Customer Reviews

Celestron Ultima 80 20 to 60x80 Straight Spotting Scope

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great spotting scope for the money. It has a nice field of view and excellent optics. I have used it for both birding and wildlife and find that it works equally well for both. It is minimally useful for celestial viewing. The included carrying case makes it convenient for field use and the lifetime waranty cannot be beat. Highly recommend.

Nov '08: Update - Used the Ultima 80 at 500 yds (laser verified) to view a target. .270 caliber holes were easily visible in the white & in the black (green hit revealing, probably not so visible in "plain" black?). Target was in full late-day sun.

I got a brief look through an Ultima 80 a couple of years ago and liked what I saw, then recently bought one for my son and spent more time with it, including a comparison to a couple of other inexpensive scopes. This may be the best cheap spotting scope for the money out there.

Look over at my review of the C70 Mini Mak to see the Ultima 80 stacked up against it, linked below (or look at my "other reviews" to find it).

Celestron 52238 C70 Mini Mak Spotting Scope

Since that review I've had another session with it, so I'll just add some additional comments here. I've read that a good scope should allow reading of a license plate at 1/2 mile (880 yds), and a great scope should reach out to a mile (1760 yds). My C70 review relates a successful test with the Ultima 80 at over 640 yds, so I'm pretty sure that good eyes (my son) would reach 1/2 mile reading a plate. I tried at about a mile (could have been a bit over), and couldn't do it. Could my son? Next time I'm up there I'll have him try. So for now on this test, call it a good scope, but maybe not great.
I compared it to an old Russian 20-30X50mm in the other review and found it clearly better. What I didn't say is that the old Russian is the equal of other cheap 60mm spotters I've tried, in a careful comparison. So the Ultima 80 is a definite step up from them.
Another test I did recently involved comparing on a shipping label, with addresses, UPC codes, etc, in several size type faces at 100yd. This happened kind of accidently at the range. I then reproduced the test later with another scope at home. Scopes compaired: new Ultima 80, a very old 90mm Meade ETX (a mirror scope), and a few year old Swarovski 80mm.
The ETX was done later, but my impression was that in resolution it was comparable to the Ultima 80 (I used an eyepeice that gave about 35X on the ETX, and had the Ultima 80 zoomed between 40X and 60X). Here was the surprise: the Swarovski didn't obviously beat the Ultima 80 for simple resolution! I looked through these one after the other, same conditions. The 80mm Swarovski focused a little nicer (body focus ring vs Ultima 80's knob), but that was it. The Swarovski was in a rock-solid, clamped-down mount, showed a little handling wear, but looked well cared for. The owner said he paid WAY over 10X the price of the Ultima 80.
There is an ED version of the Ultima 80, but the Swarovski was "equaled" by the cheepo glass version. My conclusion: my 60 year old eyes probably aren't good enough to benefit much from the superior optics of the Swarovski, at least under the circumstances of that moment. Supposedly Celestron's mfg (Sinta?) uses a trick to get good performance out of the non-ED glass version. The dispersion is flat, but not for the entire range of colors. It goes abruptly whacky in the violet, smearing that out to an unnoticable haze, while leaving the rest of the spectrum in good focus. This cheat yeilds a good looking image under most viewing conditions, and good apparent resolution and low color fringing. So the Swarovski IS better, just in ways that aren't immediately noticeable under many viewing conditions, or with less that hawk-eyes.
My advice: buy one of these quick, before Celestron screws it up by changing their Chinese contract mfg. They've been making them good for years, but you watch, one of these days they'll try to save 37 Cents and ruin it.

I use this scope on an almost daily basis for competive archery or for checking surf conditions at the beach. Easily assembled, water-proof and packing a lifetime warranty from Celestron in Torrance, CA the ultima 80 is a great scope for competive archery, shooting, nature & bird watching or urban sightseeing. I own both the straight and 45 degree angled model and have matched both with the Slik Pro 700DX AMT tripod that is rock solid stable and can easily hold 15 pounds with a detatchable quick release. An excellent combination for long range viewing in windy conditions. At 90 meters I can zoom in to just the gold ring on the target to refine my shots.

The scope itself is very well made, optically bright and forgiving for those of us who are very nearsighted and must wear glasses. The scope comes very well packaged with the eyepiece in its own small case inside the main box. Both lense caps are provided. An over the shoulder nylon case is also provided. These scopes provide excellent performance for the dollar. Enjoy!!!

