New 56mm Swaro spotter

[MtnMuley]

You're not giving up anything with the Kowa, and it's a quarter pound lighter and about $900 cheaper

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Yep. I own a ton of Swaro items and am keeping my 554 and passing on the 56mm at this point.

 

[TheGDog]

I haven't looked through either of them, but the thing that stands out to me is this:
.
.
.
Eye Relief
Kowa: 14.5-12 dependent on power
Swaro: 20mm

I'd be interested in a glass comparison for quality but those are some big differences.

For me as an eyeglass wearer... that 20mm for Eye Relief jumped right out at me!

 

[Shraggs]

I'd originally bought the Vortex Razor 11-33x50mm.. but for me as an eyeglasses wearer now... in the upper end of it's magnification range... I had to actually press my face up on it until my eyeglass lense literally touched upon its' eyepiece glass... in order to be in focus when it was cranked all the way up. And I DO NOT want to have to take my glasses off in the field.. that's just begging to drop them and break them somehow while you're on the hunt. Bump that noise! That Rx is expensive to.. especially once you start tacking on the coatings and impact resistant glass of better quality, etc. I'd have a mini-heart attack anytime I fumbled with that pair, cause of how much they cost me

Also realistically, on that one, after about.. I'd say 22x... any further magnification you cranked on it... it was jsut making the image bigger... BUT... more and more less-defined and fuzzier, with less of a sharp edge on everything in the FOV.

Also... trying to use both the Binos and that angled spotter. It was a PITA having to re-adjust the tripod and drop it down and then re-acquire the dang target again. Which, as you all know can be tricky, even when you make it point to remember some nearby landmarks to guide you in! No matter what you're looking at some amount of time you're wasting re-acquiring the object. And sometimes that's all it takes for them to disappear again for a bit.

So I'd decided I want a Straight spotter this time, so I can just swap 'em out no-muss no-fuss and be on target still. Or at least very darn close to being still on target after the change of optics.

A little off topic, as I’ve purged mist optics with less than 16mm eye relief for my prescription. Except my Nikon ed50. Love the light little thing. The zoom I have to remove my glasses.

I found a unique croakies or whatever they’re called. It’s attaches to each ear piece and it’s a thin rigid vinyl covered wire. They don’t get caught in my collar when glasses are on and they come off and hang the glasses seamlessly. They don’t even weigh on oz.

FYI

 

[Trial153]

I haven't looked through either of them, but the thing that stands out to me is this:

FOV @ Min Mag
Kowa (15x): 132 ft
Swaro (17x): 186 ft

FOX @ Max Mag
Kowa (45x): 69 ft
Swaro (40x): 102 ft

Eye Relief
Kowa: 14.5-12 dependent on power
Swaro: 20mm

I'd be interested in a glass comparison for quality but those are some big differences.

Those are some significant differences. Thanks for sharing that

 

[Trial153]

Well I am on the list….ordered one from GoHunt, no tax and free shipping…plus I had 800 points to burn. Figured this was as good a time to burn them as any. Fingers crossed

 

[wyosteve]

Outdoorsmans was up to 103 on the waiting list as of yesterday evening. I think I'll check GoHunt.

 

[Trial153]

GOHUNT on Instagram: "@swarovskioptik_hunting came by the GOHUNT office to show us their newest release in spotting scopes, the ATC and STC 17-40x56! We are blown away by the performance. They have the widest field of view and the highest clarity of

1,276 likes, 25 comments - gohunt on September 15, 2022: "@swarovskioptik_hunting came by the GOHUNT office to show us their newest release in spotting scopes, the ATC and STC 17-40x56! We are bl...".

www.instagram.com

 

[MuleyFever]

I haven't looked through either of them, but the thing that stands out to me is this:

FOV @ Min Mag
Kowa (15x): 132 ft
Swaro (17x): 186 ft

FOX @ Max Mag
Kowa (45x): 69 ft
Swaro (40x): 102 ft

Eye Relief
Kowa: 14.5-12 dependent on power
Swaro: 20mm

I'd be interested in a glass comparison for quality but those are some big differences.

I wonder what the FOV is on the KOWA at 40x?

