Customer Reviews

Celestron Ultima 65 18 to 55x65 Straight Spotting Scope

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I bought this as a spotting scope to use at the target range. This is very good quality at a fair price. Sharp and clear.

I bought this scope at last december, after a search for a spotting scope with a good price. I am not disapointed in any feature of this one, it has a great appearence and functionality (I think that equal to the ED model, a more expensive kind), easy to obtain a precise focus e soft to zooming, the obviously weak is the optical quality because it isn't a ED lens and is not so good at 55x (until 45x is nice), but for the price, is really a great choice. Still came with a t-mount adapter to (D)SLR camera and a cool bag. So, if you don't want to spend a lot of money... buy it, you will not regret it!

I was able to find ¼" hole in paper @ 200 yards with few focus adjustments.
I would give it 5 stars but the scope need a lens cap on both ends. It came with a object lens cap but is missing the cap for the eyepiece.

I am sorry that I am not as technically qualified as other reviewers re: the optics, etc but I have found that this to be a very good product, well-priced, and of good quality and material.

Although this may be an obvious comment to some, at the higher mag you must have a tripod.

Crappy optics above 25x. Really crappy.
Black dots on white paper appear to have red and blue rings around them.

The only good thing about it is decent eye relief.

Don't waste your money like I did.