They are also often utilized for hunting, birding and general surveillance. Some scopes may even be designed to be mounted on a camera for taking photographs.
Yukon Advanced Optics manufactures high powered spotting scopes. Its 6-100 x 100, for example, is considered as one of the most powerful and efficient in the industry. The range of magnification it offers (magnifying objects at least 6x to 100 times its original size) allows the user to view objects from a distance of a mere 20 meters to several kilometers.
This spottingscope is excellent for daytime use, thanks to its multi-coated lenses and extendable sunshade that significantly cut down glare. The scope also features two objective lenses that may be interchanged easily, allowing the user to switch from viewing a nearby object using 25 mm lens to observing a distant object using a 100 mm lens. Changing viewing angles is also easy, thanks to its rotating eyepiece.
The Scout Series
One of Yukon Advanced Optics’ most popular spotting scopes is the Scout series, a very reasonably priced piece of equipment. Designed after the foldable spyglass, the Scout spotting scope can be easily expanded to its total length and just as easily stored when folded. To refine the focus on magnified objects, the scope’s eyepiece may be rotated.
The Scout is designed to be carried although its function may be extended by mounting it onto a tripod. Yukon Advanced Optics does not manufacture tripods for this series but a typical tripod used for standard cameras will do.
Highly affordable (this is one of a few daytime spotting scopes priced at less than $150), the Scout is nevertheless a highly functional and very reliable piece of optical equipment. It features 20x magnification for close-up views, a 12 mm eye relief to prevent eye strain and a wide 54 m field of view.
The Scout is compact and lightweight. As can be expected of any spotting scope that will see some outdoors action, the Scout features a tough, rubberized outer shell. It has a collapsible body for better portability and high quality lenses that are capable of producing images in high resolution. Multi-coated lenses use magnesium fluoride for better image production.
Like all products in Yukon Advanced Optics’ lines, the Scout is covered by a limited lifetime warranty.
Flexible usage
Many of Yukon Advanced Optics’ spotting scopes are designed to adapt to cameras, particularly digital cameras. This is to expand the use of the spotting scope and allow the user to capture images using this instrument. The high power magnification of spotting scopes as opposed to those that come with a standard camera produces images of excellent quality that may otherwise be difficult to produce.
Since spottingscopes also use relatively high magnification compared with other optics, Yukon Advanced Optics also manufactures tripods for mounting. Generally, using a handheld spotting scope can be problematic because it produces hazy images due to movement. To prevent this, an especially designed tripod accompanies certain scope series.