Visionking 25-75x70 Telescope Spotting Long Reach & Tripod

Reach past what your binos can see.

You are parked on a ridge with a pair of 10x binos, looking at something a kilometre out that might be a deer, might be a stump, might be the bloke you were supposed to meet an hour ago. You cannot tell. So you burn the diesel, drive around and find out the hard way, and by the time you get there the light has gone.

Glassing blind costs fuel and daylight. Worse, it commits the rig to a track you have not actually looked at, because from where you were standing you could not see the end of it.

This is a Visionking 25-75x70 spotting scope. It is a Maksutov design, and the supplier's own cutaway drawing shows why that matters: the light path folds back off a secondary mirror instead of running straight down a long tube. That is how a scope with this much reach ends up only about 255 to 280 mm long and sitting in the palm of your hand. A small tabletop tripod and a soft zip case come with it.

What it is not is a night sight, and it carries no stated rating for rain. Both of those are in the Limits tab, and they are the two things most likely to change your mind.

What It Does

• Pulls the distance in: the zoom eyepiece runs from 25x to 75x, marked at both ends of its travel, so you find the target wide and then wind in on it.
• Gathers light on 70 mm: the objective is 70 mm across, and on a high-magnification instrument that front glass is where the brightness comes from.
• Folds the optics up: the mirror layout keeps the body to about a quarter of a metre instead of the metre a straight refractor would need for the same reach.
• Sits on the bonnet: the supplied tripod is a 260 mm tabletop unit with a pan handle, so a tailgate, a table or a flat rock is all the setup you need.
• Points at the sky too: terrestrial or astronomical. The moon and its craters are the obvious one to show the camp.
• Travels in its own case: soft zip case, both lens caps and a cleaning cloth are in the box, so it goes behind the seat without a fight.

Key Features

• 70 mm objective: marked 70 mm on the supplier's own measurement panel, alongside a comparison against a 60 mm scope.
• 25x to 75x zoom: one zoom eyepiece, marked 25x and 75x at the ends of its rotation. No swapping eyepieces.
• Maksutov folded optics: the supplier's cutaway shows a front corrector lens and a secondary mirror, not a straight refracting tube.
• Angled eyepiece: the eyepiece sits at an angle to the body, which is easier on your neck when the scope is low on a table or pointed up at the sky.
• Single focus knob: one knob on the top of the body, in reach of the hand that is already steadying the scope.
• Rubber eyecup: the eyepiece carries a soft rubber cup. Whether it folds down for spectacles is not stated by the supplier.
• Short, fat body: about 255 to 280 mm long and 85 mm across. The supplier prints two different lengths on two different panels, so we have published both rather than pick the flattering one.
• Tabletop tripod included: 260 mm tall, thin aluminium legs, pan handle. It is a table tripod, not a standing one.
• Everything in the box: scope, tabletop tripod, soft zip case, objective cap, eyepiece cap and a cleaning cloth.
• Body marking: the tube is printed MC25-75x70 and the supplier's model code is F9334G.

Limits

This is the part most listings leave out. Read it before you spend the money.

• It is not night vision: there is no electronics in it and nothing that amplifies light. It is a daylight instrument that will also work on a bright moon. Point it into a dark paddock and you will see a dark paddock.
• No water rating we can stand behind: nothing is printed on the scope and nothing on any supplier panel states a water-resistance, sealing or nitrogen-purge rating. We are not going to call it waterproof or fog-proof on the strength of a marketing line. Keep it in its case when it is not on the tripod.
• The optical numbers are missing: field of view, eye relief, exit pupil and close focus distance are all absent from the supplier's data. If your decision hangs on one of those, the honest answer is that we do not have it and we are not going to make one up.
• 75x is not free: wind any spotting scope out to its top magnification and the picture gets darker, shakier and far more affected by heat haze coming off the ground. Most people end up living in the bottom half of the range.
• The tripod needs a surface: 260 mm tall means a table, a tailgate, a bonnet or a rock. You cannot stand behind this tripod, and it is not built to hold the scope steady in a decent breeze.
• Not a rifle scope: no reticle, no rail, no mounts. It is built for looking, not for aiming.
• One eye only: a spotting scope is a single-eyed instrument. For long sessions of comfortable glassing, two eyes on a pair of binoculars is easier work than one eye on this.
• Never point it at the sun: a 70 mm objective concentrating sunlight into your eye causes instant and permanent damage. That applies to the scope in the box and to every other optic you own.

Q & A

Will it see in the dark?

No. There is no image intensifier, no infrared and no electronics of any kind in it. On a bright moon you will see plenty; on a black night you will see nothing. If night is the job, this is the wrong instrument.

Is the supplied tripod good enough on its own?

It is good enough to hold the scope steady on a solid surface, which is what a 260 mm tabletop tripod is for. If you want to glass standing up, or in wind, you are looking at a full-height tripod as well. The scope arrives ready to use either way.

Can I really see craters on the moon with it?

Yes. A 70 mm objective at 25x to 75x is well inside the range where lunar detail is easy, and the moon is bright enough that the top of the zoom stays usable. Deep-sky work is a different game and this is not the tool for it.

What is the field of view at 25x?

Not specified by supplier. Nothing on the packaging artwork, the body or the supplier's data states a field of view, an exit pupil or an eye relief figure, so we have left those rows blank rather than borrow numbers from a similar-looking scope.

Will it fit behind the seat of the ute?

The body is about 255 to 280 mm long and 85 mm across, roughly 115 to 140 mm tall with the eyepiece on. It fits in one hand, and the soft case takes the scope and the folded tripod together.

Can I fit a camera or a phone to it?

Nothing is supplied for that, and the supplier does not state an eyepiece thread size, so we cannot tell you which adapter would fit. Treat it as a scope for your eye, not a camera lens.

How long does delivery take?

Free delivery to Australia and New Zealand. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to three weeks in regional and remote areas.

Specs