Bushnell Sportview 20-60x60mm Spotting Scope: Customer Reviews & Product Details

This is a common design spotting scope/mini zoom telescope which was probably made in China. Various companies add slightly different trimmings etc but i think the optics is the same. I have seen exactly the same design by SkyWatcher, Tasco, Bushnell.

It is a good size scope for the price. Should attach it to an inexpensive aluminium camera tripod, and it would be useful.
I believe the 60mm objective lens is pretty decent quality. But the focussing ring and zooming ring are uneven and very plasticky.

Performance is reasonable. The center view is pretty sharp. I can read fine print 15 feet away. (it has good near focus, so you can play with it indoor). The outer half of the view, has quite a lot of pincushion distortion. So, to get a good image, you need to center your object nicely.

The image is quite dim at full zoom, so it is restricted to bright daylight use. The lenses are not as well coated as the more expensive ones, so light transmission is not at its best. Many people say that aperture is everything, the larger the objective lens, the better the view. This is true only if everything else is the same. Some high quality 30mm scopes can perform better than a low end 60mm.

I have not tested it at night. I suspect it will be pretty good for looking at the moon. It wont be good looking at something directly on top of your head as you will have to lie on the floor.

It is probably useless for star or planet gazing unless you have a good tall sturdy tripod (more expensive than this scope) and a lot of luck, you may be able to catch a glimpse of the planets. 20-60X should be sufficient to see Jupiter's moons. Remember to center the object in the view, otherwise planets will be egg shaped.

Update:

I have tested it at night and I have added another star to my ratings after evaluating the scope looking at stars. The optics are pretty good. Many instruments looks OK at daytime but fair badly at night. It is easy to spot a good quality scope when you are looking at a star, whether it appears as a dot, or a line or a fuzzy spot. This scope passed the test. The only con is that the construction is plasticky and may not be durable in the long run, as for now, it deserves a good 4 star (scope only, not the tripod). I can clearly see Mars as a disc (no details though) and Saturn's rings at full zoom. But I used a very sturdy tripod more expensive than the scope itself. Set the tripod as high as possible, and you can get a low stool to sit on, then you can view things high up in the sky.

For the price---this is a pretty decent spotting scope. It has performed flawlessly, so far; and it has been very easy to use. I have yet to try it in a low light environment; so, I will have to wait to evaluate that aspect of this scope. Worth the money,IMHO!

I don't know yet how good the scope is, but read the fine print on this. They refer to the tripod several times, but only one sentence at the end of the information tells you that the tripod is less than 1 foot tall.

I was expecting the full size tripod that I've gotten with other scopes that I have ordered from Amazon. Very disappointing. Bordering on misleading.

In my mind, if you say "tripod" it means a full size tripod. If its the special table top model of tripods, or there is anything else about it that limits its functionality, you say so everywhere you mention it.

The viewing scope is a good product for the price. It has several different focus strengths and zoom. The only downside is there is no eye piece for comfort when looking through the scope. I would recommend this for casual use.

My husband was absolutely delighted with this purchase as a Christmas gift. He is in a range shooting club and he loves it.