Barr & Stroud Sahara 20-60x80 Spotting Scope

At the beginning of taking up bird watching as a hobby, I purchased this scope to obtain better views of coastal birds than was possible with binoculars. I was not sure how much weight I would be happy carrying around nature reserves and it is one of the lightest with an 80mm objective lens. I have now used this scope four times on coastal marshes and think that the performance represents excellent value for money. There are inevitable compromises or limitations at this budget price point but the strengths are real strengths. In a nutshell, at the lower magnifications approximately between 20 to 30, image sharpness and brightness are excellent; amazing for the money. Sharpness starts to fall off very approximately beyond 30 magnification but in my view, still remains respectable in the 30 to 40 range. As best as can be judged, very approximately between the magnifications of 40 to 50 you pay the price of compromise for a relatively low priced product, and sharpness notably falls off becoming fair. Image sharpness is not good in the 50 to 60 magnification range but is certainly worth having and I have enjoyed using it. Another real strength is that the image remains surprisingly bright at sun set when the light has seriously faded. As the magnification increases into the higher ranges image brightness does decline but not dramatically and in an acceptable way. The scope also has an excellent and well made protective stay-on-case that doesn't have to be removed to use the scope, giving it further protection. It fits like a glove, is a pleasure to use and can be easily removed or put back on. The scope is also waterproof so you can have peace of mind in wet weather and I had no problem fitting it to a standard tripod mount. In summary, although there are limitations in the higher magnification ranges, for the price this is understandable and this shouldn't distract from the excellent qualities. I would say for beginner bird watchers on a very tight budget, this is an excellent scope to get started with - I had no regrets with the purchase. Update 03/02/2016: Originally purchased this scope for just under £100 in 2012. If you are confident that you definitely want an 80 mm spotting scope and can afford to splash out more; see my review on the Acuter DS 20, 80 mm spotting scope (since renamed by the importer OVL, the Acuter GrandVista DS80A Dual-Speed Waterproof Spotting Scope). It is superior in every way to the Barr & Stroud and can be obtained from around £230 - £265. It is a serious scope; the next step up. Recommended if you can afford to make this financial jump for a first spotting scope. I couldn't when I first started bird watching.

Unfortunately my scope had a loose prism so it was not usable, I did however manage to get a view fleetingly of my local church tower by moving the scope which looked quite good. Not sure where in the process the prism became dislodged as both the Amazon box and contents box were perfect so I assume it was a manufacturing quality assurance problem. The scope minus the fault appeared to be good value and well made it was excellently packed at the factory as mine was very well boxed. The stay on case was easy to remove and replace this was ascertained as to unwrap the final part of the packing removal is required. The main aperture is well protected by a lens guard which is attached to the scope so hopefully won't get lost and the eyepiece is protected by a cover which screws to the body meaning the only chance of loss is when you are using the scope. I would have loved to give a proper first light report regarding this scope for both terrestrial and astronomical use which is its intended use in my plans as I own three astronomical scopes which are a lot heavier and this was intended as my light weight travel companion hence the 80mm front lens. I hope to give a more indepth report after getting a fully functioning replacement and have a good experience with this scope but for the moment have given a fair review for the scope which I received in fact the score of 2stars may seem very generous but I am writing about both Amazons service and the positives I found with the scope. Amazons customer returns policy was easy and efficient as overnight once I had dropped the parcel off to my local PASSMYPARCEL agent I had received a credit to my account. The whole process was also very easy to follow. Over the weekend i acquired a replacement scope via reputible bricks and mortar store and it lived up to expectaions. There was very little Chromatic Abrasion at the lower and middle ranges of the magnification both during daylight and the night. From Beachy Head i tested the scope in the evening by looking across the bay to Hastings a distance of 20miles aproximately and i could see the individual street lamps and cars. Focusing was not that easy but in the low light levels of the night that is to be expected. I only placed the scope on a photographic Tripod without any dampening and did suffer from movement issues so more secure platform with less wind may enhance focusing. The close up view of a branch aproximately 300m away was fantastic with each individual twig clearly discernable in my daylight test unfortunately todays cold spell has meant most of the birds are not posing for me so i can not talk about plummage etc. I will conclude by saying the scope seems exceptional for the price and would encourage you to purchase one and hope that Barr &Stroud can deliver a perfect scope to you. As said in my intial report i had no problems with Amazon or Carmarthen Cameras whoose service was exceptional. It was just with the manufacture of my initial product. I will say my replacement is a five star scope.

