REVIEW - Swarovski ATX85 vs. Kowa Prominar 884

Rent Outdoor Gear · Jul 11, 2013

Once again Matt Cashell delivers another superb and thorough optics review. This time he breaks down two of the finest hunting optics available. If you are an opti-phile you must read this article!

http://www.rokslide.com/2012-01-09-05-09-42/optics/261-swarovski-atx85-kowa-884

Maah Daah Hey · Jul 12, 2013

Wow, what a great article! It is amazing how much knowledge about anything to do with hunting that can be found on this website. I learn something knew everyday because of people like Matt. Great article!

Ryan Avery · Jul 12, 2013

Great write up Matt.

dotman · Jul 12, 2013

Great write-up! Any plans to do one on the razor 65hd? Looks like it did really well on the resolution test.

Matt Cashell · Jul 12, 2013

Thanks guys. Pretty nice looking at stuff at this level.

dotman said:
Great write-up! Any plans to do one on the razor 65hd? Looks like it did really well on the resolution test.

I want to get it in the woods again for a bit, and then maybe get it to Aron for a good look too. I have a bunch of notes made, but I might do a video on the Razor.

Ryan Avery · Jul 12, 2013

Matt how does the Meopta stack up against those two?

Matt Cashell · Jul 12, 2013

Ryan,

I did not have them side-by-side, and didn't get the Meopta on the resolution chart, but:

The Meopta also has great saturation and contrast like these two super scopes. It corrects for aberrations very well, and similarly to the ATX. The focus of the Meopta is much stiffer than the Swaro. The biggest difference between the Meopta and these two scopes is that it shows much more distortion, both barrel distortion at the low end, and pincushion at the high end.

the Meopta gets you more bang for your buck, no doubt.

The ATX and Prominar are not about being the best value. They are about being the best.

How are you liking the Meopta, Ryan?

Ryan Avery · Jul 12, 2013

I really like it. The biggest thing for me is I rarely have to focus it compared to the Razor. I do wish the they had a better cap for the eye piece and a fitted soft case. I should be able to compare it to an ATX next week.

shaun · Jul 12, 2013

Looks Great Matt!

Matt Cashell · Jul 12, 2013

shaun said:
Looks Great Matt!

Thanks.

Roksliders,

You should know that the Swaro 80HD mentioned in the article is Shaun's. He graciously lent it to me for the evaluation. It is also a particularly good sample of the 80HD.

Thanks Shaun!

Sunspot · Jul 12, 2013

Great review! I love the Kowa spotters.

shaun · Jul 12, 2013

No problem buddy glad to help!

peddler · Jul 13, 2013

Great job Matt.

Peddler

Slim Jim · Jul 13, 2013

Very good write up Matt! Usually your tech talk about glass goes over my head but that was very good for us laymen guys.

Rizzy · Jul 13, 2013

Great article Matt!
Do you wear glasses? It seems to be a game changer for optics evaluation and I think I like the sound of that long eye relief eyepiece Kowa makes.

Matt Cashell · Jul 13, 2013

I do not where glasses, but I doubt most glasses wearers would have trouble with either of the scopes and eyepieces I tested here. Both have a constant 20mm of eye relief, which is pretty darn long.

Stinky Coyote · Jul 21, 2013

How did I miss this, awesome Matt, that would have fun getting them altogether! U didn't miss a thing, awesome squared.

And side note, there is a baby brother to the Kowa 88 which is 77mm that in compares has come right on heels of the 88 and bests thes swaro 80's and lighter weight...it would be a hard decision if I was shopping for big guys, I'd be choosing between the 77 and 88 kowas.

Shrek · Jul 21, 2013

Peddler , any chance the 66mm Prominar scopes will be upgraded to use the Prminar eyepiece ? The size and weight combined with the complete Prominar system would be really tough to beat for sheep hunting or anywhere weight becomes the priority. A 30-60 wide angle Prominar eyepiece for the tsn 663 ?

Stinky Coyote · Jul 21, 2013

Shrek said:
Peddler , any chance the 66mm Prominar scopes will be upgraded to use the Prminar eyepiece ? The size and weight combined with the complete Prominar system would be really tough to beat for sheep hunting or anywhere weight becomes the priority. A 30-60 wide angle Prominar eyepiece for the tsn 663 ?

Drool!

664 = 2.25lb
774 = 2.90lb
884 = 3.35lb

And their poly bodied 60mm series is only 1.59lb! This is without eyepieces of course and they usually run 8.5-10.5oz additional for the zooms, lighter for fixed. Kowa wins weight race in all classes vs swaro but as Matt said, no rubber coating on kowa. This may be factor one would consider, I personally don't. I'd like to see some more poly bodied spotters for the mountain hunting options! Tough and light.

dirtytough · Jul 21, 2013

I'm curious how the Atx 95 would perform in that testing. Thanks for taking the time and investment to do this review Matt.

REVIEW - Swarovski ATX85 vs. Kowa Prominar 884

WKR

Lil-Rokslider

Admin

WKR

Administrator

Admin

Administrator

Admin

WKR

Administrator

WKR

WKR

Lil-Rokslider

WKR

WKR

Administrator

WKR

WKR

WKR

WKR

Similar threads

Featured Video

Stats

Latest Articles