Spotting Scope

The first in Celestron’s Ultima series spotting scopes, the 65mm refractor features excellent mulit-coated optics packed into a portable and durable refractor design and it comes standard with an 18-55x zoom eyepiece. This series was designed to perform well in a range of viewing situations, making it a great all-around optical instrument. You’ll love it for observing nature and long distance spotting. The green metal optical tube allows for subtle observation in any nature environment. Ultima spotters are a great companion for any nature or outdoor enthusiast.

With the Celestron 52249 Ultima 65 18-55 x 65 straight spotting scope, you’ll have a great, all-around optical instrument, perfect for viewing nature or outdoor sporting activities. Featuring a sight tube for quick targeting, excellent multi-coated optics, a portable and durable refractor design, and an 18x to 55x zoom eyepiece, this scope is designed to provide you with great performance under a wide range of viewing situations.

What’s in the Box
Celestron 52249 and soft carrying case

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 0 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 0 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 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.

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Where to buy cheap prices? -Celestron Ultima 65 18 to 55×65 Straight Spotting Scope $100.00



*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jul 12, 2010 09:51:48

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