Why are spotting scopes made anymore?
General Topic
I was in a caribou camp several years ago and one hunter had a palm sized video camera that zoomed to heaven knows what power...way more than the 60x scope i own. Why would anyone get a scope the size and weight of my forearm when the digital stuff is so much more efficient?
Video cameras are limited by the size of their lens. Zoom a small video cam to 60X on a day with haze or mirage and then look through a quality 60X spotter and there is a world of differences. At that power you are also likely using 10X - 20X optical zoom and the rest is digital, which is simply blowing the image up. The more you blow it up , the lower the resolution/image quality is. You can also use a spotting scope every day for hours on a backpack hunt with no batteries.
That said. Video cameras are pretty amazing for their size and I use one like a spotting scope often.
Of course the real answer is simpler. They make them because people buy them.
Digital zoom is, literally, worthless. Optical zoom on a $400 video cam is night and day from a $1000 spotting scope.
Spotting scopes don't run out of battery power
Let me know when you toss your spotting scope in the trash can and I'll make a visit by the curb!
Although you do have a valid point that in some cases one can zoom enough with a digital camera to get detailed view of game. Must be a good camera (not a shirt pocket sized model) and be on a tripod.
I have a Panasonic Lumix with 24x OPTICAL zoom (as others have stated, digital zoom is worthless) and at times I've used it to evaluate game after humping my gear too far to include the weight of a spotting scope.
Carl
Spent about 4 hours on two separate Dall's this month trying to make them either 8 years or full curl. Could never be sure and we passed. They were 90 and 100 yards. Can't imaging doing that with a camera.
Can you clamp your camera to a truck window and still see with it?????
Ermine nailed it. But so did Don. Nothing compares to the clarity of a scope built for looking long distance. if you just want to see light colored blobs moving around fine. But if you want to know if that bull 2 miles and a half away goes 295 or a 320 you need glass.
You'd never pick out a grey faced mulie buck against a grey faced boulder at that distance either.
The other night I was showing my 6 year old son the inside of moon craters and impact debris with my Swaro spotter. Hard to do that with a average camcorder
