Kowa 773 (from Razor 65mm)

[eaglemountainman]

idcuda, Why not take a few strokes on the PD plate with a file? Touch up the finish with a black Sharpie.

 

[lifelister]

I'm looking at making a similar switch too. The 77 seems to make a big difference. The kowa's are killer in general I've heard. Thanks for the info!

 

[keller]

anybody jumped into the kowa 773?? im thinking about upgrading as well

 

[ghostrider272]

Have one. Really nice spotter! Doug hooked me up at CameraLand.

 

[downtownbrown0610]

A few updates:
My digiscoping skills with the Kowa TSN-PA7 and my Sony a6400 still suck, but it's a work in progress. I'm working on getting my shutter speeds down. I've found you need to go fast (1/500 or better) in order to get clear images, which makes sense.

I upgraded my tripod from a Vortex Summit to the Slik 624, but, more importantly, I upgraded the head to a Sirui VA5 (thanks @S&S Archery (Rob) ). The VA5 is impressive - just search around, it's tough to find a bad review. I'll get a monster aluminum tripod for truck/atv use sometime down the road.

If you own a Razor and a Summit tripod, you would do well just to upgrade the head. The Razor does great, but the pan head that comes on that tripod is so sloppy it's ridiculous. A few shots for comparison:

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Where the rubber meets the road. The Vortex pan head's mount surface (left) compared to the VA5's.
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And, shown along with the tripods' mounting surfaces. L to R: vortex pan head, tripod; Slik tripod, Sirui head.
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If you want to put the VA5 on the Vortex tripod, you'd need an adapter screw, but they're easy to get and cheap. This is what it would look like; not a good match, but I think it would work fine.
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And the quick connect plates (L: vortex, R: sirui). (L: wobbly; R: not wobbly).
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Another bonus: the Peak Design Capture plate will *fit* in the VA5. It slides in perfectly (Arca-Swiss), but it doesn't go in completely due to the clamping mechanism in the VA5. It locks in comfortably enough for me to use it with my a6400. I wouldn't put heavy optics in there with the PD.
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This helped me out so much. Thank you! I have the same vortex tripod and currently looking at the VA5 and a carbon tripod. Everything I have read is that the VA5 is by far the best head on the market for the price. It is making it very tempting but I think you just sealed the deal for me. Thanks again!!

 

[idcuda]

This helped me out so much. Thank you! I have the same vortex tripod and currently looking at the VA5 and a carbon tripod. Everything I have read is that the VA5 is by far the best head on the market for the price. It is making it very tempting but I think you just sealed the deal for me. Thanks again!!

Great to hear, thanks! And good luck on your purchase. I really like the setup and I'm excited to finally get out more with it now that spring is here. Bear season's coming.

 

[downtownbrown0610]

Great to hear, thanks! And good luck on your purchase. I really like the setup and I'm excited to finally get out more with it now that spring is here. Bear season's coming.

Yes it is!! I got lucky and drew a decent spring bear tag here in WA and will let you know how the setup works for me!

 

[cronsman]

My 773 is awesome as well. Super happy with it and not upset I didn't spend an extra $1000 to get the swaro