Kowa 550 series vs Swaro ATS 65 if they were nearly the same price

[bobr1]

Hello,

I have been heavily looking into a spotting scope and after reading a lot of reviews I had pretty much settled on getting the Kowa 550 series primarily for price and weight. However, I have the opportunity to get both discounted but more on the swaro and it would put them within about $100 of each other. I do a mix of hunting including solo and back packing. The primary use would be to get a better look after seeing something in Binos to verify it. Which would you choose in this situation?

Appreciate any feed back,

Bob

 

[2five7]

Isn't the swaro about $500 more retail? Personally, I think the swaro would be a much better "all around" spotter, but obviously the Kowa is pretty amazing as a backpack type spotter. I think the decision would be best made by how much actual pack in type hunting do you do, vs. day-pack type hunting.

Personally I'd buy the swaro, if you end up wanting something smaller you'll be able to sell it easily, they hold their value for years and years.

 

[fatrascal]

I like the Swarovski. Why? Because there are so many swarovski and other after market accessories made for the swarovski. From what I understand from this forum and a few others, the quality of the Kowa glass is as good as the swarovski's. But I've seen many many post where people say that their optics are just as good as swarovski. Everything from Tasco to Vortex to Zenray, to this and that and the other when it simply is not true. Everybody compares to swarovski for a reason. Because they truley are one of the top if not the top dog in quality and performace. Fatrascal.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Swaro for sure. I have both, although my Swaro is the 80mm, and in a side by side comparison in many different conditions and lighting, and to my aging eyes, the Swaro glass is better. Don’t get me wrong, that little Kowa is awesome and for the wt., I don’t think there is a better spotter out there, at least I haven’t seen one, but I like the ability to rotate the spotter on the tripod, and I just think the view is more crisp through the Swaro.


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[HookUp]

I heard the 550 gets dark as soon as the light fades. Thats not great for hunting, thats peak time to find animals.

 

[flyinsquirel]

I heard the 550 gets dark as soon as the light fades. Thats not great for hunting, thats peak time to find animals.

This is absolutely not the case. Get your hands on one, you'll see.

 

[tdhanses]

I heard the 550 gets dark as soon as the light fades. Thats not great for hunting, thats peak time to find animals.

Yeah not even close to true, it isn’t far off from the 80HD swaro, you don’t lose much time but you do lose some.

 

[tdhanses]

OP you need to decide what pros and cons you want. The fov is smaller on the Kowa but it is also half the size and weight. You don’t need as heavy of a tripod to stabilize it, less room in the pack is taken up etc. I had an 80HD swaro and sold it to keep the Kowa, the swaro was always one of the first things I’d remove to save weight, the Kowa is always in my pack.

Also I had the WA eyepiece on my swaro and 50x wasn’t much more then the 45x on the Kowa, the 45x on the Kowa is very clear. So if I get another big spotter it’ll be either the big kowa or swaro atx and I’ll get an extender for whichever to gain that additional zoom factor.

The optics really don’t matter in this comparison as they are very similar.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

Yeah, it comes down to how much you really need to depend on the spotter. If you do just want to verify what you see in binos, the Kowa can do that, with the added bonus of a lot less weight including with the tripod.

 

[bobr1]

Thanks for all the responses. Gives me some more to think about.

 

[Moosehunter]

I own the Kowa and definitely recommend for Backcountry and anything in between. Used it yesterday on a buddies moose hunt, hiked in 6 miles and spent most of the day glassing. I use this scope a ton year round and especially in spring looked for shedding elk and bears. Do a lot of window mount type stuff also and have never really noticed the smaller lense or lack of power. In my opinion Kowa is not as known as Swarovski and therefore the swaro gets the attention. Have looked thru many scopes including the swaro 80 mm atx and honestly the only thing I notice a little is a very clear 60 power which like I mentioned has never really bothered me. I have found and verified a ton of animals at huge ranges...found a moose this spring at 9 miles up in some timber and have counted points on bull elk at 3 and 4 miles no problem. Over all I believe Kowa did a fantastic job on this spotter.

 

[HookUp]

I believe it was Ryan Avery who stated this. I was going to purchase one then he sold his saying he lost to much usable glass time and would deal with the extra weight of the Swaro,

 

[tdhanses]

I believe it was Ryan Avery who stated this. I was going to purchase one then he sold his saying he lost to much usable glass time and would deal with the extra weight of the Swaro,

Yeah but he uses a atx 95 I do believe.

 

[Block]

the FOV is TINNNYYY .... I really like this little spotter but I would hate to use it for anything but animal ID

 

[longbarrel]

the swaro is 20 oz heavier, that is 1-1/4 pounds.

 

[Dust Rider]

How is Kowa customer support? Swaro is amazing for parts to rebuild etc. I have been curious about these Kowa as a light weight day scope to just field judge

 

[DavePwns]

Hello,

I have been heavily looking into a spotting scope and after reading a lot of reviews I had pretty much settled on getting the Kowa 550 series primarily for price and weight. However, I have the opportunity to get both discounted but more on the swaro and it would put them within about $100 of each other. I do a mix of hunting including solo and back packing. The primary use would be to get a better look after seeing something in Binos to verify it. Which would you choose in this situation?

Appreciate any feed back,

Bob

I have been considering the same question, most my hunts are backcountry 5+ miles, the weight savings are very appealing but I'm torn between kowa 550 and atx 65

 

[Moosehunter]

How is Kowa customer support? Swaro is amazing for parts to rebuild etc. I have been curious about these Kowa as a light weight day scope to just field judge

Kowa customer support is amazing in mi opinion. My scope came with a somewhat rough focus. I dealt with for about six months and finally messaged Kowa about the problem. I was doing a moose hunt in like the next month and wanted it as soon as possible so I told them that and they said they would put a note on it. They just shipped me a brand new scope as soon as they saw mine,had my new in a week from the time I shipped mine. Definitely a fan!!

 

[Researcher]

Another guy here with good things to say about the customer service from Kowa. If you can get a deal I would buy both and use both in the field and see what you prefer. Im on my fourth spotting scope setup and you can read all you want but you wont know till you have them in the field.
If you are like me and only buy one you’ll always wonder if the other one was a good idea.

 

[longbarrel]

Doug gave me a great deal on the Kowa 554, and it will stay in the pack instead of the truck, where heavier scopes tend to live. Its optics are first rate.