old Leica APO Televid 18-48x62 vs new Kowa 553

[Burnt Reynolds]

I bought the Leica spotter used from a seller here at Rokslide. No complaints. Prior to buying it I had zero experience with spotting scopes. It's old, at least 10 years old I'd guess. That said I'm in the process of putting my entire hunting arsenal of doom on a diet and have arrived at the big ticket items. Weight savings and dimensions aside, is there an optical improvement with the Kowa over my old Leica that anyone is familiar with and care to comment on? My feeling is if the Kowa is equal to or better than the Leica I'll buy one, I just don't want to take a step backwards for 1.3 lbs.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tdhanses]

Now I haven’t compared it to your Leica but have the Kowa and it was impressive enough for me to sell my newer few year old Swaro 80 HD ATS with the 25-50 zoom eyepiece. Hope that helps.

 

[Burnt Reynolds]

Now I haven’t compared it to your Leica but have the Kowa and it was impressive enough for me to sell my newer few year old Swaro 80 HD ATS with the 25-50 zoom eyepiece. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the response! At what ranges do you find the kowa doing best? Any thoughts on first light vs last light, as in looking down into dark timber or looking at animals 1500 yards away? I should add, part of my thought process also includes whether or not I should give up some weight loss for better (heavier, more magnified) glass.

 

[tdhanses]

The Kowa is good at all ranges, fov when fully zoomed isn’t great but I had zero problem watching elk at 2 miles out. It does really well at first and last light imo. 1500 yards is no issue for it and it does well looking into dark or shaded areas.

Truthfully unless you are hunting sheep or moose where you have to determine legality the little Kowa is the perfect backpacking spotter. Also the Vortex Razor 50mm neoprene case fits it very well.

 

[wind gypsy]

That leica is a very well regarded spotter, I would have assumed it is better optically than the kowas and I own a 553.

The little kowas are very impressive but the field of view is narrow and it is pretty critical of eye relief. I haven’t used mine for game finding at all, only to verify what I can’t discern with binos.

 

[Burnt Reynolds]

The Kowa is good at all ranges, fov when fully zoomed isn’t great but I had zero problem watching elk at 2 miles out. It does really well at first and last light imo. 1500 yards is no issue for it and it does well looking into dark or shaded areas.

Truthfully unless you are hunting sheep or moose where you have to determine legality the little Kowa is the perfect backpacking spotter. Also the Vortex Razor 50mm neoprene case fits it very well.

That is one issue - I've been averaging an every other year hunt in AK because I have 2nd degree relatives that like to hunt rams too. My Leica purchase was driven by my (unsuccessful) sheep hunt in '17, and my kit (and belly) trimming is in no small part a result of what I've learned the last few years up there stomping around. That said, I've also got quite a few points in a few states which are going to be used over the next few years for elk and mulie hunts and I plan to be packing in.

With the Leica, even as close as 700 yards away there was no way I was going to accurately count annuli, particularly with weather that was anything less than perfect blue skies. Basically, it was good enough to decide if a ram was full curl using the stick method, which 0 out 32 were, or to look at rams a long ways off and pick out which ones were ewes and so forth. I can live with that limit in exchange for light and compact. If the Kowa were an improvement, even a slight improvement, it's a no brainer for me.

My priority list is like this:

Highest quality glass
light weight
compact
cost

 

[Burnt Reynolds]

That leica is a very well regarded spotter, I would have assumed it is better optically than the kowas and I own a 553.

The little kowas are very impressive but the field of view is narrow and it is pretty critical of eye relief. I haven’t used mine for game finding at all, only to verify what I can’t discern with binos.

That was my impression prior to purchase and while I have nothing to complain about - it's a matter of I don't know due to lack of experience and no access to a kowa for a comparison. Thanks for the eye relief comment, I hadn't considered that.

I think maybe I'll stay put for the time being, or at least until I can do a side x side comparison. After all, the Leica matches my Leica binos & range finder and I wouldn't want to upset the delicate balance thus far achieved by hauling mismatched brands around lol.

 

[tdhanses]

That is one issue - I've been averaging an every other year hunt in AK because I have 2nd degree relatives that like to hunt rams too. My Leica purchase was driven by my (unsuccessful) sheep hunt in '17, and my kit (and belly) trimming is in no small part a result of what I've learned the last few years up there stomping around. That said, I've also got quite a few points in a few states which are going to be used over the next few years for elk and mulie hunts and I plan to be packing in.

With the Leica, even as close as 700 yards away there was no way I was going to accurately count annuli, particularly with weather that was anything less than perfect blue skies. Basically, it was good enough to decide if a ram was full curl using the stick method, which 0 out 32 were, or to look at rams a long ways off and pick out which ones were ewes and so forth. I can live with that limit in exchange for light and compact. If the Kowa were an improvement, even a slight improvement, it's a no brainer for me.

My priority list is like this:

Highest quality glass
light weight
compact
cost

Pm Luke Moffat, he uses the Kowa in AK and could probably help give you a better idea of usability in that environment.

 

[Bruce Culberson]

With the Leica, even as close as 700 yards away there was no way I was going to accurately count annuli, particularly with weather that was anything less than perfect blue skies. t

I have only used either a Bushnell elite 14-45x60 or a friends Ziess 15-45x65 and generally found I needed to be around 300 yards or less to count rings confidently. One time I could age one at 600 yards, but it was raining and the ram had light coloured horns. With the wet weather the rings were really dark like they'd been drawn on with a sharpie.....

 

[maverick2]

If you choose to sell the Leica, send me a PM. I'm looking for one and am likely interested. -- Mark