Well.... can the Elephant even use his full shooting range without SpottingScope? Generally i don't think Spottingscope + elephant is op because he is so expensiv slow (without turret), does nothing against infantry and loses the bonus sight while moving (or rotating).
The problem is not only the elephant+scope alone, but the increased view can be used by anything. If you use it for example in the center of Minsk, or Moscow outskirts (talking about 2vs2 here), you will uncover the whole middle. From that point you'll constantly face mortar incendary shells, arty, etc. on your units. And also all tanks arround can use their max range.
But wooof has a point. The turning when shooting at infantry is sometimes making this quite a micro hassle. On some maps, like Minsk and Moscow however this was less a problem, cause there is always something in sight range you want to shoot at, due to the large area you uncover in the center area of the map.