Celestron C70 Mini Maksutov Spotting Scope for Birding, Wildlife

I chose to purchase this "spotting" scope over a similar Celestron "travel" scope, and I'm very pleased with the result. The body and design of this scope is rugged and practical. It looks attractive and feels great in the palm of your hand. The included eyepiece is excellent, especially for terrestrial viewing. Keep in mind that although it can zoom between 25x and 75x, your best celestial views will be at 25x because of the amount of light that this telescope collects (not as much light as a larger telescope, as expected). The included eyepiece provides more than enough flexibility for an amateur user, and the included attachment that allows you to use any 1.25" eyepieces means this is also a great choice for those of us that already have a 1.25" eyepiece collection.The 70mm diameter is larger (and therefore collects more light) than most (all?) binoculars out there, and of course is much more stable with the tripod, making this an excellent travel scope. I presume it would also be fine for spotting, but this isn't something I am planning to use it for. It comes with a nice soft case that covers the scope completely, including a large lens cap and screw-on eyepiece cap that makes it feel very safe and secure. I haven't tried it, but I get the impression that this scope would survive if you dropped it.The main reason I decided to buy this model instead of the same-sized Celestron travel scope was the tripod reviews. I'm going on a vacation out west in a few weeks and didn't want to have to shop around for a replacement tripod. Although there are certainly better tripods out there, this one is very useful, especially with the micro adjustment knobs that make adjusting your view a breeze. There is quite a bit of shaking when you are trying to focus the image, but that is expected with anything this small and light. Once you have it in position, the tripod will hold the scope steady.I really have no complaints about this telescope. It's a great value for the price, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. The telescope itself is flawless and versatile. My only complaint is that it can be hard to find a flat location to set up the small tripod and still be able to look into the eyepiece comfortably. Last night I set it up on top of the grill on my deck, and had some difficulty reaching the eyepiece in a few positions while seated. This afternoon I set it up on top of the trunk of my car for terrestrial viewing, and although it worked, it was still slightly uncomfortable. Long term, I'll probably invest in a full-sized tripod that can be adjusted to any height, but the included tripod is very useful and an excellent value to be included in the purchase price.I highly recommend this telescope with no reservations, both for travelling and amateur use. Cheers to Celestron for making such a great product!

When I was a kid, I wanted to get an Astroscan telescope. It's the little bed ball telescope that you can take in a backpack. It was always too expensive; and now they don't make them anymore. But this one is smaller, (I think) more powerful, and simpler to use. The lens covers are very sturdy as well. It's light enough and sturdy enough to take along hiking. The tripod it comes with is made of plastic, but good quality and very sturdy as well. I've also used the spotting scope with a telescoping selfie-stick tripod and it's light enough that I don't have to worry about it falling over. You can remove the eyepiece and add a different standard lens. I haven't done that because the highest zoom is already pretty good for the aperture. With a simple twist, you can go from 25 to 75 X - plenty for terrestrial viewing and even for some light star-gazing. It's a good quality product and I'm very pleased with it. Celestron is a good brand.

I bought this scope for my son and two grandsons, for land and sky viewing. To my surprise, it is quite powerful, easy to grab and go, and the optics (scope and eyepiece) are of good quality. I may keep it myself, especially for land viewing and daytime use. The lightweight, plastic table top tripod is a bit shaky, so I added some metal tubing inside the hollow "U"-shaped legs (1/2" dia.tubing fits, easily available at a hardware store as solid steel or hollow copper pipe) to give the legs a more steady stance. The pan head is a bit shaky, but does have fine tuning altazimuth knobs, which are a good feature. Still, for serious viewing, I put the scope on my good camera tripod, which is very steady and has an Orion fine tuning adapter. The scope requires some time for familiarization and is not a cheap, toss around child's toy. It is a Maksutov-Cassegraine and packs 750 mm of focal length in a very short tube. The field of view is narrow, and minimum magnification with the nice zoom eyepiece is 25X. It includes an adapter for 1.25 inch eyepieces, which more advanced stargazers usually have. I use my 32 mm plossl to get a wider view. There is no finder scope with this, so I fashioned an adequate daytime finder by just attaching a wide straw with rubber bands to the scope body. The problem at the beginning learning to use the scope for nighttime astronomy. Focusing is a bit delicate and takes practice. I painted one spot on the focusing knob with "white out" so I could reference the number of turns I had to make for stargazing focus vs. closer focusing for bird watching, shooting range spotting, etc. This touchup saved a lot of frustration. As for stargazing, with the zoom lens near the highest magnification of 75X, I was able to make out the rings of Saturn on moonless nights with surprising clarity, using my camera tripod for steadiness. The key, as with any lightweight scope, is to have a steady support and keep your eye as close to the eyepiece as possible without touching it and making the scope wobble. The eyepiece is very good for a zoom and a good fit for this scope. It might have been improved by offering a lower magnification (15X or 20X to start with) to give a wider field to view while finding your target or star.

