Leica APO Televid 65 vs Kowa 773?

[PHo]

I currently own the Kowa, but I’ve been eyeing the Leica for a while now. I know that the Leica 65 is discontinued but I’d pick one up used if the opportunity arises. I just first wanted to know if it would be worth the trouble because I would have to sell my Kowa before buying anything else. Has anyone done a comparison between these two spotters?

 

[Brian Fahs]

I had 2 of the leica 62 apo scopes. Currently run a kowa 884. All are fantastic. I would keep the kowa

 

[Matt G.]

Always heard great things about the leica. I have the kowa 77 and the weight and overall size on the 65 is almost the same as the 77 so I will take the larger objective.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

 

[tdhanses]

I can’t seeing moving to the Leica from the Kowa.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

We are both Leica and Kowa dealers. Both companies are top quality optics companies.

In spotters Kowa has become the industry go to. Leica has not supported their spotting scopes in years. No accessories available for the "current" models. I say "current" as they have discussed revamping their spotting scopes for years but so far nothing new. I would suggest keeping what you have vs buying a discontinued product which if you have an issue you may wind up with a big issue.

Leica has become a forerunner with rangefinders. They have been attentive to building a solid riflescope line but spotters are their weakest segment.

 

[TBossHSauce]

Leica has brought back the 65mm. It is no longer discontinued.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

The APO-82 Angled and APO-65 Angled are current. The straights are no longer being offered as Leica sold out and are no longer producing them. There's been talk, but no updates, on a new updated line of spotters which is why Leica isn't making cases any longer for the 65's

 

[North61]

I have the Leica straight 65mm. Really great optics but very heavy. If I had it to do over again I'd go 77mm Kowa at virtually the same weight. There is no replacement for displacement when the quality is roughly equal.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

FWIW, we put the Kowa TSN-773's and 774's with the TE-11WZ 25-60x Wide Eyepiece on Sale for only $1,899.00 this morning. There's no better opportunity in a high end spotter