I bought this one based on the review on webs. The 1st one I received in 3 days! But alas, something was wrong and it was all black except 2 bright narrow stripes I could see. No problem, Amazon is so efficient in replacement. I got my replacement in 3 days, just in time for my range time on weekend.

It works beautifully, compared with my first low price Barska scope. I shot 308 and 3006 at 100 yards. The target was in the shade and I can still see the holes in the black bull eye (Have trouble with Barska when lighting condition is not favorable).

Well, when I twist for different magnification, something happened! the (lack of) image is just like the first scope I returned. luckily, the eye piece could be removed easily, and wooow, a piece of lens fell out, as well as a tiny screw. It is the lens that is moved back and forth when the magnification is changed through the screw in the cam. Ahh, with a bit locktite the whole thing is re-assembled back and functions perfectly.

I’m surprised by this incident. Konus (or the OEM) seems to know the optics better than the mechanical design! I also chatted on line with someone in the optics industry in China to learn that these are all OEM’ed in China. No wonder.

For the price in the $200 range, I can’t complain. it is clear and works well for me. It can’t compete with the more expensive scope; we get what we pay for. I will try this scope in 200 or 300 yards when I get time (these ranges are much farther away).

This spotting scope is a really good buy for the price. I took it to the range and found it to be clear and easy to focus at both 100 and 200 yards. It has really good eye relief. I wear bi-focals and found that to be no problem with this scope.

It is a bit larger than some which could be a problem for some users. The negatives are the tripod and case.

I found the tripod a bit awkward to adjust, but it was stable enough to support the scope.

The soft case is virtually useless.

After looking at a number of other scopes over time, this is still a good buy and I recommend it.

Have been using this scope over 1 year exclusively at the range. Shooting with .22, .223, 30-30, and .308 rifles at distances ranging from 50 to 300 yards.

1. Standard black on white paper targets can also reduce clarity. Therefore, highly recommend ‘splatter’ targets. On a cooler day with minimum wind and some concentration you can see ‘hits’ with these targets out to about 250 yards.

2. Effective viewing depends on the heat & wind. Heat waves on a hot day (90 degrees plus) can dramatically reduce the clarity at distances of 100 yards or more. If you have a noticeable wind a sturdy tripod is an absolute must!

3. Setup of the scope and adjustments are fairly straight forward. However, the ‘picture’ gets shaky when you zoom into 80mm.

4. Highly recommend the eye piece angle which is much more comfortable to use (when standing) versus a straight eye piece.

5. Suggest budgeting in a GOOD HEAVY tripod when purchasing the scope … that applies to other scopes I have used!

Would recommend this scope if you are on a tight budget.

I just got my Konus scope a couple of days ago and have only had a couple of days to try it out, but I wanted to give some early first impressions.

I started looking at spotting scopes several months ago after viewing birds through other people’s scopes. I was amazed at the amount of birds and wildlife were out of the reach of my binoculars.

On one specific instance I had spotted a large bird of prey a couple hundred yards away and assumed it was a Red-Tailed Hawk because they’re very common around here. Much to my surprise, very shortly after that, someone showed up with a scope and the bird turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon. I had been looking at one of my favorite birds without even knowing it.

The scopes I used were high end (Kowa, Swarovski, and Leica), but I knew they were way out of my price range so I decided to see if I could find anything cheaper that might get me at least a little reach. Initially Barska presented itself as a well liked brand for very little money and I figured that’s what I’d end up with, but after reading numerous reviews I couldn’t shake the fact that there was probably something better out there.

Eventually I came upon the Konus 20-60×80. While it was certainly more expensive than the Barska models, the larger objective seemed like it might provide more light at higher magnifications which could be quite important during are overcast days here in the great northwest. The reviews also were much more positive and detailed so I decided to spend the extra money (it was on sale at the time, so it wasn’t much extra) and get the Konus model.