This is a pretty impressive scope for the money. It is well made by a respectable company. The 80mm objective makes it brighter than the typical 65mm scope, and the optics are very clear at 20X. By the time you zoom it to 60X, the view is much dimmer and the effect of chromatic aberration more noticeable. The easiest way to see this is to take it outside on a clear night and look at stars. At 20X they are nice and sharp, but at 60X they are miniature rainbows. During daylight viewing, this shows up as a less crisp image. Even so, it is still better than the other low-priced scopes I have checked out. The scope has excellent eye relief, allowing me to see the full field of view while wearing glasses (I just need to roll down the rubber eye guard). I've heard some complaints from others that the scope doesn't stay in focus as you zoom, but that hasn't been a problem for me. It is designed to stay in focus as long as you have 20:20 vision. It won't do so if you are nearsighted and take off your glasses to look through it.

All things considered, I was tempted to give this 5 stars until I looked through an $800 ProMaster. The Celestron optics just aren't in the same class. But for an under $200 scope, they are as good as you will find.

I bought this scope from Beach Camera as an emergency backup for my fuji 80mm scope which is in need of repair.
After using it in the field for a couple of weeks, I feel I can give an accurate review. It should be noted that
the case that comes with the scope is really only useful as a carrying case and not for protecting the scope while it is mounted. Other cases for standard sized 80mm scopes should work for the Ultima. The scope is large, but not significantly larger or heavier than other 80mm scopes.

I am using the scope primarily for birding and other wildlife watching. At 20X-40X on the zoom eyepiece I found the image to be good to excellent in good light and pretty decent even in low light situations. The quality of the image degrades quickly beyond 40X getting both significantly darker and more blurry.
There is some chromatic aberration at the higher end of the zoom, but nothing that most users will notice, I think.
The eye relief of the eye piece is poor and requires some practice for myself (I wear no glasses). This may render the scope very difficult to use for those with glasses.

Overall I agree with those who have said that this scope is an excellent value and may be good enough for many users and uses, but it is definitely not "as good" as the more expensive scopes. Of course, I guess the question becomes, are the high end scopes 25 times better to justify the price? Probably not, but a serious birder or wildlife professional will need a better scope than this in the long run, however I think it would be a good "starter scope" for the birder on a budget or as an emergency backup.

I work at a bird preserve and set the scope up in our visitor's center. Many long-time birders that are used to expensive scopes, tried it out. The optics are very clear. The only real critisim is the eye piece is a little narrow and you get vinetting but that was a minor complaint.

I'm now trying it with a digital slr and it shows promise (once I figure out the proper f-stop and shutter speed.......).

I ordered this item as a "just off the bottom end" spotting scope for use in my "hobby plinking" at a local range. When I received it I was first impressed with the careful packaging for shipment. When I set it up for checkout I was very pleased with the clear notes on that task. In use it meets my needs very well, although my needs fall at the "low zoom" levels. I'm sure a more advanced user would benefit from a higher priced system, but this unit is superior to the low end scopes I've seen. One tip to any other neophytes like me - spend a few more $ on your tripod too - I'm currently using a lightweight one left over from my wife's photo hobby, but I'll be upgrading that soon. I've also ordered the "digital camera adapter" recommended. I'll try to add my input on that later.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the scope. Great optics, super smooth focus in easy reach. At about 300 yards I could easily see the individual needles on the Fir trees. Zoom was smooth without any galling or jump. As expected, the brightness dimmed a bit at high power, but all scopes do. At 1/2 mile I could see the knots in the 2x4's in the lumber yard across town. Believe this or not, it was at dark with only the lumber yard lights lighting up the lumber pile. only con is maybe he size, this is a big scope. I didn't expect it to be so long. I guess I should have read the dimensions. That's fine, I feel I got a great product at a reasonable price.

I picked this up to use at the gun range and it works great. I used it at 20X for all the way up to 400 meters (on steel targets) so far and it is performed well. It is a little big but that has to be expected from an 80mm lens. All in all I am very satisfied with this product. It is very good quality for the price. I would recommend spending the money over the cheaper spotting scopes.

For the price of this scope it is amazing. On 60 power eye relief is not the best but works ok. For the average user that wants to see out to 400 yrds it works good and is very clear. I have looked at things up to a few miles away and is acceptable, it does the job. I would highly recommend this scope. I think the best in this price range.