Customer Reviews

Alpen 15-45x60 w/45 deg. eye piece, wtrpf Spotting Scope

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, don't be fooled by the product image now offered by Amazon; this is indeed the model 728 with 45-degree eyepiece; Amazon pictures the similar model 725 with straight-through viewing. I use a spotting scope for birding, and I've been quite content with my trusty Bushnell Spacemaster (vintage 1992). But in preparation for a vacation that involves international airline flight I wanted a lightweight alternative. If I had unlimited financial resources I might have considered a few of the big-ticket products with impressive reviews, but money IS an object. But so is quality, and I knew I wanted a BAK-4 prism, multi-coated lenses (of course I would have preferred fully multi-coated), waterproof construction, compact design, light weight, and reasonably good close focus. The Alpen 728 specifications looked good, and I took a chance. I'm glad I did. This scope weighs less than two pounds, is quite compact, has a nice retractable sunshade, and delivers very good optical performance (especially when used in the range from 15X to about 30X). Light transmission is quite satisfactory below 30X, as is color rendition. I get a good sharp image. I can focus to less than 25 feet. The 18mm eye relief at 15X is quite sufficient for those of us who wear glasses, and even at 45X (with 15mm eye relief) it's still usable. The 45-degree eyepiece does facilitate shared viewing, and perhaps most importantly allows the use of a shorter tripod. I even like the threaded eyepiece cover. The cloth case is a nice touch; I'm not sure I'll ever use the tabletop tripod, but it looks like it would work for those who do use such a support. I'm not sure that sentiment will permit me me to replace the Spacemaster as my primary birding scope, but I feel quite confident that the Alpen 728 will see its share of use, even when airline travel isn't involved.

I purchased this scope specificly for Fita archery and at 90 meters and 15 power I can see my arrows very clearly on the target. Testing it side by side with another brand the Alpen let in more light which is a real plus.

I spent over an hour at a local sporting goods retailer looking through different priced scopes, from inexpensive sub-$100 models on up. After trying several, it came down to this Alpen 728 and a Nikon Prostaff for $150 more. The image clarity, color and sharpness edge-to-edge were indistingishable between the two. The Prostaff with its 65mm objective (vs. 60 on the Alpen) was ever so slightly brighter at full magnification, but certainly not $150 brighter. (It took me several back and forth comparisons, looking at some dimly lit boxes in the back of the store to finally see the difference.)
I ordered it online, saving quite a bit, and when I got it home tested it in full daylight and in overcast conditions. Even on full magnification it had plenty of light to see what I was looking at. (Every 60mm objective scope is going to be dimmer at 45X, but at 30x in dim light it works great.) The zoom is nice and stiff, so it stays where you put it. The focus has enough range so that I can focus with or without my glasses. The fold-down eyecup gives me plenty of eye relief with glasses. It's got the same fully-multicoated, fogproof, waterproof, nitrogen filled specs as my Alpen binoculars (which I've owned for 2 years), and it's very solidly built. The little tripod that comes with it provides plenty of stability. The nylon case is fine, but a little bulky for my taste.
This is an outstanding buy for the price. I bought it for 200 yard target shooting and spotting game, but this scope may get me into birding and wildlife watching!

What a spotting scope for the price. I have been using spotting scopes for years, for nature and astronomy. In fact I used to work for Swarovski in Costa Rica and although I cannot compare them, I can use my experience to talk about this item.

I decided to buy this scope because of the price/quality of the optics ratio.

A simple test of astronomy can tell you about it. This scope resolves 1 ring of Saturn (Swarovski 80mm HD resolves 2, Celestron 130mm resolves 2 as well)

Other pros,
1.- Extremely light.
2.- Small, easy to pack.
3.- Angular ocular allows you to use smaller tripods since you don't have to set it at your eye level (or break your back with a smaller tripod)
4.- The color does not reflect as others with metallic bodies, more "criptic" in the forest.
5.- Hood for light reflection on objective lens is retractable and necessary.

Cons
1.- Hard to focus with the finger, and also you have to turn it too many times to go from the closest to the longest focal distance.
2.- Close focus distance is more than expected for a small scope, about 7 meters (23 feet)
3.- Rubber eyecup
4.- A bit of magenta fringe when you see a backlit subject.

The reason I did not give the 5 star is for the slow focus, in nature you need it to focus fast. But in few words this spotting scope will give you a lot for around $150.

Highly recommended for this price.

I purchased this for fita archery too, but also use it for stargazing. The image gets a little dark past 30x and color isn't as great, but at 15x on a bright sunny day the image can be too bright. I can see through it clearly with sunglasses on, so you don't have to stick your eye right on the eyepiece, this may be why I think that it starts to get dark past 30x, probably still bright without sunglasses on past 30x. Can focus to as close as twenty feet. Great scope for the money.

I purchased this spotting scope for my son to use for target shooting in 4H. We havn't had the opertunity to use it for that but we have been using it for watching Deer and other wildlife. It is working great, it may not gather as much light and be as bright as some much more expensive scopes but it is well worth the price paid and should work great for target shooting.

I use this for field archery out to 80-90.meters to see where my skinny arrows hit on target. Does this job well on low setting. I love this scope because it did not cost me a fortune to have the same quality, clarity and range of focus as the higher dollar spenders. Angled eye piece a must to make viewing a breeze. Edge to edge brightness and descent eye relief!
Ace

I got this for my husband and he loves it. We live in the mountains and he is able to spot animals at a pretty far distance.

The Alpen 15-45 x 60 spotting scope was purchased to sit on a tripod in our lakeside family room so that we could look at birds, boats on the lake, etc. The 45 deg eyepiece is useful in this setting. At 15x the spotting scope is OK, but as you increase the power the image becomes darker and harder to use. We'll probably never use the zoom feature because of this, and just treat it as a fixed 15x optic. Knowing this now, I would have purchased some other product with an angled eyepiece, even if it was more expensive.

Don't be mistaken into thinking you can take pictures with this also. I took mine to a workshop for this purpose, only to learn that the power was just under the lower limit for being able to take pictures. Otherwise I'm very happy with it.