Crowd Sourced Optics Comparison (CO area) ***Updated 3/9/24***

[sndmn11]

I’m curious how many of you guys after going to this and trying all the optics are switching optics now?

I would switch to NLs if I had the coin. I wanted to buy a BTX before, but now am reconsidering adding the ATC instead.

It's possible @ShakeDown is going to shake it all up.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I would switch to NLs if I had the coin. I wanted to buy a BTX before, but now am reconsidering adding the ATC instead.

It's possible @ShakeDown is going to shake it all up.

Making the move is to NL’s and ATC as my optics to cover 98% of my hunting needs. Would probably need a bigger scope for a sheep/ goat hunt, but that seems like the do it all combo

 

[thegoosano]

I’ve been chatting with [mention]ShakeDown [/mention] about his thoughts on the swaro stm 65mm 25-50x HD compared to other similar sized scopes you all had. Sounds like the atc edged it out and maybe the kowa 66 too? What is the verdict?

I have the stm 65 and I’d love to go down to the stc to shave the weight if I was confident enough!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sndmn11]

Making the move is to NL’s and ATC as my optics to cover 98% of my hunting needs. Would probably need a bigger scope for a sheep/ goat hunt, but that seems like the do it all combo

I've got the Kowa 88 and it was nice to get it side by side with others that "could" be tempting.

Winners for me:
Swaro ATC
Kowa 88
NL 10x (8x was not present)
Kowa 66

MavenS3 honorable mention. If I had one single spotter, I could do all the things with the Kowa 66.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I've got the Kowa 88 and it was nice to get it side by side with others that "could" be tempting.

Winners for me:
Swaro ATC
Kowa 88
NL 10x (8x was not present)
Kowa 66

MavenS3 honorable mention. If I had one single spotter, I could do all the things with the Kowa 66.

Were the NL 12’s present? I picked them up and have been very happy with them, will be perfect for mule deer hunting, especially off a tripod

 

[sndmn11]

Were the NL 12’s present? I picked them up and have been very happy with them, will be perfect for mule deer hunting, especially off a tripod

Yes, I liked the 10s better. There were some deer on the same hillside we were at 75-100yds in the brush. Hand holding I could count more deer with the NL10 than the NL12, my Maven B1.2 8x were the same number of deer counted as the NL12. I'd like to look through some NL8 before buying any.

 

[Tahoe1305]

I’ve been chatting with [mention]ShakeDown [/mention] about his thoughts on the swaro stm 65mm 25-50x HD compared to other similar sized scopes you all had. Sounds like the atc edged it out and maybe the kowa 66 too? What is the verdict?

I have the stm 65 and I’d love to go down to the stc to shave the weight if I was confident enough!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m going to spend some more time behind them all (at least what you mentioned) this week (probably tomorrow) and try and get some digi scope photos. I have to look back at my sheets on which one I had ahead.

From what I recall the ATC was impressive but I don’t think resolved as much as the bigger spotters. It was sweet though. Zoom is king. Id be willing to bet all set at 40 the ATC would hold its own.

 

[Tahoe1305]

Were the NL 12’s present? I picked them up and have been very happy with them, will be perfect for mule deer hunting, especially off a tripod

Concur with the hand holding. No surprise but the 12s resolved a tad more than the 10s at the cost of FOV. The FOV was closer than I expected though. Off the top of my head two levels of resolution difference. I’ll have all the data compiled and published soon.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Yes, I liked the 10s better. There were some deer on the same hillside we were at 75-100yds in the brush. Hand holding I could count more deer with the NL10 than the NL12, my Maven B1.2 8x were the same number of deer counted as the NL12. I'd like to look through some NL8 before buying any.

Makes sense, I was torn between the 10/12’s settled on 12’s for scouting, and rifle hunting they will be perfect. During archery they might get swapped with 8x42 razors since little to no glassing happens, but we shall see.

 

[ShakeDown]

I would switch to NLs if I had the coin. I wanted to buy a BTX before, but now am reconsidering adding the ATC instead.

It's possible @ShakeDown is going to shake it all up.

F, marry, kill.

F-ing the NL 12x on a tripod, marrying the ATC, killing the little Kowa.

All joking aside, I’m keeping my EL Range TA 8x, the STX 95, and the ATC.

Selling the Kowa 554, which makes me sad.

Tempted to sell the 95 and trade the ATC for an STC and buy a second STC and the Adam’s Adapter. Plus a Kowa 88 for really stretching it out.

I have issues.

 

[sndmn11]

F, marry, kill.

F-ing the NL 12x on a tripod, marrying the ATC, killing the little Kowa.

