Bushnell Elite® 78-8045 (20 - 60x80 mm)

Pros: Ruggedly built, bright, crisp optics, great value!
Cons: Does not maintain focus throughout zoom range.

After much research into spotting scopes for hunting, shooting and general viewing I intended to buy a Fujinon or Kowa based on their excellent reputations. A sales rep suggested this Elite scope as every bit the quality of my other choices but at a much...

Pros: Excellent image quality, rugged construction, waterproof, fogproof, inexpensive (relatively).
Cons: Probably fewer eyepieces available for this than more pricer models.

I was amazed at the quality of this scope! I have been birding for 25 years without a scope and had no idea what I was missing. At first, I was partial to buying a Kowa scope, but then the folks at Eagle Optics (a great place to buy birding optics, by the way) pointed this out to me, so I researched it.

This scope cost one-third what the Kowa cost for the same diameter lens (80mm), also waterproof, also made of ED glass, etc... My wife who is also a birder and artist is quite fussy about clarity, color and so forth. She is as well very pleased with this scope.

I don't know what more one could want in a scope than magnifying the bird by 20 - 60 times and giving a crisp, clear image. You can pay 3 times as much, but I think you're buying into an image and name that's going to be more impressive to other birders than it will in helping you fill out those missing birds on your life list.