Anything But Swaro?

[Dos Perros]

You could have just titled the thread "hey guys I'm buying a Swaro just wanted you to know lolz."

 

[treillw]

You could have just titled the thread "hey guys I'm buying a Swaro just wanted you to know lolz."

My finger was on the trigger. Just wanted to see if I was missing out on anything else before pulling it. haha

 

[excaliber]

If Kowa had an armored coating like everyone else offers on their spotting scopes then I'd say all around they were right up there with Swarovski. To me the Kowa is more of a Bird Watcher scope for delicate use out of the vehicle at the sanctuary. The Swaro is built like a tank for field use. Optically they are very close.

 

[jac68984]

The Kowa isn’t a birding only optic. It doesn’t need babied any more than any other alpha spotter. It’s built very solid, and you will never convince me that Swaro has a more robust build quality (I used to sell, handle, and use them daily). Don’t get me wrong, they are both fantastic alpha glass all around. But adding more rubber (the sunshade has a rubberized “armor” jacket on it) to the 880 series would just add more weight without a real performance difference. The scope body isn’t slick to the touch, and scratched paint won’t affect the stellar optic performance in the least.

The 883 with eyepiece weighs less than both the ATX 85mm and (obviously) 95mm. But it performs on par with the 95mm to my eye. I also prefer the Kowa focus knob layout. I love the idea of the barrel focus (I’m an avid photographer, so it seems natural), but you can run the top knobs on the Kowa without messing much with your sight picture. It is much harder to be that smooth. That said, I do like the zoom ring location on the ATX, especially when digiscoping, better than the traditional eyepiece found on the Kowa.

Buy what you want. I like the idea of the ATX/STX system if you have plenty of cash to buy multiple objective lenses, but pretty sure you could buy a Kowa 553 to go with your 883 and still save some cash over buying the objective/65/95 ATX. Or the 770 series is fantastic glass (though not fluorite like the 880s) at a reduced weight. Great middle ground.

I own an 883 and don’t see that changing anytime soon.


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[jac68984]

Messing around with the 883 the last full moon. That view never gets old.


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[JGRaider]

Meopta S2 at app 50x, 1 mile.


[URL=https://s156.photobucket.com/user/JGrimes_2007/media/Bedded-1.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Worth considering anything but a Swarovski Spotter?

Want top quality glass.

I like the modularity of the system. Like the 65 mm objective for backpack hunting. Like the 95 for the truck and shooting range. BTX would be an awesome addition down the road.

Just want to make sure there isn't some amazing spotter out there that is crazy light and great optically or something that I'm missing before I pull the trigger.

Thanks!

While I'm at it, where is the best place to get a decent deal on one?

I owned the Meopta S2 HD with 20-70x eyepiece for over 3 years. Absolutely amazing spotting scope. With my habit of thinking there's always better optics and you get what you pay for, I decided to sell it and buy the Swarovski ATX with95mm and 65mm objectives and the 1.7x magnification extender.

I had the Swaro for about a year. I thought maybe my eyes were getting a little worse with age because the Swaro seemed to have worse chromatic aberration and the colors weren't as rich as my old Meopta. Found myself constantly playing with the focus wheel when experiencing CA in the outer half of the view. One day shooting, I had my father in law spotting my shots with the Swaro at 500 yards. Mirage was acting up a bit and I noticed he was playing with the focus a lot like I always did. I asked him if something was wrong and he said "I think your Meopta had better glass". I replied "Me too! I thought my eyes were just getting worse". Well that was all the confirmation I needed. I soon after sold the entire Swarovski ATX kit and ordered another Meopta S2 HD spotting scope. Though this time I went with the 30-60x WA eyepiece and astronomical eyepiece adapter.

Everyones eyes are different. For me the most expensive spotting scope kit on the market just couldnt quite stack up against the Meopta. The Meopta S2 controls CA better than most anything else out there with its APO lens configuration and ED elements. It is an absolute pleasure to look through, especially when sitting on a mountain ridge glassing for hours.

 

[Newtosavage]

The fact that you're asking the question tells me you need to just get the Swaro or you won't be satisfied.

 

[jac68984]

The fact that you're asking the question tells me you need to just get the Swaro or you won't be satisfied.

Yep. And that OK. Swarovski is the Rolex of hunting optics (i.e., perceived by many to be the “best,” known by others to be great ... but not necessarily always the “best”). The perception of the masses, true or not, doesn’t hurt when you’re considering selling your used item.

All the alpha spotters are great. They will all generally hold their value. If you’ve lusted after a Swarovski spotter, buy it and don’t feel guilty. Any hunter who tells you they’ve never wanted to own Swarovski glass is most likely lying to you.




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[Newtosavage]

I've owned three Swaro optics, and now I'm satisfied and can buy other things. But without owning them, I would have never known, right?

 

[montanaoutdoorsman]

The only other option may be the zeiss if you like to zoom in af low light. Holds the picture better from what I have been told.

 

[tdhanses]

If Kowa had an armored coating like everyone else offers on their spotting scopes then I'd say all around they were right up there with Swarovski. To me the Kowa is more of a Bird Watcher scope for delicate use out of the vehicle at the sanctuary. The Swaro is built like a tank for field use. Optically they are very close.

Having owned both, I didn’t come to this same conclusion. Did your Kowa fail you?

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Swarovski 95mm resolution is arguably the best there is...with GOOD conditions. But is it worth double the price if other spotters that are so close that you have to struggle to tell a difference? Depends on what you want, where you live, and your purpose for the optic.

The Swarovski struggles with mirage pretty bad and isnt the best in hazy conditions. Of course all scopes have the same issue on high magnification, but some handle it better in my opinion. That's why I always tell people to evaluate glass on days with less than ideal conditions. Everything looks great on a cool sunny morning or afternoon and most human eyes wont be able to tell any differences. Of course the Swaro with the massive 95mm objective really looks impressive on a perfect day. So bright and colors are true. But put it up against a top spotter like the Meopta S2 on hot day with mirage or a rainy/cloudy day with haze and to my eyes there is no question that the Meopta holds an edge over the Swaro.

The Leica and Meopta glass delivers much better color contrast and CA control than the Swarovski ATX due to their APO lens configuration with fluorite ED Schott glass. Just depends on what a person prefers. The Swarovski will resolve as good or better than anything else out there. As a hunter, I find myself preferring better color contrast, especially in low light. Makes locating game on distant mountainsides much easier as the slightest difference in color shades stand out clearly from one another. The resolution of all top shelf spotters is far more than a person would ever really need to field judge animals so as a hunter, I opt for the best color contrast in all weather and lighting conditions.

 

[JP100]

Leica and Zeiss are just as good as swaro, from what I have seen of field use.

But the Swaro is the only option I know of that is modular, so that opens more options.

I got a 95mm a while ago now and I have never regretted it, yes it cost alot, but its the benchmark that everything is measured against

 

[saintsfan]

If you can afford swaro then only swaro .