Customer Reviews

Bushnell Imageview 15-45x70mm 5MP Camera Spotting Scope

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

 

 

I have always been impressed with Bushnell products. O.K. they're NOT high end optics, but they're very very good, especially when you consider how economical they are. So, yeah, you could call me a Bushnell fanboy, that's fine with me! I'm not a wealthy man, and I'm not a purist, but I do appreciate quality. We own two different pairs of Bushnell binoculars, and are well pleased with the performance and longevity of both products.
I've owned this scope for less than six weeks, and I already feel like I've got my money's worth! Initially, I was looking to find an affordable spotting scope and the right accessories to use our old digital camera to do some digiscoping. I'm a budding bird-watcher, and I wanted a way to capture images of birds that I could not identify, so that I could study them at my leisure. This scope (along with an adequate tripod) came in UNDER BUDGET and FAR OUTPERFORMS what I could have done with our old digital camera!
Of course, there's no such thing as a free meal. There are SOME drawbacks to this scope, but I feel that they're FAR outweighed by the advantages. If you are looking to take high-end photos that you can sell to National Geographic, keep looking! If you're looking for a great spotting scope, with the built-in ability to take good quality photos as well as short videos (without audio) at an affordable price, then look no further!
A satisfied customer,
Brian Hart

The Imageview is the only system of its class available as far as I can see. There are a few other scope/camera combos on the Web, but each fails at some point: some are discontinued or unavailable, some lack the essential zoom feature and are fixed magnification, the nearest is a Russian model that has a fixed screen which cannot be easily shielded from ambient light and a lower resolution camera...at well over twice the price for the Bushnell.

That said here's the quick overview:

Pros:
*One of a kind
*Inexpensive
*Light weight
*Good quality photos under optimum lighting conditions
*Takes inexpensive SD cards for unlimited photos per trip
*Includes cable release


Cons:
*Focus offset between camera and eyepiece cannot be corrected with diopter ring as manual suggests and may be distant dependent
*LCD screen required for a clear photo is almost impossible to see in sunlight (e.g. birding)
*Battery life can be measured in minutes, you can't get many shots from a set of AA batteries
*The included tripod is flimsy and cheap, if you use this scope in the field, you'll want a sturdier one
*Buttons, fit and finish are marginal at best
*It's difficult to remember to throw the switch from eyepiece to camera; you'll take some blank shots, especially at first
it doesn't not work like an SLR
*It's clearly not designed to be weather resistant
*The camera metering is particularly bad for birding. Birds are generally back-lit against the sky or a bright background. Spot metering helps take care of this, the Imageview seems to use an averaging algorithm which leads to dark birds on a bright background. Post-image work can recover some, but not all the data.

I bought this for the telescope not the tripod. Good thing because the tripod is almost useless. It's so flimsy that it's almost impossible to locate and lock onto a target. I purchased a good tripod and am now very happy with the telescope. The quality of the telescope is better than I expected in this price range. Through the lens the image is very sharp and clear. No as good through the camera. If you want high quality photos you'll have to spend more. They are fine for showing people the wildlife in my backyard.

I have not taken pictures yet but the vision is great ,always wanted one
tHE PRODUCT LOOKS NEW hope to use it this spring