Excellent long range spotter with a fantastic price and excellent optics as well - Celestron Regal M2 100ED Spotting Scope

I compared the M2 Regal 100 ED side by side with a Vortex Razor, Swarovski and Leupold on my private 300 yard range as well as long range spotting (1.5 miles). All I can say it the Celestron Regal M2 100 ED compares very favorably, considering it's retail price (much lower than the others and way below the Swarovski.

I was able to discern the printing (small print on a standard sized target at 300 yards (and read it easily) with the Regal (barring the usual thermal abberation). 22 caliber prints on the target at 300 yards were easily seen.

The dual focus knobs allow quick focusing and then the fine knob brings the image to fine focus. The scope came with a well made zippered case that you can leave on all the time (has a bottom zippered opening to allow fixing to your tripod.

I had read elsewhere that at maximum magnification (65X) there was some vignetting around the edges of the image. I had none. The image was clear at the edges as well as the center.

The long range test was at 1.5 miles on a fixed object (farm house). I was able to distinguish clearly (barring thermal abberation again), a hose bib on the side of the house at 1.5 miles, this unit is well suited for game spotting at extreme distance.

The eyepiece mount is industry standard 1.5" so any eyepiece from and manufacturer will fit, but the supplied 25-65 eyepiece is excellent at all magnification ranges. It comes with a twist up rubber eyepiece cap that works well and a useless T adapter, if you want to 'phone-skope', get an aftermarket phone mount.

The scope comes with a very substantial (aluminum) screw on eyepiece cover, something the others lack (except the Swarovski). On the down side, it's heavy and requires a substantial tripod to stabilize it. The objective lens cover is not tethered so it can be misplaced and the retractable sunshade has a useless coarse object locating feature I totally disregard. The Regal is only offered with an angled eyepiece (I prefer a straight eyepiece) but in defense of the Regal, you can rotate the body of the scope in it's mount, to any viewing angle you prefer, so you can use it on a car window mount with limitations.

I also ships with a balance rail (that I do not use). Attachment to a substantial tripod negates the balance rail and added weight. I suggest (for a tripod), the Celestron Regal tripod, it's well capable of handling the weight of the scope and had what I consider an excellent 3 axis fluid pan and elevation.

Don't expect stability (with this spotter) attached to a lightweight carbon fiber tripod, won't happen.

For the price point, it's an excellent optic. Heavy compared to a lesser (smaller objective) optic, but on the plus side, the larger the objective, the better low light gathering capabilities a spotter will have.

I recommend it for long range spotting as well as range use. Hard to beat the image quality for the price point.