The thing is I dont use my spotter to scan with. I use it to look at an animal I have found. The eye relief can be a big deal for some people though.

 

[Dust Rider]

I got the link to the new Swaro Compact a few weeks ago from SCI. Wish I never even opened the link. Now wanting one to free up more space and weight from the 65 STS. Oh the weakness of being a gear whore…

 

[SomeJackassOnAForum]

I wonder what the FOV is on the KOWA at 40x?

The thing is I dont use my spotter to scan with. I use it to look at an animal I have found. The eye relief can be a big deal for some people though.

FOV isn't linear, but the FOV goes through 63 feet over 30 powers, so it's around 2 ft per mag on average, which would be under ~79 ft. (because non-linear) 75-77 ft is a good guess.

I agree that spotters are typically for looking "at" things rather than looking "for" things but the advantage with a larger FOV is picking up things in the periphery that you didn't know were there to look at and having an easier time getting on target.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I'm going to see how this new Swaro is received over the next 18 months or so and possibly buy a used one. I simply don't have a real use for a big spotter and can't justify retail on a smaller one that I'd use more.

 

[antlerz]

This Swaro would be good if you want an angled small spotter. The wider FOV helps you get on target (positive).
No rotating collar (-ve)
It is heavier than the Kowa (negative)

Will it supply the same level of detail as the Kowa?
Kowa manages to get the job done!

To make me purchase it, it would have to match the ATS65 for distance viewing. This would be a big ask for a 56 objective and 5x less mag.

Looking forward to longer term use reports.

 

[tdhanses]

For me as an eyeglass wearer... that 20mm for Eye Relief jumped right out at me!

I get what your saying but i’ve been usig the kowa since it came out, being an eyeglass wearer i guess i’ve just adapted to it and make it work.

 

[TheGDog]

I get what your saying but i’ve been usig the kowa since it came out, being an eyeglass wearer i guess i’ve just adapted to it and make it work.

I'm glad it does work for you. For me's it's a Murphy's law thing. Specifically one of the times I was out here with the 11-33x50mm spotter... I'd dropped my glasses since having to take them off. Resulting in the lenses popping out... and me... now with sh!tty normal vision frustrated and having to deal with popping them back in (which for that particular pair was NOT...repeat NOT...easy) because the backup pair (different frames) I'm not as fond of.

Thankfully it was in a no stress situation. But I'm not stupid. Can you imagine if that happened right as I glass up something that gets me pumped? I don't need any MORE stress in my life. Thank you very much.

 

[Travis Hobbs]

If it’s anything like the technology they put in the NL pures (I’m hearing it is) this swaro will be worth every damn penny.

There is nothing, and I mean nothing even close to the clarity and field of view of the NL Binos.

Some of the reports comparing the X series 65 to this new scope is pretty crazy…

 

[Okbow87]

I wouldn't just guess that the Kowa has better resolution from comparing them to the atx/stx series. Because of the modularity, those spotters have extra lenses in them that the new compact does not. The atx/stx has an extra cover lens on the objective the compact does not have, and an extra lens at the connection point for both the objective and eye piece. At least 3 extra lenses the compact won't have.

Plus the swaro has all the other swarovision technologies like field flattening lenses for awesome field of view and edge to edge clarity. It has the same size ocular as the atx/stx with great eye relief and will be ultra forgiving for eye position compared to the narrow eye piece of the Kowa or Vortex.

Although the person that gave me the run down would be biased by default, they claimed side to side comparison is not close for total viewing experience.

 

[Blue72]

I know on the bird forum there is a debate that the Nikon ED50 with fixed eyepieces can hold its own against the Kowa 554

love to see a side by side with the swaro

 

[WRO]

I am going to buy it, then sell my 65mm Swarovski and up grade to the 85mm …

The combo will be all I ever need, well till something new comes along

Get the 95mm, owned both.

 

[parshal]

This little spotter has more FOV at 1000 than the Kowa 883. Wow. It'd be interesting to see what they are at the same power.

STC - 186'-102'
883 - 138ft-75.5ft

 

[Matt G.]

STC is at 18x-40 vs the 883 at 25-60X. It is not apples to apples and for two different uses.