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Pros - 15X to 40X magnification - Includes carrying case and tripod - Unbeatable price Cons - Optics are just fully coated, not fully multi-coated - Tabletop tripod leaves much to be desired - No included lens covers

Welcome to our review of the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope. This porro prism spotting scope features a straight eyepiece system, great for hunters and birders who watch from cars or hides, and comes with a limited lifetime warranty. Let’s look a bit closer and see how well the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope stands up to the competition.

What Comes With It?

Included with the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope is everything you need to make the most of your spotting scope. In the box, you should expect to find:

• BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope
• Soft carrying case
• Mini tabletop tripod

The carrying case is a nice accessory, but the tripod is just average. I quickly shuffled the included tripod onto the back shelf of my garage, and have been using a camera tripod with it instead of the included tripod. It’s nice that BARSKA included it, but it would have been better if the tripod were better made and had more range of motion.

Unfortunately, the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope does not include lens covers, so you will have to buy those separately if you want covers for your optics.

How Powerful Is the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope

This spotting scope has a 50mm objective lens, and adjustable zoom from 15X to 40X magnification. Mid range magnification features excellent resolution, clarity, and crispness, but the image falls a bit fuzzy when you zoom in to maximum magnification.

Is the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope Easy to Use?

This spotting scope is very easy to use, with a diopter adjustment ring, an excellent focus ring, and an easy-to-use zoom wheel. The included instruction manual is very detailed, and walks you through everything you need to know about using the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope.

How Well Does the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope Gather Light?

With its fully coated lens, the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope does a decent job of gathering light. It would be better, obviously, if the optics were fully multi-coated, but as it is the spotting scope gathers light very well and provides a bright, detailed image at all magnifications. I’ve used this in heavily overcast conditions at the shooting range, and the spotting scope is great at picking out .22 and .30 caliber shots on high contrast paper.

How Are the Focus and Optics on This Spotting Scope?

The focus ring of the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope works very well, with just enough stiffness to prevent accidentally bumping your image out of focus. It’s not so stiff, though, that focusing your image is a chore, and I really like that. The diopter adjustments are also nice for eyeglass wearers. Unfortunately, the 10-13mm eye relief is just not enough for comfortable use of the spotting scope; you have to have your eye almost on top of the eye piece to view the image.

The optics on the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope are fully coated, but only have a single layer of coating. This would be a much better scope if the optics were fully multi-coated, but I’ve still found it to be very handy for scouting out deer, watching birds, and checking my patterns at the shooting range out to as much as 250 yards.

The field of view on this spotting scope is 150 feet at 1,000 yards with 15X magnification, which is very good for getting your initial overview of the terrain before zooming in for a closer image.

Close focus range of the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope is 26.24 feet at 15X magnification.

What’s the Housing Like on the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope Spotting Scope?

The housing of the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope is covered in rubberized armor, which does a lot to protect the scope from bumps and scuffles. The housing features ribs for easy grip if you want to use it handheld, and the tripod mount works perfectly with any standard tripod.

How Durable is the BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope?

The BARSKA 15-40×50 Colorado Spotting Scope is extremely durable, with thick rubber coating and O-ring sealed lenses for waterproofing. The scope is nitrogen-filled, so it won’t fog up on you, and the body of the scope has excellent texturing and ribbing for a secure grip when you’re using the scope handheld. This is a very rugged design, and it has survived several falls over the years.