Sightmark Solitude 20-60x60SE Spotting Scope Review

The Solitude spotting scope from Sightmark is a quality piece of kit at an affordable price. We’ve reviewed this scope here to show buyers the benefits and drawbacks of this budget-friendly scope, which is great for birdwatching and nature observations. With powerful variable magnification and a 60mm objective lens, this scope has all the basics covered, without breaking the bank. 

It’s completely fog-proof and each lens has an anti-reflection coating. The twist-up eyecup is comfortable to use and it has a 14-16mm eye relief, so you can use it while wearing glasses easily.

At ~40cm long and 1.145kg, this spotting scope is designed to be used with a tripod and has a screw-in tripod adaptor built-in to make attachment simple. Sightmark Solitude comes with a tabletop tripod and carry case, so you get plenty for your money.

Porro Prism = Brighter Views

This scope uses a Porro Prism, which uses two prisms to invert and reverse the image. This maintains high levels of light all the way through the scope to achieve a brighter image than other types of prisms. 

Combined with the 60mm objective lens, which lets in a great amount of light, the Solitude 20-60x60 gets a Twilight score of 34-60. This means it can retain a lot of light even as the sun sets, or in the early hours of dawn, so you get a good view of owls, bats, foxes and the other 

Looking through the Sightmark 20 60x60SE, the image is clear and bright, with minimal loss of colour even at 60x magnification. This is great for seeing the details such as colour patterns on birds, required for identifying species.

Close Focus Distance: 4.2m

The closest you can focus is 4.2m away, which is relatively close for most spotters. If you’re looking at wildlife nearby, even across a garden or a few metres along a path, you can get a clear, detailed view with this model. 

Field of View at 1000m: 19.38m - 39.64m

While this is only a 2.1^o maximum FOV, the 60x magnification means you can still get quite a wide view further than 500m away. When you look at something closer, it’s best to be zoomed out to 20-30x if you want to see context. This is a similar FOV to Sightmark’s more expensive models, such as the Latitude 20-60x80 XD, which is more than three times the price.

Sightmark Solitude 20-60x60SE Technical Specs

A Quality, Functional, Affordable Scope for Nature Spotting

All in all, the Sightmark Solitude 20-60x60SE offers great value for money, making this one of the best spotting scopes for beginners. The wide objective lens (60mm) lets in enough light to give you clear views even at full magnification (60x). At dawn and dusk, when many wild creatures are active, this scope can still provide a colourful image. 

View the Sightmark Solitude 20-60x60SE