I bought this scope for spotting my arrows at the Archery club I attend. I'm pretty new to shooting a Recurve bow, so I am only at a maximum distance of 50 metres right now. At 25 and 30 metres the zoom is set at the lowest point and I can easily see the gold, red and blue. There is plenty of eye relief, which is good because I wear spectacles, so by moving my head just a little, I am able to view the whole of a 122cm WA face. The image is very bright and to be quite honest, I can't detect any aberration. Colours are true and there is plenty of depth of field. At 50 metres, I can zoom in to about halfway in order to get a great picture of the target face and where my arrows land. Again, good depth of field and no aberration at all. The 'Always On' case is good and protects the scope from the rain, but still allows easy adjustment of both focus and zoom. All in all, I am pleased with this purchase and glad I chose the 80mm version over the cheaper 60mm one, having tried one at our field.

Good product... truly excellent packing and super case but a couple of small flaws.... just a wee bit soft at x 60 zoom... and a few traces of chromatic aberations it is my belief that a wee touch of 'stopping down' would sort most... but for the price a highly usable tool. best regards Rod Munro

Being a keen bird watcher for many decades now I thought it was about time I bought my first scope. Furthermore my local reserve is an open wetland where when the birds are a long way off I simply cannot tell what they are. Having looked through many bird watchers telescopes (always asked and no one ever said no)I came to what might seem an obvious conclusion= that a Swan remains a Swan no matter how expensive or cheap the scope that you look through. I ordered this scope as I have heard/read many good reviews and have looked through a couple on nature reserves. It really is an excellent piece of kit. It is cheap, light weight, has a lovely bright image and has transformed my bird watching; birds that were distant, dark specks are now easily identified. I rest it on the window ledge of the hide so need for a tripod yet. It comes with a very good protective case and was delivered the day after I ordered it! Bird watching has always been an inexpensive hobby that any of us, no matter where we live, can enjoy. This scope at £95 is a bargain and is comparable with scopes many times it's price. There really is no need to spend £500, £1000, etc on a scope. Happy birding.

i had my Scope today in Iceland just two days after i order it came with DHL and was very well packed i went out with it in fair good light and it is very sharp and nice at 20 to 45 x but very usable up to 60 Looking forward to test it in a Good Sunny weather :) the only negative i have to say about this scope is that the Tripod Collar as you can not get it loose to turn the Scope inside the Collar as when you have a Car window mount you want to be able to look through the Eye piece from side as it is Impossible to use the Scope from a Car window as it is designed with this permanently attached tripod collar for that reason i just give it four of five stars but it is a pretty usable Scope clear Image and bright for the bargain price and i can recommended this scope to Beginners in Birding as i am a Birder and Bird photographer my self and know a little bit about Light and Sharpness

I have been looking for a replacement spotting scope since my old one had a sudden meeting with a hard object and cracked the case. It's often the case, when 'researching' what to get, that you end up coming back to the first item you hit upon. And this is what happened in my case. The scope is well made and looks very robust, Nice touches are the attached objective cover and the 'fit for purpose' stay-on case. Not some flimsy thin nylon effort but a well constructed, padded case with obvious signs of thought in the design. The scope images well over all ranges from x20 to x60. At the high end you will loose a little light, that's to be expected, after all this is not Swarovski or Zeiss. Colour rendition is very good at the low to middle range with a little drop off at the high end. This would be more relevant to twitchers than me as my use will be to spot hits on targets at ranges from 600 to 1200m. All in all an excellent scope for the money, I ordered this at 11:35 on 04 March. It was delivered to me at 10:25 on 05 March. Awesome delivery service..

I bought this scope for Archery and I'm very pleased with it. The scope is delivered in the UK with a shoulder strap and excellent protective case but without the table tripod shown on some websites and in the accompanying instructions (I don't imagine that it would be of much use anyway). The image is clear at all magnifications and it is easy to zoom and focus although focusing at the highest magnification is a delicate exercise and a sturdy floor mounted tripod with a pan head is essential. If you are thinking of adapting the scope for photography the eyepiece diameter is 1.5 inches. The optical quality is all you need for general use but I would not use it for photography, certainly not at higher mags. Is it worth spending more on a spotting scope? I don't think so; this is a good product, well made and well worth the money.