All joking aside, I’m keeping my EL Range TA 8x, the STX 95, and the ATC.

Selling the Kowa 554, which makes me sad.

Tempted to sell the 95 and trade the ATC for an STC and buy a second STC and the Adam’s Adapter. Plus a Kowa 88 for really stretching it out.

I have issues.

A lot of shenanigans

 

[NickyD]

First I’d like to thank @Tahoe1305 and everyone else that let us use your optics.

I’d also like to mention the fact that I’m pretty inexperienced compared to the others at the review. I’ve been hunting for 6 years and have always had lower budget optics. I’m looking to upgrade to high end glass and wanted to take advantage of trying them in a realistic scenario without spending money on rentals. I’m by no means an expert on optics and just hoping that sharing my experience could help others in a similar situation as I am.


I was primarily comparing my Maven C3 10x50 to Swarovski SLC 15x56, NL 12x42, and EL 8x42 range. Using the resolution chart at 400 yards and the 3D archery buck at 1200 yard I could hardly differentiate between my maven and the EL ranges midday. I could cleanly see a few more resolution points at 400 and 600 yards (I couldn’t distinguish any points with the EL or C3 at this range) with the SLC and NL but I think this is primarily due to the extra magnification.

For most of the afternoon I was quite disappointed with the higher end optics. I had felt that my sub $509 binoculars were competing well with optics over $3k. The larger FOV and edge to edge clarity difference was significant but nothing that couldn’t be overcome by simply panning the tripod. The center of the C3 proved to be very good. The C3 fell behind in every category but it mostly wasn’t significant enough for me to justify the cost of upgrading. I’ll be quite confident having those in my truck knowing I have a very good backup optic going forward.

It wasn’t until the sun set behind the mountain that I could tell why people spend significant amounts of money on high end optics. Primarily comparing my C3 to the NL 12x42 the last hour I could see a significant degradation of resolution from my C3. The image seemed hazy in comparison despite the perfect weather conditions.. After about 3 hours of glassing I had to take a few seconds break every few minutes with the C3, but didn’t have to do that with the NL. I could clearly see into bushes (750-1000 yards away) with the NL while i could only see the cluster of bushes with my C3. The small differences became large, resulting in an overwhelming advantage to the NL. I understand that there’s a significant jump between the C3 and NL but I think the EL and SLC were much closer to the NL than the C3 in this regard.

While the SLC was my favorite from a resolution/magnification standpoint, I definitely want a solid low light and short range binocular as the FOV is too narrow for anything less than 1000 yards. If you are typically glassing around 1 mile or more than I think the 15x56 SLC would provide a solid advantage over the lower magnification optics. Some day I’d love to own one.

In the sunny conditions, the bino bandit was extremely helpful. It significantly reduced glare which helped with eye fatigue and honestly it felt like I could resolve the chart better with them on. This theory may have to be tested but for less than $20 it’s hard to not have one on your binoculars



Overall, I think there’s a significant advantage to high end binoculars when it comes to low light performance. This is when animals are on the move and when you need your optics to be performing best. I think the NL would be a poor financial decision at this time and plan to look at some binoculars in the $1500-2500 range. I really liked the EL range 8x42 and EL 12x50 and I think I’ll end up getting the EL 10x42.


As for spotting scopes, I plan to keep my Maven CS.1A. I’m not counting inches and just need it for getting a bit more magnification when a deer is just out of range and/or for judging antler frame. While it was definitely the worst spotting scope at the review it’s still decent enough for me. That being said, the ATC and new 66 Kowa were outstanding and one of the two would be my choice if I were upgrading.

 

[Tahoe1305]

First I’d like to thank @Tahoe1305 and everyone else that let us use your optics.

I’d also like to mention the fact that I’m pretty inexperienced compared to the others at the review. I’ve been hunting for 6 years and have always had lower budget optics. I’m looking to upgrade to high end glass and wanted to take advantage of trying them in a realistic scenario without spending money on rentals. I’m by no means an expert on optics and just hoping that sharing my experience could help others in a similar situation as I am.


I was primarily comparing my Maven C3 10x50 to Swarovski SLC 15x56, NL 12x42, and EL 8x42 range. Using the resolution chart at 400 yards and the 3D archery buck at 1200 yard I could hardly differentiate between my maven and the EL ranges midday. I could cleanly see a few more resolution points at 400 and 600 yards (I couldn’t distinguish any points with the EL or C3 at this range) with the SLC and NL but I think this is primarily due to the extra magnification.

