Spotting Scopes Angled VRS Straight

Yep...Could be the other way around also..Currently I have an angled..I don't really have an issue with sighting on my target quickly..Some say that the angled has more relief in the neck than a straight..I'm not so sure leaning your head down to get into the eyepiece can get my neck some..If I get the scope up and rolled 90 degrees it's a pain to line back up on the target..Anyways how do you like your scope or dis like your scope?

I dont know much on spotting scopes, i do have one and it has an angled eyepiece and i find it takes a few extra seconds to get on whatever im trying to look at. I would rather it be straight if im using it to just look around. If its on a tripod spotting a target someone is shooting it doesnt matter as much. Just my thoughts.

Out my truck window, I like straight. In the mountains, I prefer angled

Yep..I should have mentioned that also..A spotting scope on a tripod at the shooting range to me doesn't matter either..It's just a glance down range for archery or bullet point of impact..I'm talking about long viewing periods of times in the field..Now that I get to thinking about it..If there's is any bird watchers out there..It would be nice if you could chime in..

X2 will add if there are great height differences at least the eye piece on angled rotates for a short person

I have a straight one with a window mount for spotting out of the truck, I don't think it would easy to use an angled one in that manner. So if I could only choose one it would be a straight one. I can see where the angled ones would be nice in the field or on the range with shorter tripods.

Angled is much more flexible to a variety of positions from truck to laying prone to standing up. Only negative is it can take a little longer for initial alignment since you're not looking down the barrel, but one gets used to that pretty quick with some use. Since having angled, going back to straight feels awkward and uncomfortable.

Yep..What I do at let's say a 1000 yards on my angled is get the sight tube on target. Then I have the spotter turned down to 20 power..This gives me a wider field of view..Sometimes I hit it perfect then other times a slight amount of movement on the tripod is required to see the target..Then crank it it up to 60 power..SO..Even though I can adjust the tripod and spotter to the absolute perfect height..After a while of my head being tilted into the eyepiece I will feel fatigued in the back of my neck..then sometimes I'm adjusting my eye cups for eye relief after moving from 20 to 60 power..I have never had a straight scope so I was wondering if their is more neck relief in a straight spotter as your neck would not be tilted into the angled eyepiece..However If I have to give up the above mentioned advantages I'll get a neck brace..For long periods of viewing..LOL

The angled are more comfortable to use, but they transmit slightly less light than the straight because angled has an additional mirror surface.

Every additional lens or mirror in a scope absorbs and reduces transmitted light by a small amount.

Jim

Yep..So James up in your neck of the woods..the guides and yourself that you have been with or around what seems to be their preference?

I don't know what Alaska guides are using. You'd be better off asking someone like Dirt.

I have an older armored Bausch & Lomb 15-45x 60mm that I used for sheep hunting. Pretty small.

And I have a larger Pentax 80mm with various eyepieces I use at the range. Too heavy to carry in a pack.

Both are straight, not angled.

Jim

I used a borrowed angled vortex last year on a sheep hunt and this year a straight same power vortex on a sheep and moose....it's a toss up...the straight packed better as far as gear. I sometimes liked looking straight except when the light, sun was glaring, angled would be better. I would go for a straight imo. Also easier to acquire desired object, I remember it was tougher with the angled. A good , not cheap tripod is worth its weight.

All a spotting scope is is a telescope. Is it possible to remove the eyepiece and use a 45 degree diagonal or is the scope and eyepiece all one piece?

My B&L has a fixed eyepiece. The Pentax uses removable EPs that I can also use in my astronomical telescope.

Jim

Straight.

More versatile position wise (window, tripod, uphill, downhill, etc etc etc), better light transmission, and faster target acquisition.

Are they 1.25” or .969” and what kind of scopes do you have for stargazing?

1.25 inch. I have a Celestron 10 inch catadioptric telescope.

Jim

Nice. I have a Celestron CPC1100 cat myself along with a more mobile 6”.

Straight is much more intuitive and quicker to get on target.

Yep..Just got back from an afternoon of mule deer hunting..Had a straight with me and a angled..right off the bat when I switched out my binos to the angled it was a wreck..had to readjust the spotter and lower the tripod extension rod and find the target again..so that's not happening..however the first thing I did before lowering the rod was roll the spotter 90 degrees..and still could not find the target..then decided to lower the extension rod..the bottom line is the target stepped into some brush..don't know if it was a buck or doe..SO..tomorrow I hope my buddy let's me use his straight again. I really didn't get a chance to use the straight..I never could get my buddy to see the target..It was like do you see that tree over there.LOL.I'm glad I didn't have a tag..

My friend likes his angled sworovski