I use the Yukon 100m/100x spotting scope, here's a cut & paste from my review of it at Amazon.com:
At first glance the Yukon 100x spotting scope seems to be too good to be true (especially where quality optics are concerned): Up to 100x magnification, 100mm objective lens, light weight, detachable sunshade, rotating ocular to suit different viewing positions, waterproof, 2 different tripod mount threads, etc, for only $275. However, being on a budget and having had good experience w/Russian optics in the past I ordered the Yukon 100x for use at my local shooting range.
First Impressions: Very lightweight (light enough to remind one of a somewhat delicate child's toy) and it has a plastic window on top where current magnification can be viewed/set. Ocular rotates 360 degrees to any position but does have detents at 45 degree intervals. Ocular focusing is easy & adequate (exception: I couldn't get a clear focus on my 100yd target at any magnification higher than 70x but to be honest anything more than 70x at 100yds is overkill anyway).
At the range: View was surprisingly bright & clear at 500m for such an inexpensive spotting scope. While I couldn't see 7.62mm holes in paper targets at that range I could easily see 7.62mm holes in Shoot-N-C targets at 500m. There's a downside for being such a lightweight scope and that's being very sensitive to vibration at higher magnification levels. At 100x & the Yukon set up on my shooting bench w/a Bushnell Shooter's Rest Tripod (the micro-elevation adjustment feature of the tripod is *very* nice & useful) I discovered that just sitting at the bench and not physically touching the Yukon caused unacceptable image shake. I solved this by looking through the scope while standing up and not touching the bench or Yukon at all. I believe the Yukon would do well with it's own full-size tripod as long as it has provisions for making precise elevation adjustments.
Conclusion: A lot of scope for the money if you just need a high-magnification spotting scope for casual observation or range use and aren't expecting miracles for $275. The dual 6-25x/25-100x zoom ranges make finding/zeroing in fast & easy and the rotating ocular makes it easy to use the Yukon 100x comfortably from different positions. Construction seems adequate but I wouldn't want to drop it on concrete just to see how "rugged" it really is. I'd give it 5 stars instead of 4 if it felt more solid & rugged. Biggest downside for me is the sensitivity to vibration at higher magnifications but it's easy to solve or work around. For my needs I'd buy it again...
Tomac
