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On this review we are going to be using the Vortex Diamondback HD 10x42 as the benchmark. Any feedback on these two scopes? These scopes have features normally only found on high-end scopes. Well, Athlon kept that in mind, and that is why they brought out the Ares ETR in different reticle styles. I had a minor issue one time and called them about it. Would love to hear any pros or cons or comparisons. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. If youre a hunter who packs in deep its worth serious consideration, as its lightweight frame makes it easy to carry into the backcountry. A spotting scope is sort of a low-power telescope, while also offering better magnification than a set of binoculars. 3 reviews. Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25X50 FFP EBR-2C MRAD - Best FFP Scope Under $1500. This scope is perfect for someone: Who is looking for an all-in budget build of under $1,000 (gun and scope) A beginner long-range shooter who wants to stretch into those longer distances, but doesn't want to stretch their wallet Now, don't get me wrong, this scope is a high-quality scope Vortex Optics Diamondback HD Spotting Scopes. Magnification. At 60-power, the image will be largest, but because of the laws of optics, it also appears darkest and grainiest. This scope is offered in either an angled or straight body, and either way you can get a 16-48x65mm or a 20-60x85mm for viewing far off wildlife. The 5 Best Binoculars of 2023. Ive been using spotting scopes for years and have used dozens of them in testing and in the field. +1-800-504-5920 Live Chat Contact Us Check Order Status. Thoughts on Athlon Talos Spotting Scope. 20-60x80. Expensive Spotting Scope Comparison, Ive been using spotting scopes for years and have used dozens of them in testing and in the field. Not all hunters need a spotting scope, but for those who want to get a detailed look at their quarry before taking a shot, its a lifesaver. Unlike some of the scopes that are out there, this one is available in both reticle styles. HobieH3; Mar 26, 2019; 2 3 4. That brings us to the Vortex Diamondback 20-60x80mm straight eyepiece spotting . The Maven has especially good manners. The Vortex Viper is a great choice. If you divide the objective size by the zoom, you get the exact diameter of the exit pupil. ArmorTek Technology: The build quality is as expected top-notch. The Bushnell Elite Tactical LMSS2 is the perfect companion for precision rifle shooting. Since some of the most prime hunting hours are during low light dawn/dusk conditions, it can be tempting to get a scope with a larger exit pupil. What about 600 or even futher? Show More. Its more than up to the task at picking out bullet holes from long range, saving you a lot of walking. And the rubber armor is as grippy as it is protective. We may receive a sales commission if you purchase any products after using one of our links. Joined Jun 19, 2019 Messages 1,412 Vortex Diamondback Tactical VS Athlon Argos Gen 2. What this means is that if you look at a hill that is 1000 yards away, you will see an image that is between 48 and 102 feet wide based on how zoomed in you are. That means dusty days in a pickup and all sorts of conditions mounted to a tripod. This scope gives some of the crispest images around. Full-sized spotting scopes can cost well over $2,000. Spotting Scope Review after Testing. The very best birding binoculars under $500 - What birds are in my Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Athlon 214061 Argos BTR 6-2450 Riflescope APMR FFP MIL at the best online prices at eBay! Like most scopes, the Athlon Argos BTR Gen2 does not come with a mount and rings included. Burris Fullfield II or Vortex Diamondback: . They even have a spotting scope eyepiece that functions as a binocular, with two eyepieces! No one buys a spotting scope just because it looked cool in a store. SX-2 Alpine HD Spotting Scopes | Leupold The straight-barrel design will appeal to viewers who want to make quick target acquisition, instead of the hunting-and-pecking sometimes required with angled eyepieces. I use the binoculars to cover wide swaths of ground, and then use my scope to get really zoomed in on an animal that Ive found. Specifications. These seamless connections will give you crystal clear images. . 60mm scopes are popular with hunters, although they definitely dont have the image quality of an 85mm. It can be had with three different sizes of objective lenses, so you can choose just how big your scope is going to be. The ED glass works pretty well, but the real appeal here is the Horus reticle inside and tactical bling on the exterior. This spotter makes an excellent choice for a hunter who wants a versatile spotting scope without paying a months wages. But for someone on a budget, it will do the job. While the use and need of a good spotting scope extends well beyond those needs, it still is hard to bump it up the priority list, hence the need for affordable alternatives to the exceptional high end spotters available on the market that cost well over $2000 USD. Vortex Diamondback HD vs Athlon Argos G2 UHD Binoculars Argos BTR 6-2450 APMR | Precision Rifle Scope - Athlon Optics This is probably unsurprising given their name. Vortex Riflescopes | Buy Vortex Scopes - EuroOptic.com All else being equal, you want the biggest lens possible. The eyecups and sunshade move with snappy precision. 