Sadly I’m going to have to down this and possibly return it. Honestly about useless past it’s lowest setting. I bought this for a shooting spotting scope from 200 to 1,000 yards.25x actually looks dam decent. Can see great out to 100 yards, even focus out to about 400 or 500 yards. I can even see around 1,000 yards pretty well on this setting. But again it’s 25x. It’s kind of funny. It almost allows TOO much light in. Picture is REALLY over exposed. Just imagine if you had your computer or tv screen brightness setting at 100. But I can kind of cheat that with the phone adapter I bought with it by under exposing my phone to make up for it and better the exposure.At 35X to 75x power it’s essentially useless past 300 yards. 100 yards and closer it’s actually great picture. Clear, well zoomed. But once you look past that range it literally just fogs out. 300 yards is almost usable. 400 and beyond is literally useless at any setting past 25x. It’s like you’re using someone else’s glasses that don’t work for you. You can see what you’re looking at but it’s not crisp nor can you see object details. You can tell what you’re looking at but the edges are blurry and not defined.The focus ring does work at lower power. Even at high power it works out, due to the limit of the lenses past 300 yards it’s just a blurry mess.Funniest thing is, the thing everyone hates on this is the tripod. That’s actually what I like about the scope THE MOST. It’s actually decently good, the minute adjustment knobs actually work well. For 90% of us it will work great. But again the scope doesn’t cut it. I pretty much expected this, but really was hoping I’d be surprised.Update; Ok, so the more I use this in different lighting settings. It’s starting to grow on me. Some days the picture is way more clear than others. But again. Anything past 400-500yds is a stretch. You really start to lose detail and the picture really begins to blur and fog out.Due to the $200 to $300 options not looking much better as far as quality. I think I may end up just keeping this spotter and use it for 400 and below.I added an extra star to the review for it growing on my slightly.

I was looking for a telescope for my kids. This is marketed as a scope, but it will take telescope eyepieces if needed. It's focal length is 750mm, which means that it can magnify as well as a traditional long barrel telescope. What sold me on this item is the weight and durability. My son can carry it around, take it to the treehouse and I don't have to worry about it. It is inexpensive enough, so if it gets broken in a kid accident, we'll get another one.I tried it out for sky watching the other day. We live in Michigan, so clouds are a frequent occurrence. It was a clear night with lots of mosquitoes. I did my observation through a large picture window of my home. I used a free iPad app Sky View to figure out what was visible in my line of sight. The first planet I saw was Saturn. I saw the rings and I liked it. That night I also watched the Moon, which is almost too bright in this scope, but the detail is good.The trick is to overcome the wobbliness of the tripod and point the scope in the right direction. I guess the fun of it is in the search and a great satisfaction when you do spot the item you'll looking for.

