Need some help picking a spotting scope

[sqdougherty]

View attachment 144177
96x @ 400ish yards. This one was a handheld phone over the eyepiece type thing. The others I used the Novagrade attachment.

That’s pretty awesome


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[Hemmert6187]

Great quality on all of those photos and from good distance


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[Don Qui Puncher]

Impressive

 

[tdhanses]

Hit the range today and snapped a quick photo at 40x and 96x with my Kowa 773. While not super far it was at 300yds. It was windy and I didn’t mess with the focus too much.



Also a few of the woods past the berm.

 

[Elk2008]

Awesome pics!

 

[tdhanses]

Awesome pics!

Not really, they don’t do it justice, it’s super sharpe and clear.

 

[Wassid82]

View attachment 144176
96x

Both taken at the same time in the middle of the day last summer. Distance as the crow flies is 2 miles

I've see that building somewhere.....

 

[Jardo]

Why not consider the kowa 883? Yes it’s bigger and heavier but if your packing a scope, may as well have the best because it sucks to carry any size scope.

The 883 has fluorite glass. The 773 does not. My guide this year had a Swarovski and his helper had a Leica. Both of them used my kowa 883 scope most of the hunt because the resolution at high magnification was simply much better than their 65mm objective Swarovski and Leica.

If your going to bite the bullet, buy the best and there’s no contest, the kowa 883 is simply the best available hunting or birdwatching scope... period.



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[Broomd]

That's a great idea! I totally missed that as a possibility

The usability in the field at 96X (or anything over about 50X) is about nil....That isn't to say a decent picture can't be had, but practical use is almost always a waste of time over about 35-40x due to movement, heat distortion, moving game, etc etc.

 

[tdhanses]

The usability in the field at 96X (or anything over about 50X) is about nil....That isn't to say a decent picture can't be had, but practical use is almost always a waste of time over about 35-40x due to movement, heat distortion, moving game, etc etc.

Agreed but it’s sure nice to have as an option for a very minimal weight penalty. It also only takes a few seconds to remove and have the standard 25-60x wa lens. I had the swaro 80hd with the 25-50 wa lens, it’s extra 5x of zoom wasn’t worth it to me to keep over my Kowa 553 with 45x zoom even with the fov diff.

 

[fatrascal]

Nice comparison pictures Researcher. Fatrascal.

 

[Mountain_Life]

I've see that building somewhere.....

So have I. I'm thinking maybe he did a range finder review?

 

[Moosehunter]

Total Kowa fan here. I own a 553 and my hunting buddy has a 774. Resolution is insane and reasonable price. Can't speak to much on the 88mm but I'm sure it's even more amazing! Don't no how tho...

 

[pbcarch]

Just some food for thought ... I went from a vortex razor 85 (older version) to a Swarovski ATX. I have both the 65m and 85m lenses. The 65m packs real nicely in my backpack for out west and i use the 85 at the rifle range.
You can find demo Swarovski at a decent amount of reputable dealers. Usually listed a “A” demo which are straight from the factory with full warranty and no cosmetic issues


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[longbarrel]

When you wrote "packs easily" I thought of my Kowa 554 at 28 oz. and optically very close to European 65 mm glass, or 85 mm Vortex raxor. Straight is easier to pack than angled. If you have the budget and aren't backpacking the scope, then a big Kowa, Leica, etc is great.

 

[tdot]

I went thru this a few years ago. I ended up with the Kowa 663. The 77 was too much of an in between size. The 66 stayed right with it optically and there was only a few minutes more useable light with the 77. But the 66 was way more packable then the 77.

I had my new STX/BTX w/ 65mm and 95mm along with my 663 out today. I am still impressed with the 663 optically. The main reason I upgraded was for the BTX. For the price difference, I dont think I would take the STX/65 over the 663. But more testing is required before I decide that.

 

[C2hunting]

I'm working on that. I have plans for next weekend to look at the Kowa and Leica. The only one that I have been around at all is the Swaro. Others that I have personally looked through would be Maven, Zeiss and Vortex.

For less money, I absolutely love my Maven. Hard to compete with Swaro and Leica in low light conditions, but I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for in optics.

 

[easilyamused]

Ive used a kowa 880 this past season and I cant recommend it enough if you dont mind the weight. Ive compared it side by side with an atx65 (middle of the day, good lighting) and with both at 60x the kowa could resolve more detail on a building several miles away l but it was very close for sure.

Took this photo from 4.45km (2.75m) through the 884 @60x using a sony a6300 w/35mm lens, in the last hour or so of daylight.

 

[Cody_W]

This is the setup you need if you decide weight isn’t a big deal. 95mm with the 1.7 Me gives me 120x that is crazy crisp. I’ll try and make time to get some pictures tonight at dusk.

 

[pbcarch]

Cody....you found the magnifier extender to not fuzzy the image?

I had gotten one for my 85 and 65 lenses and didnt like the fuzziness or limit on light, so I sold it

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