2 Best Spotting Scopes for Elk Hunting Buying Guide & FAQs. Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 Review (2023): Worth the Money? - Scopes Field For this particular, how does it perform? The downside: Youre stuck with the 15-45-power zoom. There is no easy answer on which is best as there are tradeoffs. Dec 12, 2019. brushandbay. Find Athlon Optics Cronus Gen II 20-60x86mm UHD Spotting Scopes-311004 with New Product and 20% Off today at Rangefinders.com +1-800-504-5995 Live Chat Contact Us Check Order Status. One example is hitting the coldbore shots on steel often out to 1122Y. While the best binoculars for hunting have close focus of about 6 to 8 feet, spotting scopes can only focus to about 12 feet. CF2-31023. German Precision Optics ED Binoculars. Apart from its compact design, it is also ergonomic. Check them out at Bushnell.com. The quality in these scopes could be better but for the price.!! Athlon BTR vs Vortex Diamondback - Long Range Hunting Forum The Ultima is a fairly affordable but still massive and powerful scope that works great for astronomy and stargazing. Spotter-Vortex Viper vs. Athlon Ares | Rokslide Forum Athlon Optics Argos HD 20-60x85 Spotting Scope - Amazon.com $249.99. Is it going to be aimed permanently at the stars? Anything further out than that will not be visible. If the exit pupil diameter of your scope is smaller than your eyes pupil, the image you see through them will appear darker than it does with the naked eye. And we were a little disappointed in the relatively narrow field of view. Springers abuse the crap out of scopes. A nice feature it has that I wish more scopes would include (especially angled scopes) is a sighting line to help you line up with what youre trying to look at. . Videos for related products. Its a solid scope that is large and powerful, is available in angled and straight body options, and will get the job done. For example, the Athlon Argos we recommend has a field of view of 48-102 feet at 1000 yards. At almost 4.3 pounds this spotter feels like a tank, which means its a better base-camp scope than a walk-about optic. ), then I'd go vortex. You can check the price here. Its affordable and the glass is super high quality. Reply Report edosan Member Apr 30, 2018 1,926 54 Oftentimes they dont even end up helping you see better at long distances. It's a 20-60x80 only weighting about 33ozs. Most are designed to be held directly up near your eyes and therefore have a short eye relief, and this works perfectly for most situations. Leupold GR Vs Vortex Razor HD Vs Athlon Ares? Another great option depending on your uses is a car window mount. Absolutely not, in fact some of the best scopes around carry the HD label. I would highly avoid getting a true budget scope (one that costs less than $200). Athlon over the years has been talked fairly highly with budget long range rifle builds and I see they have a really price friendly spotter with the entry model Talos. In other words, will you use it just for hunting, or should you consider a model with removable eyepiece so you can trade out wide-angle eyepieces or ones with reticles? Another very high end scope from an excellent optics company, the Kowa TSN-883 Prominar is a great option for bird watchers trying to get the best. Athlon submitted two full-sized spotters for this years test, but the Argos HD version (as opposed to the Argos G2 UHD) version represents the best combination of price and performance. I'm an optics snob and all my rifles sport Vortex Razors, AMG, Nightforce NSX, Swarovski and Zeiss. It also has a dual focus knob, one of our favorite features on any scope that allows you to focus it both quickly and precisely. Here are some great options to consider: This scope, which gets our number one overall recommendation right now, is a shockingly good value. Built on a composite-carbon chassis, the Vanguard VEO HD runs lighter than its peers, which makes this 80mm spotter a good choice for backcountry hunting. I am a fan of vortex but the diamond back not so much . This durable one-piece design keeps dust out of the innards but also prevents users from trading out the variable-power eyepiece for a different zoom range or a fixed-power alternative. Glass was pretty good for the price. They rapidly expanded into a full suite of optics products spanning the entirety of the price ranges, which they still are today, though they mostly focus on the lower/mid range. Illuminated reticle probably isn't critical for your application. Athlon Optics Argos HD 20-6085 Spotting Scope Review Its angled body, with rotating tripod ring, allows for infinite adjustment, and the Arca-Swiss compatible tripod system mates up with any number of mounting options. This pricey, indulgent, magnum-sized optic is the last spotting scope youll own, and it parses details like no other spotter in this category. Reviews & Ratings for Athlon Optics Argos BTR 6-24x50mm - OpticsPlanet Vortex Diamondback 10x42 As you can see from in the table above where I have included the stats and features of both the older (2014) model and the latest 2016 versions, Vortex really have made much more than cosmetic changes to the Diamondback. Unsurprisingly, letting more light in is what you want. The size of that beam of light is directly derived from two of the factors mentioned above: zoom and objective lens size. It may not have the extra low dispersion glass and other high end features of more expensive scopes, but it does a great job considering how little it takes to get your hands on one. Alternatively, the rails allow you to mount the LMSS2 on either rails or a traditional tripod. 