Nikon Monarch FIELDSCOPE 82ED-A W/MEP-20-60, Black

very clear and sharp view. worth the cost

I upgraded from an old Bushnell I've had for years, so I was expecting a big jump in quality with this. This feels like a scientific instrument in comparison. Everything is smooth and solid and the ED glass makes reading text at extreme distances possible, whereas my previous scope could never get clear edges.Looking at branches with bright light behind, the color fringing isn't noticeable. Stars don't look like a Red/Green pairI wasn't able to do any side by sides with this vs other leading brands, because nobody near me carries this in stock, so I took a gamble and bought it sight unseen after not falling in love with the others. What helped my decision there, was I went through a similar process where I was able to compare brands side by side for my binoculars and ended up going with the Monarch 7s.In general, there were lots of little things that made me not fall in love with other spotting scopes in this price range +-$500.Ergonomics: I hated the little focus wheel on my previous scope and wanted a barrel adjuster. Tiny thing, but the way you turn the focus wheel to move the plane of focus in or out is different between different brands and thankfully, this matches the Monarch 7s in that aspect.Build Quality: Surprisingly some scopes in this range still feel cheap and didn't give me confidence they would last. I was not disappointed with this one at all!Image Quality: Hard to test this in most sporting good stores for things like chromatic aberration, but most do have a sign or something on the other side of the store you could use to play with. All could get crisp clean edges with some focus adjustment within a store setting.Digiscoping: The big thing here was, I didn't want the eye piece itself to rotate when zooming, so when I attach a camera I don't have to readjust everytime I change the zoom. Again, surprisingly, not all have that "feature". This one does. Now I just need to upgrade my ball mount to a fluid mount, so it can hold a position other than level balanced whenever I add my camera to it. This is also my first time attempting digiscoping since I couldn't find an adapter to fit my last scope other than a phone adapter, but initial results are promising.Angled vs Straight: I also like to use my scope for looking at celestial objects and the straight one I had previously was terrible for that. Very much happier with the angled scope even though finding a target is marginally harder.All in all, very happy with my purchase. Big improvement over my last scope and I can see so many things I was missing out on before. Individual feathers around the eye of a bird, bands of Jupiter and obviously it's moons, rings of Saturn clearly. My mind was blown.1.5 year update:The eyepiece going into the main body somehow got a small hair to come loose inside the optical elements. I was able to send it back to Nikon for repair, only paying for shipping and handling, which was expensive with insurance ~$90. But they got it back to me in about 2 weeks with the issue resolved. Glad to see that Nikon stands behind their product and it feels good to have my toy back. I use it pretty much daily from my office looking outside at birds/etc. and has been on every trip I have. Texas, Florida, Canada, etc.

Pros:As indicated, very solid product, technically simple. Packs incredible magnification. Neither pro, nor con, but need a substantial tripod to use (will definitely be several hundred dollars). Spectacular optics, easy adjustments.I love stargazing, and this will show moon and other nearby objects wonderfully. In order to see a wider range of space you will need to buy another lens, which again can cost 300-400 dollars, depending on the quality you want.Cons:Not really a con - common sense: heavy but only because this is not a cheap of equipment, and so, you will need a substantial tripod, otherwise there is a risk of tippingThe magnification means that handholding the scope is nearly impossible, so taking a spotting scope into the field means taking a tripod and tripod head (or alternative support) into the field with you.Unless you want a lot of neck stretching, get the angled unit!! I had a straight and sold it to get this angled unit.Other info: The learning curve for the spotting scope is steeper than that for binoculars. Also, while you can get magnification past what practical binoculars offer, it comes at the expense of a relatively heavy optical device that must be accompanied by some sort of support for proper use.All-in-all, as an amiture birdwatcher and stargazer, I love this and will love it more as soon as I can afford a wide lens for the galaxies.

too heavy for use with tripod, ... not a good match

I bought this scope for birding. I had been using an ancient and very orange Celestron C90 with a 45 degree prism for birding. The Nikon's image is brighter, sharper and does not have the annoying secondary mirror blur. The Nikon is also built like a tank, but without onerous weight. I can't imagine ever thinking I would need to upgrade.

Love this scope.Great optics. Very clear and very bright. Love the swiveling eye piece and zoom.I need to figure out a way to get the scope pointed in the right place. Example: I spot a hawk sitting on a rock on a hillside with my binoculars and want to get a better/closer look with the scope but can get frustrating when trying to find the hawk with the scope.Bottomline, this is a great scope for me (mostly birding), I am very please with this purchase/investment.

The optics are amazingly clear. The low light performance blew me away. I'm very happy with all aspects of this Nikon scope.

We're very happy with this scope. We use it to spot birds and wildlife and the image quality is great, it focuses fast, and the focus stays fairly sharp even when zooming from 20X to 60X.