M53 is clearly visible in my 8x52 finder scope, appearing as a big fuzzy star.  In my 18-inch at 94x it appeared as a round haze with bright center overlaid with a smattering of resolved stars.  At 270x the view was very different.  It now filled 1/2 of the field of view and my eye was met by a myriad of countless stars.  My notes began with a single word, "Spectacular!"  The brighter inner region now resolved into many stars, very regular in appearance and distribution.  But across the face of the cluster lies another population of brighter stars.  These stars are scattered very irregularly and extend far away from the cluster center.  It must be these stars that are first resolved at low magnification or in smaller apertures.  Perhaps this dichotomy is what Smyth was talking about when he described M53 as "a mass of minute stars 11-15 mag. and from thence to gleams of star-dust, with stragglers."  Increasing the magnification still more, M53 appeared absolutely wondrous in my 4.8mm Nagler (425x), filling the field with myriad, tiny points of light.

Within a degree of M53 lies another globular cluster, NGC 5053.  These two globulars provide a wonderful study in contrasts, for it is difficult to imagine two more different clusters.

The field in an 6-inch f/8 at 50x.  North is down and east is to the right.