Very solid big traditional scope

Televid scopes, like Leica binoculars, are extremely thoughtfully designed. That's the first thing that'll strike you as you look at a row of spotting scopes in a store somewhere; the Televids, with their dual focus knobs, graciously big eyepieces, and perfectly machined look, just have a mental "zing" to them that, say, Swarovski EL binoculars give people lately. Before you even look through the thing, you're already feeling that scope envy feeling.

Optically, too, the Televid 77s are at the level you expect from the highest-quality traditional scopes. Basically they compare with the analogous Swarovski scopes, but they're usually priced around $100 lower. Reviews dicker one way or the other, but that and personal taste is what the optics come down to.

The Televids also focus closer than other comparable scopes. The come down to around 13 feet, next to 25 or so for most scopes and 30 feet for the 60mm Nikon Fieldscope III.

Then too, while they may not necessarily be any sharper than a Swarovski to your eyes, the Leicas feature eyepieces with wonderfully generous eye relief. The Leica zoom is just a notch below the Swarovski, for me, but its construction -- padded pop-up eyecup instead of generic-feeling rubber, focus range seemingly easier to manipulate -- probably would make it more pleasant to live with. The low-power fixed eyepieces by Leica are especially pleasing. The 20x gives you a broad, crisp look. The 32x power eyepiece is gorgeous and has a huge field of view; it's my choice for a day-to-day, look-out-the-window-at-the-feeder eyepiece with this scope.

Unfortunately, that eyepiece blessing is also something of a curse. The zoom goes from 20 to 60 power. Other eyepieces include the 20x WA (wide angle), the 32x WA, and a 40x. And that's it. Granted, they've chosen the basic range of possibilities for birding, and probably the thing to do is just get the zoom and/or the 32x fixed eyepiece and use the thing for the rest of your life. For someone from the astronomical market, though, who's used to being able to choose from hundreds of diverse eyepieces, the pickings seem pretty slim. The limitations of the Leica zoom, in particular, bug me; when you go to higher powers, the image you're looking at crawls down the barrel of the eyepiece away from you more than in other comparable scopes. When you can't choose anything else above 40x, what do you take?

Speaking of the astronomical market, that's one place to find an interesting alternative to scopes like the Leicas. The Teleview Ranger, with a 90-degree diagonal, is optically the better of any traditional birding scope you can find. It's not waterproof, and it's not as convincingly durable as the Leica, but it'll give you much higher powers if you want them -- and with any 1.25" astronomical eyepiece (and barlow) you want. Oh, did I mention it'll cost somewhat less, too? (Cat scopes like the Celestron C5 present some of the same choices, only with fields of view that I think make them iffy full-time birding scopes.)

The other alternative I think birders should consider to any 70+mm scope is something like the Nikon 60 mm Fieldscope line. The Fieldscope III has much smaller eyepieces than the Leica's, can't focus as close, and won't suck in quite as much light at dawn and dusk. But look at the two next to each other and ask yourself: Won't you be able to throw the little Nikon into your back seat, or your backpack, far more often than you'd lug along the huge 80mm scope? I can easily imagine carrying the Fieldscope up a mountain; the trail had better be level and smooth or I wouldn't try that with my Leica. If you use it far more often, isn't that better?

Finally, the pricing of Leica accessories gives one pause. The eyepieces sit between $200 and $350 -- a chunk of change. The camera adapter is something like $350. Ouch. Price out your whole kit before you get onto that treadmill, is all I can say.

The Televid is an extremely pleasing contender among the best of the big traditional birding scopes. If you want markedly better optics and you can give up waterproofing, try a nontraditional scope like the Ranger. If you want something you can carry and use more often, think of the Nikon fieldscope or something in that size range. If you want better, more reassuringly durable design, you aren't going to find it.