Mini Spotters, Worth it?

[jjschuh]

Seeing all the "mini" spotters from various brands and not having any experience with them, I'm curious. You guys find that the weight and size savings of these smaller spotting scopes are worth it over even say a 65mm spotter? Is it worth it for say a back packing trip?

How does optic quality compare? Say Vortex for example, how does glass compare between the mini's and the regular spotters? In a situation where you aren't worried about weight or size of optic do the mini's hold their own? I wouldn't think they would be as good but not entirely sure.

If you already have a spotting scope is it worth adding another to the line up? Or even selling the larger optic for the smaller?

 

[BBob]

Swaro or mby Kowa. I haven’t looked through a little Kowa in a long time but the new small format Swaro is great. My 65 is my most used and I’d say most versatile. I highly doubt I’ll sell it anytime soon. I sold my 80 a few years ago and I don’t really miss it. It all comes down to your specific use as to what size you are going to want to pack.

 

[handwerk]

I still have my Swaro STS 65 HD but last year used my STC and it gives up very little to it’s big brother and is so packable it is always with me on western hunts.

 

[Ckat]

I have a little compact Leupold Gold Ring spotter. Admittedly, it doesn’t have the best glass, but it is certainly functional/usable enough to save lots of walking…. with that, it it is so light/handy that it goes with me ALWAYS. It’s comparable to CC pistols in my eyes, the one that you have with you is better than the one you left at the house due to size/weight/etc.

 

[Willie IV]

I just sold my Vortex 65mm spotter and got the Kowa TSN 55 compact for Christmas. I'm loving it so far but haven't really put it thru the paces yet. I'm on the north side of 50 now so I'm focusing on quality gear that saves me some weight. This Kowa does just that.

 

[Pistolpete28]

I was going to buy a swaro STC but i figure the only time I’ll pack the mini spotter will be for specific situations where i plan to sit on a specific scouted animal in a hole somewhere. So I saved some money and bought the baby razor instead. If I’m scouting or hunting a new area 95% of the time the kowa 99 will get the backpack ride. This is coming from a guy that primarily hunts mule deer. I think the mini spotter are worth it for backpack hunting.

 

[jjschuh]

I just sold my Vortex 65mm spotter and got the Kowa TSN 55 compact for Christmas. I'm loving it so far but haven't really put it thru the paces yet. I'm on the north side of 50 now so I'm focusing on quality gear that saves me some weight. This Kowa does just that.

Would be interesting to hear some feed back after you get some more time with it

 

[jjschuh]

I was going to buy a swaro STC but i figure the only time I’ll pack the mini spotter will be for specific situations where i plan to sit on a specific scouted animal in a hole somewhere. So I saved some money and bought the baby razor instead. If I’m scouting or hunting a new area 95% of the time the kowa 99 will get the backpack ride. This is coming from a guy that primarily hunts mule deer. I think the mini spotter are worth it for backpack hunting.

yeah that makes sense, my 65 wasn't crazy big in the pack by any means but always have the curiosity if something smaller that fit better would worth the change

 

[Stinky Coyote]

I just sold my Vortex 65mm spotter and got the Kowa TSN 55 compact for Christmas. I'm loving it so far but haven't really put it thru the paces yet. I'm on the north side of 50 now so I'm focusing on quality gear that saves me some weight. This Kowa does just that.

in same boat and that kowa and little Swaro (and I'm not a Swaro guy, but definitely a kowa guy) made to top of my wishlist, for if I get some of my cabal money back one day, some stuff about the Swaro imaging I saw in shadows etc. swayed me to put the little Swaro at top of list by a c-hair but I know I'd be happy with either,

having my little ed50 13-40 and kowa 65 and how little I use them now I prolly won't make the leap as they still produce awesome images, still researched it a year or two back because my mind gets bored so could be some other options to look at since but I doubt it, I just got some ollins stuff and decent tripod so I can roll everything off the tripod clickity click including bino's ect., usually use the 65 for range work, either works for scouting and if I pack one always the Nikon, love that little booger, image still makes me smile after all this time, and even more when you have it in hand

 

[rizay-52]

Has anybody tried twin STC's with that Adam's adaptor for being able to glass with both eyes?
It seems like trying to keep those in focus all the time to use them like high powered binos might be tough.

 

[Castle Rock]

Would be interesting to hear some feed back after you get some more time with it

I have had one for many years, it is an excellent choice

 

[Nicaburns]

I have had quite a few but it is my Kowa tsn-553 that rides in my pack! It fits the bill for all I want in a backpack spotter

 

[Valumpessa]

Seeing all the "mini" spotters from various brands and not having any experience with them, I'm curious. You guys find that the weight and size savings of these smaller spotting scopes are worth it over even say a 65mm spotter? Is it worth it for say a back packing trip?

Depends on what you're using the spotter for. I went from a 65mm Razor to 773 Kowa and now a 554 Kowa, which seems to be the sweet spot for my purposes - hike/backpack in several miles, find animals with binos, then pull out spotter to get a closer look as needed. And 15-45x is enough for the country I hunt. Only wish it had more FOV, especially at higher zoom, so may try the new Kowa 55s eventually.

If you intend on glassing/gridding to locate animals with a spotter then do your eyes a favor and stick with a larger objective.

 

[RockAndSage]

Seeing all the "mini" spotters from various brands and not having any experience with them, I'm curious. You guys find that the weight and size savings of these smaller spotting scopes are worth it over even say a 65mm spotter? Is it worth it for say a back packing trip?

How does optic quality compare? Say Vortex for example, how does glass compare between the mini's and the regular spotters? In a situation where you aren't worried about weight or size of optic do the mini's hold their own? I wouldn't think they would be as good but not entirely sure.

If you already have a spotting scope is it worth adding another to the line up? Or even selling the larger optic for the smaller?

It really does depend on how you're hunting. Like guns, optics are tools, and some will be more or less effective for a given job. If I'm doing a lot of miles on foot, especially if the ground is broken up or there's a lot of timber, a smaller spotter is great. If I'm in BFE Nevada and predominantly truck-scouting the roads of a new zone, where I can glass ridge or rimrock a couple of miles out, the larger the spotter the better, to a degree. If I had to choose just one for everything though, a Kowa 66 or equivalent is a pretty good sweet spot.

As to quality, you get what you pay for. It's pretty closely tied to cost on binos and spotters. Cheap means you'll get eye fatigue faster, won't be able to see in low light as well, and especially in places like the Great Basin, you won't be able to peer into dark shadows, especially deep ones under midday sun, as well. Kowa and Swaro are the top of the line for effectiveness on those points.

 

[jjschuh]

It really does depend on how you're hunting. Like guns, optics are tools, and some will be more or less effective for a given job. If I'm doing a lot of miles on foot, especially if the ground is broken up or there's a lot of timber, a smaller spotter is great. If I'm in BFE Nevada and predominantly truck-scouting the roads of a new zone, where I can glass ridge or rimrock a couple of miles out, the larger the spotter the better, to a degree. If I had to choose just one for everything though, a Kowa 66 or equivalent is a pretty good sweet spot.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Not a single option that is perfect for every situation but definitely options that could perform as well as you need in most situations.