For most of the afternoon I was quite disappointed with the higher end optics. I had felt that my sub $509 binoculars were competing well with optics over $3k. The larger FOV and edge to edge clarity difference was significant but nothing that couldn’t be overcome by simply panning the tripod. The center of the C3 proved to be very good. The C3 fell behind in every category but it mostly wasn’t significant enough for me to justify the cost of upgrading. I’ll be quite confident having those in my truck knowing I have a very good backup optic going forward.

It wasn’t until the sun set behind the mountain that I could tell why people spend significant amounts of money on high end optics. Primarily comparing my C3 to the NL 12x42 the last hour I could see a significant degradation of resolution from my C3. The image seemed hazy in comparison despite the perfect weather conditions.. After about 3 hours of glassing I had to take a few seconds break every few minutes with the C3, but didn’t have to do that with the NL. I could clearly see into bushes (750-1000 yards away) with the NL while i could only see the cluster of bushes with my C3. The small differences became large, resulting in an overwhelming advantage to the NL. I understand that there’s a significant jump between the C3 and NL but I think the EL and SLC were much closer to the NL than the C3 in this regard.

While the SLC was my favorite from a resolution/magnification standpoint, I definitely want a solid low light and short range binocular as the FOV is too narrow for anything less than 1000 yards. If you are typically glassing around 1 mile or more than I think the 15x56 SLC would provide a solid advantage over the lower magnification optics. Some day I’d love to own one.

In the sunny conditions, the bino bandit was extremely helpful. It significantly reduced glare which helped with eye fatigue and honestly it felt like I could resolve the chart better with them on. This theory may have to be tested but for less than $20 it’s hard to not have one on your binoculars



Overall, I think there’s a significant advantage to high end binoculars when it comes to low light performance. This is when animals are on the move and when you need your optics to be performing best. I think the NL would be a poor financial decision at this time and plan to look at some binoculars in the $1500-2500 range. I really liked the EL range 8x42 and EL 12x50 and I think I’ll end up getting the EL 10x42.


As for spotting scopes, I plan to keep my Maven CS.1A. I’m not counting inches and just need it for getting a bit more magnification when a deer is just out of range and/or for judging antler frame. While it was definitely the worst spotting scope at the review it’s still decent enough for me. That being said, the ATC and new 66 Kowa were outstanding and one of the two would be my choice if I were upgrading.

Maven makes solid stuff. You’ll be well served for sure! I appreciate you coming out and comparing and glad you got the time behind them all to make your own choices. Best part of the event!

 

[mainbeam pursuit2]

After looking through all the options Saturday , I came to the conclusion that I really like my NL10s And don’t miss my NL 12s. I’ll hang onto my Meopta S2 even though I think the Kowa 88 of sandman’s is a better spotter. The Kowa 66 impressed me along with the atc. I think I’ll put $ aside and pick up a compact spotter, Swaro or a Kowa.

 

[Tahoe1305]

After looking through all the options Saturday , I came to the conclusion that I really like my NL10s And don’t miss my NL 12s. I’ll hang onto my Meopta S2 even though I think the Kowa 88 of sandman’s is a better spotter. The Kowa 66 impressed me along with the atc. I think I’ll put $ aside and pick up a compact spotter, Swaro or a Kowa.

Did you have the S2 out there and I missed it? I’ve heard really good things bet never looked through one.

 

[mainbeam pursuit2]

Yes I did, right behind where you were sitting. You can check it out anytime you’d like.

 

[Tahoe1305]

Yes I did, right behind where you were sitting. You can check it out anytime you’d like.

Appreciate it. I have some minor regrets with it all Saturday. I swore I allowed enough time (few hours) of above head sun to see all I wanted to see. But felt much more rushed than I hoped. I counted 24 optics I ran through the worksheet but had at least 3 others I wanted to mess with.

S2, EL ranges, Kowa 88, and ATX were admittedly the few.

All in all I got what I personally was hoping to.

Are NLs an upgrade to ELs? And what value is a mini spotter? Were the two things I was most interested in.

 

[ShakeDown]

@Tahoe1305 you’ve got my number buddy, you can use the EL Range’s or the STX anytime.

 

[Firestone]

Sounded like a good time. I also have a little kowa that I am gonna sell because I was exposed to a stc. After using one for a week in wyoming side by side with my kowa, the swaro is the better piece of glass hands down.

 

[Felton]

This is really great info. Guys putting their money where their mouth is really shows what they think. I wish I was close and could have made it.

I just picked up a Kowa 883 recently and have been wondering if I should have gotten the 66a instead. I’m sure this would have helped clarify that but after reading the comments now it might possibly muddy the water with the stc.

I can’t wait to see the final results.