Hummingbird 9-27 X 56Mm ED Micro Spotter Birder-Friendly Spotting Scope, Black (52308)

This is my first spotting scope with ED glass, the images are bright and clear, to my surprise, this scope also accepts 1 1/4 inch eye pieces ( very easy to switch out ) .The zoom eyepiece that it comes with is very nice . I'm also using eyepieces that are made by Explore Scientific, the 14mm gives me around ( 15 x ) and the 6.7 mm gives me around ( 30 x ) comparable to the quality of Televue eye pieces in my opinion, less the cost . My main use for this scope is for looking at birds and other wild life . If you are looking for a high quality spotting scope , but you don't want to spend a lot , just get this one, you'll be happy that you did , I am .

This small scope is a good buy. I have a larger Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 20-60 x 80 scope and when I compare it with this scope I do notice that things look a little better on the Bushnell, but this scope by no means is a slouch. I once noticed some fairly severe chromatic aberration while watching some Mourning Doves at a sizable distance (cranked the zoom up) in a tree at dusk with the sky in the background, but that was a rare case, most of the time any chromatic aberration is only present as a yellow color on the very edge of the image or faintly sometimes outside the center (these observations though are reduced or are gone when you observe things closer or in better lighting or another situation, that is, not at dusk with a sky in the background, I watched some sparrows at a somewhat close distance and the image is superb). This scope is better than my Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10 x 42mm Binoculars (which are rated high by others for quality) while being the same weight and more zoom. This is like a hybrid between a scope and a binocular, the portability of a binocular with the zoom of a scope (albeit not to 60 x zoom). I use this scope with an Amazon Basics 50 Inch Tripod, the weight is soo light it's amazing. The weight of my previous scope setup was definitely an annoyance, this scope is very light. All-in-all a very small scope that packs a punch, quality is good and is perfect for light and easy birding.

I found this to be a nice scope, easily portable. It has good clarity. I did find that at the highest magnification the focusing range is extremely narrow. Also, as I have seen in other reviews the carry case fits very tightly and is difficult/near impossible to completely zip closed. The case needs to be slightly larger.

I got to try this from a stranger who owned it. I immediately was blown away and bought one. This thing is tiny and yet very powerful with amazing optical quality. Its at its best at the lower end of magnification - I find that between 9x and about 15x that the image is stunning. As you push to the higher magnifications it becomes difficult to hold steady enough. But its nice to have the option for the crazy high magnification of 27x.I am glad I opted for the 56mm as it physically is only slightly larger. Overall, I am very happy with this scope. It has become my handy side-kick.