Bushnell Wins Military Contract for Compact Elite Spotting Scope
For someone looking for a lightweight, compact, under-$400 spotting scope, we’ve been impressed by the Bushnell Elite 15-45x60mm. This straight-view spotter employs a roof-prism design to achieve high magnification with a short footprint. It is rubber-armored for durability.
The Elite® 15-45x60mm is just 12.2 inches long and weighs a mere 26.5 ounces. Fogproof, waterproof, and shockproof, the Elite series of spotting scopes (there is also a 20-60x70mm version), also feature Bushnell’s patented Rainguard® lens coating. Field tests have shown that the hydrophobic Rainguard coating really works — condensation from rain, fog or snow forms in much smaller droplets than with standard coatings.
The U.S. military apparently agrees that the 15-35x60mm Elite is a lot of scope for the money. Bushnell Outdoor Products was recently awarded a contract for a special military version of the Elite® 15-45x60mm spotting scopes. The spotting scopes will be used by multi-national forces around the world. Bushnell started shipping the units in late 2008.
Government buyers were impressed by the performance of the Elite 15-45 in a small, affordable package. The Elite 15-45x60mm is a compact unit that is easy to carry and quickly set up. Bushnell will make some modifications to the spotting scopes to meet military specifications. For more info, visit www.bushnell.com or call 800-423-3537 for consumer inquiries.
No Substitute For Higher Power and Bigger Objectives
We recently field-tested two premium spotting scopes (Pentax 100mm and Swarovski 80mm), to determine if they could resolve 6mm bullet holes at 600 yards. They both did. In good viewing conditions, a premium spotter can resolve 6mm holes at very long ranges, but you’ll want at least 55x power (and more is better — 80x is not too much in ideal viewing conditions). Our test scopes had 100mm and 80mm objectives. Don’t expect this compact Bushnell 15-45x60mm to perform on a par with a $2000.00 spotting scope with more magnification and bigger lenses.
I received mine yesterday. Looks good. Haven’t got to the range yet, but my ‘backyard test’ reveals that color and contrast are excellent. Edge-to-edge sharpness is very good. The dual-focus works well and the slide-out sunshade is nice. My only gripe so far is that it doesn’t have an adjustable eyecup. It comes with a stiff, thick eyecup that works well without glasses, but makes the scope hard to use with eyeglasses when the eyecup is installed. The eyecup is removable, however the fit is so tight that it not easy to remove. You won’t want to be switching back and forth. That said, the view using eyeglasses without the eyecup was good. Enough eye relief to see the entire field of view. The eye position might be a bit more sensitive than my buddy’s Leica 77mm, but that’s just a first impression, not a side-by-side comparison.”
