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Pros - Bright images with plenty of contrast - Camera adaptable - Easily affordable for the quality Cons - Included tripod is poor quality - Optics aren’t fully multicoated - Focus and magnification knobs are too resistant

Welcome to our review of the Celestron Ultima 80mm Spotting Scope. Celestron is well-known for its telescopes, but the company also makes a full line of sporting optics. I always enjoy testing the company’s spotting scopes, so I was eager to check out the Ultima line. Let’s take a look (no pun intended) and see how it fares.

This optic is built around an 80mm objective lens, which should provide for amazing light transmission. The glass weighs in at three and a half pounds, fairly lightweight for such a beefy lens. You will find the eye relief comfortable with or without eyeglasses at 18mm.

What Comes in the Box?

Naturally, you’ll want to know what goodies come with your new spotting scope, so I’ve taken the time to closely examine the box contents. Here’s what you should find:

• The Celestron Ultima 80mm Spotting Scope itself
• Lens and eyepiece covers
• Tripod
• View-through soft carrying case

The tripod might as well be left out of the package, because it’s shaky and overall just not good quality. The soft carrying case, on the other hand, is well-crafted and provides excellent protection. I wish the scope came with a hard carrying case, but c’est la vie.

What’s the Magnification of the Ultima

The included eyepiece provides 20X to 60X magnification, which is more than adequate for viewing nature or spotting bullet holes from as far off as 300 yards. You won’t notice a hint of chromatic aberration from this model, which is nice.

The field of view is an astonishing 52 feet from 1,000 yards at 60X magnification, and 105 feet with 20X power.

I was disappointed in this model’s close focus range, however. It’s a lengthy 26.2 feet, making the scope difficult to use when you are trying to focus on something that’s come within 10 yards of your viewing position.

How Easy is the Scope to Use?

The magnification wheel is precisely where you’d expect it to be, on the eyepiece. The focus knob is also in the usual spot, front and center above the objective lens. Unfortunately, Celestron has designed these knobs with just a bit too much tension, making them a bit sticky. The good news is that the size and texturing are just right for use with or without gloves.

One nice addition to the Ultima is the peep hole, which allows you to view straight through to find your target at no magnification before you zoom in on it.

What’s the Light Gathering Capability Like on the Spotting Scope?

You’ll definitely enjoy this scope’s transmittance, since the glass is more than adequate for doing amateur or backyard astronomy. The view of the moon and Mars through this glass is simply breathtaking. It’s also quite useful during low-light conditions such as dusk or twilight.

While Celestron doesn’t advertise the glass’s twilight factor, the use of multicoated assures you of fantastic light transmission. The only thing that would make this scope even better would be fully multicoated lenses.

How Are the Optics and Focus on This Spotting Scope?

The optics on the Ultima are good, but not the best. While Celestron has used a porro prism design with BaK-4 prism glass, the aforementioned decision to just multicoat the lenses takes away some from the quality of the image. The scope comes with either a straight or angled eyepiece, but I evaluated the angled eyepiece model.

Even so, there isn’t any phase shift, proving that the manufacturer did, in fact, utilize phase correction coating during production.

What’s the Housing Like on the Spotting Scope?

This is an extremely well-built spotting scope, quite resistant to drops and falls. The rubber coating is nicely textured, giving you a good, positive grip on the glass when you are using it handheld. Personally, I keep the spotting scope in the view-through soft carrying case, since it is so handy.

How Durable is the Ultima?

Not only is the Ultima shock-proof, but it’s also both fogproof and waterproof. Celestron has sealed the optics chamber with O-rings, as well as making sure it is properly nitrogen-purged to prevent fogging. The glass is backed by a limited lifetime warranty, so it should last you plenty of years with proper care.