Kowa 77mm spotting scope review

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

Hey Roksliders,

I just finished up this review/comparison of the Kowa TSN-770 series spotter. I liked it so much I bought one.

There may also be some mention of the upcoming TSN-550 series ultra light Fluorite crystal spotter.

Kowa 77mm Spotting Scope Comparison and Review - S&S Archery Backcountry

Rob

 

[Eric4]

Nice review! Looking forward to the 550 series of scopes. It sounds like a new 15x45 eyepiece will be released with the scope as well?

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

Just speculation at this point, but our Kowa sales rep said that it should be a Prominar XD glass 15-45x eyepiece to go with the Fluorite crystal obj, similar to the TE11wz. Crossing our fingers!

 

[dotman]

I saw that Seekoutside posted an est price of $900 during their Shot Show coverage, has any pricing been provided to you from your rep on the 550 series?

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

I saw that Seekoutside posted an est price of $900 during their Shot Show coverage, has any pricing been provided to you from your rep on the 550 series?

Wow, that would be amazing, but I don't know. We were told that pricing and specs would be available in 6-8 weeks.

It sounds like there will be two scopes. A lesser grade 50mm and the Prominar 55mm.

 

[Eric4]

I wonder if the $900 is the estimated price including eyepiece ...

 

[dotman]

I wonder if the $900 is the estimated price including eyepiece ...

From what I've heard, eyepiece isn't removable, I would expect they price it less then the TSN-660's.

 

[willidru]

Nice review, any idea how it performs next to a Maven or Meopta that are similarly priced?

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

Nice review, any idea how it performs next to a Maven or Meopta that are similarly priced?

Nope, not first hand..sorry!

 

[flyinsquirel]

How about a comparison between the 773 and an ATS 80HD? They should be pretty close in weight. Wondering if the Swaro takes the low light showdown.

 

[excaliber]

I saw that Seekoutside posted an est price of $900 during their Shot Show coverage, has any pricing been provided to you from your rep on the 550 series?

900.00 is a really good price considering it's supposed to come with fluorite glass. The eyepiece alone for the larger scopes runs 600.00 or more.
I would expect this to be closer to 1400.00 but we will see.

 

[AKborn87]

I'd be interested in seeing a comparison between the Swarovski ATS 20-60 x 65mm spotting scope and the Kowa TSN-663 66mm with the 20-60 zoom lens. Guessing they're fairly comparable in most aspects, but would be interested in a head to head review of those two spotters.

 

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

I'd be interested in seeing a comparison between the Swarovski ATS 20-60 x 65mm spotting scope and the Kowa TSN-663 66mm with the 20-60 zoom lens. Guessing they're fairly comparable in most aspects, but would be interested in a head to head review of those two spotters.

We've looked at the TSN-663 and it's just not as good as the 77mm or the 88mm. I don't think it compares well at all to the ATS.

 

[keepriding]

it used to be a non-issue since weight and price of the 77 and 88mm Kowas was not very far apart. With $800 difference that might be reason for a second thought - although, while reviews on the 88mm series are universally good, the 77mm gets more mixed reviews - bf reader Kimmo saw more CA than he liked...

I would probably still try to get the 88m version... maybe used.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

We've looked at the TSN-663 and it's just not as good as the 77mm or the 88mm. I don't think it compares well at all to the ATS.

interesting. i've compared my 664 to an ats and sts 65 hd at length and optically it was a toss up. the biggest difference was the swaro had a wider field of view, but image quality was neck and neck even up to 60x and lower light. i think there was a review done somewhere on here and had similar results.

 

[AKborn87]

We've looked at the TSN-663 and it's just not as good as the 77mm or the 88mm. I don't think it compares well at all to the ATS.

What we need is Swarovski to produce a 25-60x wide angle zoom lens for the ATS/STS, similar to the lens produced for the Kowa 880/770...then they would beat leica with a wide angle and higher zoom and beat Kowa with a comparable eyepiece at a substantial weight difference. Obviously the 77mm Kowa would still have all of the other enjoyable aspects....but seems like a Swaro ATS/STS with a 25-60x wide angle zoom lens would be tough to beat.