VIKING SWALLOW ED 20-60X80 £499
Mostly, the build quality is impressive – it doesn’t feel like a budget scope. It’s waterproof, nitrogen-filled, rubber-armoured and has an objective cover and a pull-out lens hood. There’s a sighting device on the lens hood – to help you get the scope on the bird – but in truth, most people are unlikely to use this. The tripod plate is mounted on a rotating collar which can be locked in place. A worthwhile feature on any angled scope.
Some people are put off by the size and weight of an 80mm scope. I put this one on a tripod and lugged it around on a Cley Spy Mulepack and had no problems.
In use, this scope is very well balanced – loosen the tripod head and it doesn’t tip forwards or backwards. Colour rendition is good, though some colour differentiation may be lost at the top end of the zoom.
At close-range, sharpness was excellent – even at 60x. It was picking out short hairs on a plant stem. At mid-range and long-range sharpness was very good at low and mid magnifications, and good at the top end. That’s impressive. Sometimes, there was a bit of edge softness – softness at the periphery of the view – but it wasn’t intrusive and didn’t distract. Brightness was good, but reduces as you up the magnification. I did see some colour fringing – take care to get your eye in the best position. I checked low light performance on a hot day. At sunset it was picking out treetop colours even at 60x. It was still good at 20x half an hour later, but was losing it at 40x. In less well-lit areas it was beginning to struggle at 60x five minutes after sunset, but was still pretty good at 20x, 20 minutes after sunset. Close-focus is 5.5m.
Focusing is via a dual focuser combo. I had no problem with focus precision, and made plenty of use of the fine focuser.
The ‘mechanics’ on the zoom eyepiece are very good. It is clearly calibrated and turns smoothly with moderate resistance.
VERDICT
Great value, and the mechanics are good. The optical performance is impressive.
Field of view (°/m@1000m): 2.1-1.1/36.7-19.2 Close focus: 5.5m (quoted) Eye relief: 19mm Weight: 1633g Size: 390x180x95mm RRP: £499 Guarantee:10 years Website: vikingoptical.com