Celestron Ultima 65 18 to 55x65 Straight Spotting Scope

by Celestron

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 18 x 7 x 6 inches ; 4.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007UQNUO
• Item model number: 52249
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,717 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Celestron Ultima 65 Straight Spotting Scope is the smallest and most affordable scope in Celestron's popular Ultima series, yet it delivers surprisingly good views. The Ultima 65 is a refractor style spotting scope with multi-layer anti-reflection coatings on the objective lens and on the zoom eyepiece. The zoom eyepiece delivers sharp images with a magnification range from 18X up to 55X. The Ultima 65 package includes a padded soft case for the scope, a hard case for the removable eyepiece, and a T-thread adapter so you can attach a camera. The "straight-thru" viewing configuration is easier to point at moving targets, and is particularly handy on a bench top or even a car window mount.

The focus ranges from 20 feet to the horizon with just a few turns of the focus knob. When I fold down the rubber eye cup I can keep my glasses on and see the whole 1.7 degree field of view at 18X magnification. The 1.7 degree field of view seems a bit narrow, but it is sharp from edge to edge. With my glasses on I need very little focus adjustment while I crank the zoom eyepiece from 18X up to 55X. Often though I like to take my glasses off while observing in order to take in the full field of view. I like the fact that the Ultima 65 gives me a sharp image either way.

The drawback of the tradition crown and flint achromatic lens used in the Ultima 65 Spotting Scope is a bit of false color, also known as blue fringing or chromatic aberration. Blue fringing is very well controlled at 18X magnification, and even when I zoom up to the maximum 55X magnification the false color seems less intrusive than what I see in some 80mm spotting scopes. Celestron also offers the Ultima 80 which produces a brighter image with a wider field of view, and the Regal 65 F-ED spotting scope which uses exotic ED glass lenses to virtually eliminate blue fringing and produce the sharpest possible high power views.

Celestron's Ultima 65mm Straight Spotting Scope combines sharp multi-coated optics with a good quality zoom lens in a compact waterproof package. Top it off with a lifetime "No-Fault" warranty and the Celestron Ultima 65 is one of the best low-cost spotters available. --Jeff Phillips

Pros:

Sharp multi-coated optics

Good zoom eyepiece

Waterproof design

Lifetime no-fault warranty

Cons:

Narrow field of view

Product Description

Celestron®'s Ultima Refractor 65 Straight View spotting scope is more versatile than ever and now waterproof. Featuring multi-coated optics to provide extra clarity and brilliance, the Ultima 65 performs extremely well under all light conditions. It's ideal for all types of outdoor viewing activities, including bird watching, nature and wildlife, target shooting, and even astronomy. The design is accented with graceful contours for easy use.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Spotting scope for the money!, April 3, 2010

By 

Matthew Ballingham (PROSPECT, CT, US) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celestron Ultima 65 18 to 55x65 Straight Spotting Scope (Electronics)

I recently purchased this scope to use for long range shooting. For my purposes, having to be able to see a .3" hole in paper at long distance, Quality of glss was the most important feature. I decided to order the Celestron Ultima 65 on a recommmendation from another shooter. I wasn't sure if I was going to be happy with it, since most shooters agree a much more expensive optic is needed for long range. I must say I was very impressed, as were some of the other shooters at the range. Most were competitive shooters and former military. They all thought it was "amazingly good glass" for the price. Most Spotters look good at min. magnification, but if you turn them up to full mag, they are useless. With this scope, I was able to easily see my .308 bullet holes at 200 yds and beyond. I could sometimes see hits at 300 yds if the wind was low. In my opinion that's pretty darn good for a budget spotter. The eye relief was almost non existent at 55x, but other than that, I'm very happy with this scope, and would definitely recommend it to someone who is not looking to spend $300-500 on a spotter.

There are certainly better optics available, but not for this price.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to beat for the money, May 28, 2010

By 

M. Olson "olsons36" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celestron Ultima 65 18 to 55x65 Straight Spotting Scope (Electronics)

I bought the Celestron Ultima 65 (Straight) after looking at other modestly priced spotting scopes for use while target shooting. I looked at Tasco, Bushnell, and Barska models as well. In the same $100 price range as this scope most scopes feature a 60mm objective lens and are rated for 20-60x zoom. I like the fact that this scope only tries to give you 18-55x zoom because frankly, most scopes in this price range at max zoom are nearly useless. The little Celestron is an exception however as it is completely usable at maximum zoom and I attribute that to a larger objective (65mm), better quality glass, and a more reasonable maximum rating.

Viewing objects around my neighborhood I quickly decided that in bright daylight there is no doubt this scope will work just fine for me on the 200 yard rifle range that I usually shoot at. Were I shooting longer range I would not have been looking at $100 optics but as I said the scope performs well at 55x. I viewed the moon with it (a bit of a torture test for inexpensive optics) and while it certainly exhibits some color when out of focus it performed amazingly well when in focus. I noted that one does wind up right up on the glass at maximum zoom with very little eye relief (I found my eye glasses uncomfortable to use at maximum zoom) but, again, at least the image was still usable and at more modest zooms it's very comfortable to use. It comes with a T-mount adapter that will allow one to use the scope for photography and at modest magnifications with modest expectations it will work well if pressed into service for this but, frankly, you should be looking at the better ED line of scopes if you're shopping for a photographic tool.

The scope is small, very light, and seems well made. The optics look to be well coated. It comes with a handy carrying case that you can zip over the scope while it is mounted on a tripod, but it does not come with any sort of tripod and others in this price range do. This is a good thing in my view because I suspect that it means that more money went into the glass and construction.

In short, I was pleasantly surprised and I found this scope to be the pick of the litter when it comes to inexpensive 60-65mm objective spotting scopes that I tested. Some in this price range (or perhaps $20 less expensive) were just terrible. For the money I don't think you can go wrong with this scope but please do make sure that it's the size that you really need. If you're going to spend more time at 50-60x and less at 15-30x you may wish to spend more and get better brightness and perhaps more eye relief with another scope that features a larger objective and/or better glass.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Okay for the price., March 18, 2010

By 

R. Ochoa "Ram" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celestron Ultima 65 18 to 55x65 Straight Spotting Scope (Electronics)

This product is very well built and is light and portable. I liked that it is 5" shorter than the 80mm version and a lot more portable. The 80mm version is probably brighter and more clear. Objects are clear and fairly bright in this scope though. Digiscoping with an DSLR is not recommended in my experience. I hooked up this scope to a Canon XTi with the required adapter. There was much vignetting (the shadow circle around the photo). Also the images were very dim and blurry. It was like taking a picture through a pipe. Very inadequate pictures. So this is good for sighting in a rifle and seeing things in good lighting, most of the daytime. It has good lighting most of the time. If you want excellent light all of the time you'll have to spend hundreds more. This is a good starter scope. If you want perfection look elsewhere. This scope is good for most users most of the time. You wont get anything better in this price range in my opinion.