Kowa TSN-553 spotting scope review

[Bowhunter50]

Thanks for the update. I was afraid that would be the case with the fov. I think I might go the same route with the kowa 773. Looks like you had some awesome hunts. Congrats! Great coues buck! I’m hoping to hunt those guys someday.


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[dcreiss]

FOV is one of my concerns with purchasing this scope as the specs show it to be narrower than the vanguard endeavor 65 at the low range of the magnification range (144-69 for endeavor and 132-69 for kowa 55). Sometimes I feel like my vanguard gives me the "tunnel vision effect" some people mention. Not excited about spending a lot of money and getting a narrower field of view. But I am excited about the weight savings and increase in clarity.

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Apart from the tunnel vision effect you mention above, how has the vanguard endeavor 65 spotter treated you? I am in the market for a lower priced spotter and that setup with a tripod for $399 seems to be quite the package.

 

[elkeaterco]

Apart from the tunnel vision effect you mention above, how has the vanguard endeavor 65 spotter treated you? I am in the market for a lower priced spotter and that setup with a tripod for $399 seems to be quite the package.

dcreiss, Sorry, no experience with the Vanguard. Hope you can try one out and see if it'll meet your needs. Post your thought if you do.

Jake

 

[Bowhunter50]

Apart from the tunnel vision effect you mention above, how has the vanguard endeavor 65 spotter treated you? I am in the market for a lower priced spotter and that setup with a tripod for $399 seems to be quite the package.

I have the vanguard 65. It’s been a good scope for the money. I just bought it used on rokslide for a killer price to get me by while saving up for a better scope. This past year I spotted some Muley bucks in the shade of a few pine trees at about 700 yards with it. I could just see an antler or an ear looking down through the branches in the shade. So it has been worth packing. The FOV has been a bit annoying. My next scope will definitely have a wide angle eye piece.

I just got some 10x42 SLC’s with an outdoorsmans tripod mount. For my experience they are unreal on a tripod. I haven’t done much heavy testing yet, but it seems as though I can pick up a little more detail with the SLC’s than I can with the Vanguard at 16x. I haven’t taken them in the mountains yet though. Just minor testing in the backyard. I have a feeling I might be using the scope a little less now.

Sorry for the tangent there. I would recommend the vanguard for decent performance at a good price point. I haven’t compared it side by side with other similarly priced scopes though. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful.


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