Upon opening the box, I was unsurprised to find that the tripod would be completely useless to me. It seems like it would work alright for someone shooting only from the prone position, but for my activities I would need to use something better. I paired it with my two tripods I use for photography, one is a lightweight Dolica ball head model that I got for less than $50 new and the other is an older Manfrotto model that is very high quality, but extremely heavy. Both were usable (although a pan & tilt head will be in my future), but the Manfrotto’s weight gave it a clear stability advantage.

When I got the scope outside and began focusing on the nearby trees I was really astonished by the amount of detail I was able to see. It was no problem seeing individual needles on a fir tree two or three hundred yards away. The birds were very scarce that day, but I was able to observe starlings over 200 yards away with great detail.

The most impressive thing to me was that I still had a very usable, clear view zoomed all the way to 60x. I knew this had been a complaint with many of the cheaper scopes I had looked at, so I made sure to try it. The overcast skies gave me a good idea how much chromatic aberration was present when viewing high contrast areas like trees against the sky. While it was certainly present, it was not an amount that would annoy me nor would it impact my ability to identify and enjoy distant birds.

I took the scope down to a local lake where I had run into another group of birders who let me use their Leica scope only a couple weeks ago. the Leica was amazing so I was curious how noticeable the difference there would be. There was certainly a difference, but it was not nearly as large as the thousands of dollars of price gap would indicate.

Mostly I had noticed that the Leica was sharper and the colors slightly more vivid at high zoom levels. Overall, the Konus performed admirably and I was able to identify and observe ducks very close to a 1/4 mile away without issues.

My last test came today where I took it to a local wetlands where I had the privilege to view a pair of nesting eagles through a Kowa scope two weeks ago. Again, I picked this spot because I had a good memory of what I had seen before to give a comparison. The comparison would not be apples-to-apples because today was a rare warm sunny day which meant lots of heat waves.

If you’ve never used a spotting scope before, you might be surprised by the heatwaves and other atmospheric anomalies that interfere with even the best quality scopes. Heat waves, haze, and other factors will impact your view. Anyway, the heatwaves were strong today, but the scope still performed admirably on the eagles nest that turned out to be almost 600 yards (.34 miles) away.

I turned the scope to the most distant spots I could see and cranked up the zoom. The heat waves were intense, but I could still read a speed limit sign at 1000 yards and not just the numbers, but also the “speed limit” text above it. Finally I turned it on a small pond that turned out to be 1/2 a mile away that I knew would have some ducks. I was curious if I’d be able to identify any species at this ridiculous distance. Sure enough, through the shimmering heat waves I saw the light colored head of an American Widgeon. I almost wondered if I’d be able to pick out a Eurasion Widgeon from the Americans on a cooler day.

So there’s my long rambling review, here’s the my distilled opinions:

* Sharp and bright, even in low light.

* Plenty of detail zoomed all the way in. I forgot to mention I also scoped a Red-Tailed Hawk on a nest at 300 yards and could see it blinking at me.

* Color seem vivid and contrast is good.

* Pull out “hood” that shades the front lens to prevent flair.

* Scope is usable by glasses wearers even at 60x. The only issue I experienced is that you will get a lot of light out of the corners of your eyes when wearing glasses. I’m not sure if there’s a good way to solve this, but I deal with the same issue with binoculars and my DSLR.

* Focus mechanism is good, but a little slow. Going from close (and this thing will do close, birds look absolutely better-than-lifelike at 20x at 30ft) to far will take a little bit of time. I believe some scopes have two focus controls, one fast and one slow to allow a quick transition. For the price, I am more than satisfied, though.

* The tripod isn’t bad for what it is, but is too short to be useful to most people.

* The bag it comes with is simply canvas cloth and provides no padded protection for the scope. I worry that a few big bumps could mess up some of the optical clarity, but only time will tell. I may look into a hard case with padded foam similar to what the Barska’s come with.

* The downside of an 80mm objective lens scope is that it will always be pretty big and relatively heavy compared to more compact models. This probably isn’t a good scope if you’re going hiking or hunting in the back country.

* The scope in the photo when I posted this was blue, but mine came in green. I prefer green, but thought it was worth mentioning. All in all, I would say I am extremely happy with the scope and look forward to using it and seeing how it stands up to use.