New Spotting Scope

[Charic]

Does anyone have or  rated this scope before I press the button........ https://www.firstlightoptics.com/acuter-spotting-scopes/acuter-natureclose-st80b-20-60x80-waterproof-straight-spotting-scope.html to replace the recently purchased Jessops MS202060 toy?

[laudropb]

What do you want to use the scope for ? If it is for bird watching then I would think you will find it has a lot of colour fringing especially in bright light. This may not bother you, but I found it to be a real pain.

[Charic]

Mrs Charic was watching some Seals on  rocks just of the beach, just too far to photograph them with a mobile phone, and not needing both barrels of a binocular so I thought it might be useful for further and other observations.

Your not the first to mention the colour fringing, I viewed this article, http://www.bestspottingscopereviews.com/AcuterST20-60X80ASpottingScope-8.htm

[Ricochet]

15 hours ago, Charic said:

Does anyone have or  rated this scope before I press the button........ https://www.firstlightoptics.com/acuter-spotting-scopes/acuter-natureclose-st80b-20-60x80-waterproof-straight-spotting-scope.html to replace the recently purchased Jessops MS202060 toy?

I doubt it is much better than the Jessops scope. The problems you have described with the Jessops scope are typical of any non-ED spotting scope and also pushing for too high magnifications. 

[Charic]

I suppose I should tick ED as a priority within my search. Perhaps also a price limit of about £180 which again limits my choice. Mrs Charic will be the main operative, so may get limited use, hence the price cap,  but I can clearly see some issues with the 202060 that we have now, yet felt ok when shop tested?

[laudropb]

If you are using the scope for casual nature viewing then the fringing may not be too much of a problem, but it will show up on photos. Perhaps you would be better considering a smaller aperture and a fixed mag eyepiece. These cheap zooms are not really usable at high magnifications. The view is just too dim and mushy. Unfortunately ED glass is probably out with your budget unless you can get something second hand.

[Ricochet]

Perhaps a 90mm mak might be an option as a combined spotter and grab and go Astro scope? However, the field of view is probably quite tight and I don't have any experience using one to know how well they actually work terrestrially.