1.6 #6) BARSKA 30-90100 WP Gladiator Spotting Scope. Should the spotter ever fail, its fully backed by SIGs excellent five-year warranty. JavaScript is disabled. Anyone have more details on that? The Athlon Talos 20-60x80 Spotting Scope is a long-range spotting scope with a 45-degree eyepiece angle. The Argos HD is one of the best spotting scopes under 300 dollars that has a robust 20-60x magnification, 85mm objective, and is perfect for . Note that the price varies widely on these different models of Razors, with the smallest scope costing half as much as the biggest. The Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24x50 & the Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50. I regularly shoot out to 300 yds with my ar and have shot to 1k with a friends equipment. Joined Jan 16, 2018 . How you use your scope will impact the type of scope body you get. A handsome, versatile, and rugged spotting scope, the OSCAR8 has a sensibly restrained magnification range that zooms from 27 to 55-power. Athlon Optics Argos BTR 6-24x50mm FFP Rifle Scope; Table of Contents. Get as much zoom power as you need, but keep in mind the more you zoom in, especially with a cheap scope, the more clarity you will lose. Its not quite as spendy as the higher end Razor we recommended for hunting above, which shooters who would rather spend their hard earned money on ammo will definitely appreciate. Can the tripod adapter be used with a wide variety of tripod models and heads? 5 Best Spotting Scope Under $500 {Expert's Choice} Best Bushnell Spotting Scope {Our Top Pickup} . Strike Eagle has a ton of elevation and nice features. Maven RS.4 5-30x56 FFP - Best Under $2000. The best magnification for a spotting scope depends on how you plan to use it. Athlon Ares Spotting Scope VS. Vortex Razor Spotting Scope Review 73,201 views Mar 13, 2016 263 Dislike Share Save Backcountry Brotherhood 8.15K subscribers Watch as we review the new. The Diamondback HD spotter makes an accessible, extremely usable optic for any number of well-lighted conditions. 0 B bdzjlz Member 6 Best FFP Scopes. I mention this because you are likely to get more use out of a spotter with a 20-45-power range than one that claims it goes to 60-power. 45 Angled Viewing. In those cases, you want a scope that will withstand the abuses of the field. Theres nothing particularly ground-breaking in this introduction from Athlon, just a sized-up version of its very good 65mm Ares G2 UHD model. If youve got a little more money to spend, its hard not to recommend the Vortex Razor series for you. These describe the zoom and the objective lens size. If you have the money and want to get top performance, you definitely have that option. I have both and would buy another Athlon. 7 Best Spotting Scopes Under 300 Dollars in 2023 - FixThePhoto.com Here are the main positives of each: Many scopes, particularly the higher end ones, are sold with the option of getting either straight or angled, so youll get to choose what works best for you. Most of their consumer scopes are affordable, and are great options. Vortex has become a staple in the optics world recently, and for good reason. Hunters may have a bit of a trade off here. All in, theres a lot of scope here for $800, a price that represents the savings possible from the direct-to-consumer optics brand. The downside is that in order to do so, you will have to either sacrifice zoom power, or get much larger objective lenses (and therefore increase weight). There is a range of designations that manufacturers use, and unfortunately there isnt much standardization. But for scouting use its perfect, or for spotting from the road. If we have a ding, its the tripod foot, which seems slightly undersized for the frame. Rifle Scopes Athlon Argos vs Vortex Diamondback. Its a pattern weve seen play out over two decades of the Outdoor Life optics test. If youre a bird watcher that likes to photograph your quarry, youll be happy to know this scope has a ton of available accessories for connecting to cameras of all sorts. They are quick and easy to use when you are based out of your vehicle. . That glass is good, but its not quite as bright and sharp as that Japanese S-series glass. It also has ArmorTek technology that prevents the body from scratches. Say you have a 20- to 60-power eyepiece on an 80mm spotter. The first is the magnification, which generally refers to a range between the lowest and highest magnification. The build boosts the durability of this spotter and gives it a stiffer and more sure-footed feel. It has extra low dispersion glass, a key in the world of high end optics. The optical quality, overall . Thats because any object you can see at 60x will only darken at 70x, so the