What is the difference between spotting scopes and telescopes

If the majority of your viewing is going to be land based, the spotting scope is definitely the way to go. The myriad of adjustment choices makes it more difficult to use but stargazers love these capabilities once they learn how to use them. If you do use a telescope for land viewing, you may get a lot of distorted, sometimes upside down images, but you can purchase accessories that can fix this for you. Be sure to checkout our expert buyer guides to see which product is right for you:.

We are fascinated by nature. We love the excitement of observing a spectacular moment, crystal clear and in perfect detail. Whether your passion is traveling, bird watching, hunting, star gazing, sailing or simply exploring your environment — our expert buyer guides above will help you choose the best tool to enjoy it. Your email address will not be published.

Spotting Scopes Spotting scopes are used for viewing things on land. Why Procular? Best Bird Watching Binoculars. To break it down, you should first familiarize yourself with the two types of telescopes and how each scope works. While a refracting telescope uses lenses to focus light, a reflecting telescope uses mirrors. Both types of telescope are reliant on gathering the most possible light and are known for their high magnification power.

The lenses in a refracting scope are convex, which means they bend light inward to make an object look smaller. Light first passes through the main objective lens, is beamed to a focal point, and is then captured by an eyepiece lens to make it compact and viewable to the human eye. The mirrors in a reflecting scope are concave.

When light passes through the objective lens, it bounces off a mirror to a focal point which is then reflected to an eyepiece. Because of the way the mirrors are supported in the device, they can be huge. Some of the biggest telescopes in the world are reflecting scopes. Telescopes will win any contest for potential lens power.

Home telescopes can range from 90x to x magnification, which will take your astronomy viewing to a new level. Zooming, however, is much harder with a telescope. Most telescopes require a change of lens for different degrees of magnification. Keep in mind that trying to view short ranges through a telescope might cause confusion. Refractor telescopes flip the image horizontally, making everything look backward. They are also longer, which makes them more awkward to pack and tote around.

By the end, you should have a clear path to which is the right optic for you. These are excellent optics for both close and long-range terrestrial use. Applications include:. Astronomy is its primary use and therefore a main strength and benefit. With the right specs and accessories, astrophotography is also possible. However, some telescopes with additional accessories like that of a diagonal can help to expand applications to include terrestrial viewing which can consist of:.

Yes, they can be compared, but the circumstances matter. What are the differences between telescopes and spotting scopes? Think over the following and evaluate what your needs are. You may confirm your suspicions or find yourself on the other team as you learn more about what these scopes can offer you.

Telescopes will always come out ahead in the magnification race. They can produce much better image quality for the amount of magnification provided at high powers compared to spotting scopes. They can offer very low magnification of, say 40x, but they can also provide up to x magnification and more. However, you must note that actual useful maximum magnification can be very different to the numbers you may assume. For example, an eyepiece with x magnification combined with a 2x Barlow lens may offer x magnification.

Winner: Telescopes. Being able to zoom variable power with an optic is helpful to those who want to scan an area and then home in on a target for detail. This is popular for terrestrial viewing such as birdwatching, wildlife observation, and more.

As such, spotting scopes come in first place for variable power ability. Eyepieces are attached to the scope to offer a high, fixed magnification. To get even greater or less power, you must change out the eyepiece or use eyepiece lens attachments. Winner: Spotting Scopes. How will you see an image through a telescope versus a spotting scope?

Since spotting scopes are made primarily made for terrestrial use, optical components are arranged to provide a right-way up and right-way round image — just as you would normally see. However, telescopes work differently. Reflector telescopes are excellent for astronomy, but image orientation is presented upside down.

Compare reflectors to refractor telescopes which produce a backwards image from left to right. This accessory corrects the backwards image so you can see right-way round.