Anybody know anything about telescopes?

I'm doing some prep for an upcoming trip and we need a telescope to scout conditions.  I've done some research but don't feel like I'm getting anywhere.  Any telescope experts around here that would be willing to help me out with some beta?

Svarovski or Vortex. . . 

What specifically are you trying to accomplish with a telescope? Simply scan a route from the campground or parking lot a half a mile away or look for deep space objects?

and how much are you willing to spend?

Hubble or bust

Send a message to MP user John Hayes. The one in bend Oregon. 

Jack Bushway wrote:

Hubble or bust

James Webb will get you much better beta on where to put your ball nuts

Celestron makes decent budget ones

Youre going to need a spotting telescope if you are aiming to get a view of a route and its current conditions. They can range anywhere up to $500 but Celestron makes a good one called the Ultima 80 ($250). that coupled with a small tripod would give you a great vantage point. Also, these versions can be setup with a phone adapter so you can take pictures of your views. 

Binoculars or a spotting scope would be better suited for what you want to do.

Mikey Schaefer wrote:

I've done some research but don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. 

What questions do you need answered?

You want a spotting scope (commonly used for hunting). Visit a local Cabelas or Bass pros and talk with someone in the optics department. 

A spotting scope with a range feature is great to scope out cliffs. Use the range feature to very accurately gauge sizes of features. Strongly recommend. Buy one and sell it to a hunter (me plz) when you are done. 

Kowa, Saworski, Vortex, Leupold spotting scopes according to my husband. Best value for money Kowa. Expect to spend $1500-2000.  
Zeiss or Leica would be $5-6k.

He used to shoot highpower at 600 to 1000 yards. Any serious comp shooter will own one. 

phylp phylp wrote:

Kowa, Saworski, Vortex, Leupold spotting scopes according to my husband. Best value for money Kowa.

That is if you have a $2000+ budget

B Y wrote:

That is if you have a $2000+ budget

Yes I was modifying my post whole you posted.

Edited again, since you don’t need one with “long eye relief”, maybe $1000 for a decent one. He says somebody would probably lend you one. 

Looking for something that would be useful to look at a face that would be 5-7 miles away.  Ideally the telescope would have enough magnification that at that range a human could be spotted.  Clarity of that human isn't super important but being able spot one is.  Not looking to buy the Hubble or the James Webb but a 4 figure budget is reasonable.  Probably not a 5 figure one...

I know a 1200m camera lens with 2x adapter isn't adequate for what I'm looking for.

Sent you a PM. 

Edited to say, I always find these tech questions fascinating.  Googled a bit and found this interesting discussion about someone in CO wanting to watch climbers 18 miles away!

633630-practical-distance-and-telescope-specs-to-view-a-person-at-18-miles

Take home from above discussion, it's not so much the optics but the atmospheric conditions.

Hubby just got home and I asked him about the specifics of your requirement and he said it's less the magnification than the quality of the optics.  Sorry Martin (below) but he say's "Opticron is crap".  Something, something about fixed vs variable magnification.  And yes, biggest limitation over distance, he agrees, is atmospheric interference.

Your best bet is probably to get in touch with a real expert, as jbak suggested above. John Hayes of Tucson/Bend would no doubt be able to advise.

A 1200mm w/2x converter puts you on par with, maybe even a bit narrower FOV than a 60x spotting scope.  And the camera gives you the ability to zoom in on that FOV.  It'll eat batteries, sure, but in terms of object discrimination, that might already be on par, if not better than a 20-60x spotting scope I'd recommend.  I'm not seeing anything longer than 60x from Vortex, which is what I was going to recommend - price/quality/warranty - if you fed it to a shark, and were able to recover it, I'm pretty sure they'd warranty it.  

For Mikey, I have nothing useful to add, for that sort of range, plus, it isn't like you don't get the workings of optics, eh? 

For others who bump into this, this ask is past the usual spotting scope ranges most ordinary people would use. In addition to people like our esteemed OP, hunters/shooters certainly use scopes of various sizes, yes, but serious birdwatchers too. A tripod of some sort is a must also, once you're past binocs. Lots of options there. Camera lenses, you can use your body to stabilise, but only up to a point, and it's a skill to learn. Light gathering is as important, or even more so than magnification, and that also is pretty much all you are doing with photo and videography, gathering light, and turning it into something that the rest of us can enjoy.

Like Mikey does. :-) 

Whatever it is, sir, hope it goes great! Sounds like a grand one!

Helen

Mikey Schaefer wrote:

Looking for something that would be useful to look at a face that would be 5-7 miles away.  Ideally the telescope would have enough magnification that at that range a human could be spotted.

FWIW this is what it looks like peering through a spotting scope at a human (me) at the summit of Bear Peak, near Boulder, CO, from 8 miles away, with the light behind me. My wife's a birdwatcher and she took this by holding a phone camera up to her Opticron 60mm scope with a 45x eyepiece. Image quality might have been better if she had a phone adapter.

Is there a way you can borrow one before buying one?  In order to see anything person size at 5-7 miles your field of view will be really narrow.  A telescope will also flip and mirror the image which which does not make it as intuitive to find things that are not astronomical.  I would recommend a refractor.  Reflectors are more cost effective but are also more fragile.  

Your maximum magnification is limited by the diameter of the telescope.  The magnification of the telescope is determined by the optical diameter and focal length of the eyepiece.  You can change out the eyepiece to get different magnifications.