Question for Swaro owners...

[brewer427]

Alright guys I have spent a lot of miles on the road covering 4 states the last couple years for work and as a reward my boss is letting me charge a Swarovski ATS spotting scope and a full outdoorsman tripod setup on the company card! So I currently have a Vortex Razor 85mm and really like it, but sometimes I wish I left it in the truck and save some weight and bulk. For you guys that have the 65mm, do you ever wish you had the 80mm? And vice versa, do you guys with the 80mm feel you would rather have the lighter and slimmer 65mm. I've really been tossing around the 65mm with the wide angle lense. I only use my scope for hunting in Montana, consisting of antelope and deer back east, then Elk and bear in the mountains. Not needing anything to count rings on sheep a long distance away, so that is why I am kinda leaning towards the 65mm.

 

[HvyBeams]

I sold the 80mm and went to the 65mm. I haven't regretted my choice. I did it to save weight for backpacking.

 

[WRO]

I go the other way, I like bigger objectives because they do much better in low light.

 

[WestDan]

I use the 65 with 25-50 wide angle and love it. Haven't wished for bigger yet.

 

[Matt W.]

Since you have a 85mm I'd go with the 65mm. I run the 65mm with the 20-60 zoom eyepiece. Its an incredible spotting scope! Its used for backpack sheep hunting. I've debated a larger one, but not willing to pack the extra bulk and weight yet. Maybe when my eyes get older. : )

I got mine from CameralandNY and they were great to deal with.

 

[Blockcaver]

I'd get the Swaro 65 mm if you want to backpack and only own one scope......kinda depends on how far and how long you go for and what you are trying to see on the animal. That said, I use my Swaro 20-60x65HD for sheep and out of the truck or quad for most species, but often switch to the Nikon ED50 for deer, bears & elk in the pack. The light weight Nikon tells me what I need to know about those species, but again it depends on the country you glass. I like having two scopes, with the 65mm being the heavier scope, and a 50mm the lighter one, as it weights half of the 65mm. YMMV.

Note: I've never felt the need for a plus 65mm scope. In my tests on California bighorns (not hunting, just observing) at a km or more away above my house here in BC, first and last light performance of bigger optics doesn't gain the hour extra I see quoted, rather it is a few minutes. For a bowhunter, that is of negligible value in the evening as there is no time remaining for a stalk anyway. Note that I glass up the bulk of the animals with 10X Swaro binos and use the scope to look at them on more detail when I am hunting or scouting. I realize some use the scope more for finding animals than I do.

 

[Steve O]

I don't have a Swarovski but having looked thru them side by side I'm confident to answer I'm happy with my 65mm Zeiss and never wanted larger to the 85.

 

[Scot E]

I will preface this up front. I acknowledge that I don't have the same opinion as many when it comes to optics. But I will share with you my take.

When I bought my swaro I had the luxury of taking the non HD and HD in both 65 ad 80 home for a few days to compare before I bought. I ended up with the HD 80 but the reason I ended up with it may be of interest to you. Prior to this I had an old 20-45x60 redfield and a Nikon fieldscope. I ended up going 80HD because there just wasn't enough difference in performance to warrant the kind of money being spent on the other Swaros. AT the low end powers my old scopes were very comparable for me to do anything I wanted which is typically spotting elk and mule deer and counting tines. Higher magnification settings were the only place were I saw an advantage and this was less than I thought it would be. This was years ago before the Vortex Razors came out. If I had that choice today it would be a no brainer to go Razor HD.

I have stayed pretty up to date on the changes over the years and for my eyes I have to disagree with much of what is stated about premium glass being so much better especially considering the quality we have in the mid range glass today.

It really only extends viewing time at dawn and dusk by a few minutes not 30-60 minutes. Often times the mirage at higher magnification in the day makes anything over 30x useless. You typically have extra weight with the premium stuff too.

Most guys I know in person agree with this assessment. If I were you I would go Razor HD 65 then you'll have both sizes for any application. Then talk your boss is letting you buy some other gear with the rest of the cash.

I do really like the wide angle eye pieces if you do go Swaro

Good luck.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I have the 80mm HD, but only because I got a really good deal on it. When I was looking for one initially, I wanted the 65mm for the wt. savings, but I'm really happy with the 80 and now after having it for a while and being able to compare it side by side with the 65, I wouldn't trade it for the 65. The wt. difference isn't huge (I think it's like 7oz. between the two) and I really like the bigger objective.

 

[WRO]

Bigger fov, we just spent a week with both the stx 85 and and the sts 80hd side by side. The sts 80 spent it's last 4 days in the truck.. weight be damned.

 

[handwerk]

I'm with troutbum, for 4 years I used and enjoyed a 65 stm but this year moved up to a 80 mm and don't regret it at all. Side by side there isn't much difference in size/weight and to my eyes the extra glass was quite noticeable.

 

[justin davis]

I went from a 65mm to an 80mm

I really liked the 65mm slim and light. But the 80 doesn't seem that much heavier and I can see a little better with it!

 

[Shrek]

I just spent the morning glassing mule deer with my ATS 80 HD. It's a great scope but for the money I'd but the Meopta S2 82 HD. I had one before and I really liked its glass and field of view but it was a straight model and I hated it for that. Bought the ATS 80 HD to save some weight. I miss the Meopta and will probably sell my Swaro and but another Meopta...or a ATX 85 which blows them both away ! The ATX is stunning !

 

[fatrascal]

Most of my personal hunting is with backpack so I almost always use a ATX 65. But when I'm on the winter range or using an ATV or truck or horse I use the ATX 95. If I had to choose only one objective then it would be the 65mm.fatrascal.

 

[Nick Muche]

I don't regret buying my 80mm at all.

 

[neverquit]

Are you guys hiring?