additional magnification might not be worth the degradation in image. But generally, the sweet spot between magnification and image quality is somewhere in the middle of the power range. Athlon vs Vortex - Part 1 - YouTube With televisions, High Definition has a technical definition that sets a standard of pixels a display has to have in order to earn the HD distinction. Its their higher end scope offering, but is still affordable. This Japanese scope uses pure fluorite crystal lenses, which is unique in the industry and gives them excellent optical clarity. Bino Expert is a member of the Amazon Associates affiliate program. And while their telescopes are awesome for picking out constellations, their spotting scopes give you some flexibility to use in different situations. Get as big of a scope as is practical for your use. About Us Policies. So much so that it won our Great Buy award as the best bargain spotting scope. The SX-2 Alpine HD spotting scope is a must have for all serious hunters or shooters who are looking to add HD performance to their optics kit. This Athlon spotting scope is nitrogen-purged to prevent internal fogging and is sealed for waterproofing, allowing the scope to be used in any weather. The unit defaults to a 20-70x eyepiece, which you have to purchase separately from the body, but the wide-angle 30-60x eyepiece may have even more utility. Another great option that is even more affordable, this scope from Vanguard will give you everything you need as a target shooter. The Vortex Optics Diamondback is the best spotting scope for 300 dollars as it has 20x-60x magnification and a 60mm lens diameter. VORTEX DIAMONDBACK 20-60X80MM SPOTTING SCOPE - Sniper Central The Ares G2 placed second in our low-light rankings and turned in very good resolution scores. Or is it to view in the bright light of midday? Vortex Optics Diamondback Tactical FFP Riflescope 6-24x50, EBR-2C MRAD DBK-10029. They sent me a prepaid label without a fight. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. The test team was divided on the merits of the relatively light weight. The glass itself in the lenses of your scope is what will determine how much dispersion is happening, and getting glass with lower dispersion is one of the primary differences in cost between different brands and models. While zoom is described by the initial range of all important numbers on spotting scope specs, objective lens size finishes it out. 1.4 #4) Swarovski ATS 80 20-60x Spotting Scope. The Argos HD 20-60x85mm falls into the perfect category of spotting scopes for high power use. Still, the new spotters for 2022 offer plenty of choice and talent for hunters, shooters, and anyone who likes to see wildlife up close. Are you going to pack it deep into the backcountry? Athlon Argos Binoculars 10X42 Review : Why You Should Buy It! The first two, in the above case 20-60, are the zoom. While they have specialized in cameras, all of the knowledge theyve accumulated in building camera optics has transferred over into some incredible sporting optics. Hook it up to your camera with Zeisss extensive catalog of accessories and youll be taking pictures you never thought possible. Athlon Optics Cronus Gen II 20-60x86mm UHD Spotting Scopes FREE S&H Experience/Opinions: Burris Fullfield II or Vortex Diamondback? Features: FFP, Illuminated, Lowlight-visible, CR2032, . We did notice a fair amount of slop in the threaded eyepiece adapter and would rather see a bayonet mount rather than the threaded ring. And the 27-55-power zoom range covers most hunting scenarios, while the 80mm objective lensmade with extra-low dispersion glasslets in plenty of light. In a category with multiple $1,500-and-higher submissions, the Vanguard VEO HD costs less than $400 but will deliver years of service. Athlon Ares Spotting Scope VS. Vortex Razor Spotting Scope Review . View Quote. We were able to arrive at a consensus on the optical talents of this spotter. Learn more about it here. They're both fairly equal when comparing in the same price range, but I will support Vortex always for their customer service and unmatched warranty. Jan 20, 2020 #1 ; Hi, looking for a new scope for my 22lr. Athlon vs Vortex Scopes - Which Is Better? (ANSWERED) They tend to give mediocre images at best and quality is low. They especially are a good choice for astronomy if you need your optics to be compact and/or you want to use them for more than just stargazing. I didnt think the turrets, lack of zero-stop, and mediocre glass would bother me. We test spotting scopes the way you use themby subjecting them to the rigors and insults of the field. Precision rifle shooters will appreciate the fixed 22-power lens that contains a milling PRS reticle, which allows users to make precise calls when spotting for a long-distance shooter. But if you want to make it easy, the winner from all this testing and analysis (as of March 2023) is the Athlon Argos HD 20-60x85mm the best scope for most uses. Select Options. And if youre really a beast and can pack it in, youll be rewarded with great images. This family of rifle scopes featuring FFP and SFP models, True Precision Zero Stop, Fully Multi-coated Lenses, Direct Dial Elevation & Windage Turrets (Capped in 1-8x24), Illuminated Reticle, 30mm Tube.