I picked up this Celestron 70mm Mini Mak spotting scope mainly as a tool for sighting in my weapons, and it’s been a great addition to my range setup. The clarity is impressive for such a compact scope—you can easily see your shots at distance without constantly walking back and forth to check targets.The 25–75x zoom gives you plenty of flexibility depending on how far you’re shooting. I’ve used it at different ranges, and it stays sharp and easy to focus. The optics are bright and clear, even in less-than-perfect lighting conditions, which is a big plus when you’re out early or later in the day.What really stands out is how portable this thing is. It’s lightweight and doesn’t take up much space in my gear, so it’s easy to bring along every trip. The included tabletop tripod works well for bench setups, and the slow-motion controls help dial in exactly where you want to look without fighting it.As a bonus, I’ve also used it a bit outside the range—checking out wildlife and even looking at the moon—and it handles that just fine too.Overall, if you’re looking for something reliable and compact for spotting shots and dialing things in, this is a solid choice. It’s become a regular part of my range gear and does exactly what I need it to do.

Completely impressed by such a small scope. Originally purchased this for use at the range for zeroing & those long range shots. Ease of setup & use was simple. The supplied tripod is very flimsy & unsteady, I purchased a sturdier metal one which improved overall usability. The body is made out of a high density polymer with rubber armor which seems to be pretty durable. Magnification was very powerful, but crisp focusing can be a task at times especially if you wear glasses. I was curious about the advertised capabilities of this item so I took it out to view a super moon & was totally blown away. The detail was so clear. The compact size & usability of this scope makes it totally worth the price. Completely happy with this scope.

I just gave this scope a thorough shakedown and I LOVE it! I am a physicist by trade and a professional firearms instructor as well. I purchased this scope for two reasons; first, to use at the shooting range for rifle sighting, and second as a simple low power astronomical scope. The scope is compact, solidly built, light weight and as powerful as it can be for the diameter of the primary mirror. On the shooting range during the day the images are bright and crisp and better than what I would expect for the price. You can see image degradation at magnifications of 65X to 75X but at an acceptable amount. I sighted a .223 caliber rifle at 200 meters and could see the holes in the target easily. At night this scope produces very pleasing images of bright objects like Jupiter and the Orion Nebula. I own a $2500.00 Celestron astronomical telescope but this is real nice for putting on a table in the back yard and showing things to the kids. The included tripod is all plastic but is suitably sturdy and the slow motion controls are great. I will use this scope on a much more expensive photographic tripod most of the time but this little one is quite useful and I will use it until it breaks and then toss it out with no concern.

This scope constantly unfocuses itself without my touching the focusing wheel. The focus wheel is very sensitive so I think it was over-oiled. The plastic body also smells bad. I cannot use this scope.

Je ne trouve presque rien à reprocher à ce telescope, seulement que le trépied tremble pas mal à très grande distance (plutôt normal vu le trépied). L'image est parfaite qu'on regarde des animaux, paysages, la lune ou même le soleil avec filtre adapté bien sûr. Facilement transportable, pas encombrant, léger et surtout facile et rapide à monter. L'adaptateur pour optique de télescope est super pour s'adapter à d'autres utilisations comme d'autres optiques, barlow ou même adaptateur pour appareil photo. Un adaptateur pour queue d'arronde serait intéressant pour ceux souhaitant le monter sur monture équatoriale ou servir de viseur pour un plus gros tube

Ante todo, el embalaje proporcionado por Amazon, ha sido perfecto.El telescopio se ve robusto y con buena claridad y nitidez en la imagen.Buscaba un telescopio con estas características para avistamiento de aves y además para iniciarme en el digiscoping. Venía la piecita para sustituir por el visor y ahí acoplar la cámara con el tubo y anilllo T (que hay que comprar aparte).Lo he probado sólo un día y la verdad es que me ha sorprendido gratamente. Actualizaré mi comentario cuando lo pruebe en otro tipo de escenario

This scope is everything that I expected. It feels robust and is extremely easy to use - just two controls for focus and magnification - and it is small and very light and fits easily in a rucksack. It is a massive improvement on binoculars in terms of image quality.For stargazing this is a good choice if you live in a flat and need to take your scope somewhere dark and away from buildings before using it. It doesn't have the magnification of the big scopes but it is much more convenient.

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