Spotting Scope vs Binoculars: Which Do You Need?

Binoculars and spotting scopes do overlapping jobs, but they are built for different distances and different ways of watching. Most birders who own a scope still carry binoculars, because each covers what the other cannot. Here is how to tell whether you need one, the other, or both.

The core difference

• Binoculars are for finding and following. Two eyes, a wide view, 8x or 10x magnification, and they are in your hands in a second.
• A spotting scope is for studying at distance. One eye, a narrow view, 20x to 60x magnification or more, and it needs a tripod.

A good way to think about it: binoculars tell you something is there, a scope tells you exactly what it is.

When binoculars are enough

• Garden, park, woodland and hedgerow birding
• Walking, where you stop briefly and move on
• Birds and animals within a couple of hundred metres
• Anything moving fast: birds in flight, a deer crossing a ride

For most people starting out, a good 8x42 or 10x42 covers the great majority of what they see. Our guide to choosing binoculars for birdwatching covers what to look for.

When you need a scope

• Estuaries and mudflats, where waders feed far out and many species differ in small details of bill and leg.
• Reservoirs and gravel pits, for ducks, grebes and gulls in the middle of the water.
• Sea watching, for seabirds passing well offshore.
• Raptors on distant perches and hilltops.
• Deer across a glen, to judge an animal carefully before you decide on an approach.
• The range, to check hits on a target without walking down.

What the magnification really gives you

A scope's zoom figure is its selling point, but the useful range is lower than the top number. The reason is the exit pupil: divide the objective diameter by the magnification. On an 80 mm scope at 25x the exit pupil is 3.2 mm, which gives a bright, easy image. At 60x it falls to about 1.3 mm. Above that the image darkens, and on a warm day heat shimmer rising off the ground or water will soften it further, whatever the optics.

In practice, most watching happens at the lower and middle end of the zoom. The top setting is for still, cool air and a short look at a fine detail.

Angled or straight eyepiece

Most birders choose angled. If you use a scope from a vehicle window or mostly look downhill, straight can suit better.

A tripod is part of the scope

At 25x and above, even your pulse moves the image. A scope without a steady tripod is close to useless. Extend the thicker leg sections first, keep the centre column down, and hang your bag from the hook if the tripod has one. In wind, lower the whole setup.

How to find a bird in a scope

1. Find the bird in your binoculars first and note a landmark beside it.
2. Set the scope to its lowest magnification.
3. Sight along the top of the barrel, or along the sunshade, to aim roughly.
4. Look through, find the landmark, then move to the bird.
5. Focus, then zoom in, and refocus.

Photographs through a scope

A smartphone adapter holds your phone over the eyepiece, a technique called digiscoping. It will not replace a long camera lens, but it produces clear record shots of distant birds and is useful for identification afterwards. Line the phone lens up with the centre of the eyepiece, zoom the scope rather than the phone, and use the phone's self-timer so your touch does not shake the picture.

Do you need both?

If you watch open water, coast or open hill regularly, yes. You will use the binoculars to scan and the scope to confirm. If your watching is mainly woodland, garden or walking, binoculars alone will serve you better than a scope you rarely set up.

What we sell

Our 25-75x80 spotting scope costs £229 and comes with a tripod and a smartphone adapter. It has an 80 mm objective, a BAK4 prism, a 45 degree angled eyepiece and a retractable sunshade, in green or black. As we say on its page, the comfortable working range is 25x to about 60x.

For scanning, pair it with our 10x42 rangefinder binoculars. See the full range in optics.