I purchased the Celestron 18-55x65 45° spotting scope used in "Very Good" condition from Amazon for $75. It came in the box in all original packaging, and is brand new insofar as I can tell; something to keep in mind when you read the rest of my review. $75 for this scope in seemingly new condition is a great bargain. At that price, and even up to $90, I would say this is a no brainer, and worthy of a 5-star review. Would I purchase new for ~$115? Yes, probably. The relatively low price, functionality, good build quality, and definite fun factor makes this scope a great option depending on what you are trying to achieve with its use. Why minus a star?-- noticeable purple fringing at just over half the zoom capacity. I was originally looking at the 80mm version, knowing that the larger field of view and brightness it would provide would mean better performance, especially in the high zoom range. I was talked out of it by a friend who has a 80mm scope, and told me it wasn't worth the added bulk and weight for the price, especially when considering my intended non-professional use. For some background, I have a $400 pair 8x42 binoculars that can't even compare to all of the other cheaper 8x25, 10x42, porro prisms, etc. binoculars I've owned throughout the years without expensive glass or any fancy coatings. Once I got the 8x42s in my hands, I never wanted to go back to anything less. The brightness, large field of view, and special coatings really do make a difference. That said, when I got the expensive 8x42s I was using them professionally doing bird nesting surveys, where their light-weight and expensive properties really did come in play. I also later got to use a pair of Swarovski EL 10x42 binoculars while doing seabird monitoring/population and productivity counts, and those were by far the best set of binoculars I've ever seen. Later, I also got to use a Zeiss spotting cope for work that was very impressive, but also very expensive. My point is, once you've had a chance to use the greatest, it can be annoying to have to go with anything less, and so I don't want my review to be tainted in comparison to these high-end models because it's like comparing apples to oranges when you go from the $100 to $400-$2500 price range. Now that I'm no longer in that line of work, I don't need (and also don't want to spend so much) on high end optics (though I do admit I want them...). I mostly wanted a spotting scope, however, for higher magnification viewing of birds at feeders in my backyard, and to allow my young son's the opportunity to see wildlife closer up. I remember not being able to really use binoculars properly at their age, and always found myself closing one eye to look through only one objective since I could never get my vision to line up. Focusing clearly was always an issue, and then there was hand-shake, all of which made binoculars not so fun to use. I see them fiddling and struggling to use binoculars as well, and with a scope my hope is to set it up on a stable tripod pointed right at a feeder and have them only have to move the focus ring slightly-- a decent scope at this price range was exactly what I was looking for. I am an amateur photographer, so already have a couple nice and steady tripods to put to use, which is just as important to have for a scope, and should be factored into your purchasing decision (I wouldn't spend less than $100 on a tripod-- just not worth it). OK, now onto the scope itself. It seems well weighted and well balanced, with decent ergonomics and good housing. I like the advertised waterproofness, and hope that it lives up to that claim. Focus ring is smooth, but zoom ring not so much. I find myself wanting to turn at the attachment point of the eyepiece instead of further up closer to the end where it is located. The zoom ring is also stiff, but I imagine it will loosen up in time. Last about the zoom, it's only textured metal, and I'd prefer either a rubberized ring or tab/lever type zoom, but that's not expected in this price range. Other reviewer(s) have mentioned that it would be nice to have a quick focus along with a fine tune focus knob, but as nice as that would be, for me it's really not expected at this price range. Optical clarity is generally good. This scope really shines in the 18-30 zoom range, but starts to drop off in clarity and (dramatically) in field of view once you get to about 35x. Purple fringing is also noticeable around 35x, getting more obvious in the 40s, and is terrible in the 50s. Field of view up to 30x is full, which was expected since it's a 65 objective scope (light availability and field of view is expected to drop off at anything below a 1:5 magnification/objective ratio). Eye relief is perfectly fine, at least for me, and is worth mentioning since reviews seem mixed about this topic. I wear eyeglasses and have astigmatism, so I can't get scopes or binoculars to focus with full clarity without my glasses. Having enough eye relief is therefore a requirement, and I can focus clearly at all zoom levels with this scope. I'd imagine that some of the negative reviews about eye relief could involve not pulling back the rubber eye-cup. I've found that without pulling back the eye-cup, I can still focus the scope with my glasses on at 18x, but once I start zooming I need to get closer and pulling back the eye-cup is a necessity. Another option is to remove the rubber eye-cup altogether; I accidentally removed mine while fiddling with it. What I don't like about having to "peal back" the eye-cup is that it's annoying to switch over viewing with non-eyeglass wearers that prefer the better light eliminating properties of looking through the eye-cup. And when viewing birds, switching over when sharing the scope is a constant. I also imagine that over time with repeated folds it will eventually break down and fall off, but time will tell. On my nicer binoculars this is solved by having eye-cups that twist up and down, which is a great design, but again, not expected at this price point. Last thing I want to mention about this spotting scope is the "finder scope". While using it today I was thinking how I wish it had a basic finder scope, since it can be difficult to track down where birds have landed not too far away, even at 18x, and especially when using in tight spaces such as my backyard. Then I noticed on the left side of the scope it has "finder scope" in the form of a straw-like appendage attached to the upper left side of the body. No optics involved, which makes sense at this zoom range. Your naked eye works just fine to point the scope close enough in the right direction to find what you want to look at before looking through the lens. When I first saw that appendage I thought it was for adding some type of accessory. I actually thought at one point that perhaps it's an attachment point for a finder scope, but then realized, duh, it is the finder scope itself! Maybe obvious to some or most, but not to me at first, so thought I'd mention it. Overall I think this was a great purchase, especially at $75, but I would probably pay another $40 to get one now that I have had the chance to use it. I feel that all of the trade offs are fair and expected at this price point, and that overall the scope is very good for my intended purchase. The main thing I would like improved is the purple fringing and clarity at higher zoom. Light and field of view fall off was expected based on the specs, but I wasn't expecting purple fringing and soft edges to occur until the very highest zoom range. That said, it's a fair trade off for the price, and for my backyard birding and other intended uses, I will only rarely be using it in the 35-55 zoom range anyway. ***** UPDATE ***** After having some more time to use this scope, I've updated my review from 4 to 5 stars. The reason is that it is actually quite sharp at full zoom, and I had initially thought it wasn't due to other obstructions alt
