Celestron Regal M2 100ED Spotting Scope 52306

Celestron Regal M2 100ED Review

The Celestron Regal M2 100ED is the largest aperture spotting scope available in the Regal M2 line. Even with its rather gargantuan size, this spotting scope is relatively light, at just over four and a half pounds with everything attached. This is one of the major improvements over the previous generation (Celestron Regal F-ED spotting scope, now discontinued).

The Celestron Regal M2 100ED is everything you'd expect from a spotting scope at this price, and more. Again, the 100mm objective lens and 19.25 inch overall length make this spotting scope a brute, but even with a weight under five pounts, it's manageable in the field, whether you're glassing elk at 500+ yards or capturing photographs of rare migratory birds. Since this Regal F2 is so large, it includes an additional tripod adapter so that it can be properly balanced on photographic tripods, which will account for any inherent instability due to its size.

Mechanically, the Regal M2 100ED is a dream to operate. The quick focus and fine focus knobs are placed well ergonomically, and both function smoothly and effortlessly; one finger focusing is not a problem. The coarse focusing will focus twice as fast as the fine. The variable zoom eyepiece goes from 22x to 67x when combined with the large 100mm objective, and the eyepiece functions just as well as the focusing mechanism. The ability to rotate the spotting scope within the collar is a great feature that allows you to utilize the eyepiece at any angle. The included sliding sunshade prevents glare and helps cut down on light bleed and lens flare.

We've ranted and raved about the optical quality of the Celestron Regal M2 spotting scopes, and it's our opinon that the Celestron Regal M2 100ED is optically one of the best performing spotting scopes for under $1000. It's ED glass objective lens and proprietary XLT lens coatings provide a crystal clear picture, edge-to-edge sharpness, no chromatic aberration (even at full 67x magnification), and no rolling ball. We'll challenge anybody to put the Celestron Regal M2 100ED up against anything else in this price range and not be impressed. The quality on this scope rivals some of the biggest and most expensive scopes on the market, dollar for dollar.

We did a bit of in-house digiscoping with the little brother to the Regal M2 100ED, and found that it's very simple to get started with digiscoping. This model includes a T-adapter for the eyepiece, so all you need to attach your Canon or Nikon DSLR is the correct Celestron T-Ring Adapter, and you're good to go! If you have a point and shoot DSLR and want a quick, easy method of utilizing it for digiscoping, check out the Celestron Universal Digital Camera Adapter.

We did take a bunch of photos with a Nikon D60 through the Regal M2 spotting scope, but unfortunately, we are not photographers, so our digiscoping photos are sub-par. If you've taken photos with a Celestron Regal M2 100ED, drop us a line and we'll post them on our website (with credit to you, of course.)

The Celestron Regal M2 100ED includes a carrying case, sliding sunshade, eyepiece and objective caps, tripod adapter, T-adapter, and Celestron's Limited Lifetime Warranty.