Spotting Scope - help me decide

[Sunspot]

I have to agree that Kowa is the cat's ass and a great value.

 

[greyghostnw]

id say swaro... im no expert and am going through the works it seems with these things. bought 2 vortex razor hd's in the last two weeks. 20-60 eye piece. took both back, just do not work with my eyes. i find them hard to focus and not clear nor present crisp contrast or color. seems off to me. they do not even pop at 20 power. eye piece made metal to metal noise and almost bearing noise when turning eyepiece, felt loose. i tried but just could not accept them. once again must be the way my eye sees things. the swaro atm 80mm on the other hand is crisp and has proper color, contrast and just plain pops. its almost spiritual looking through it. just makes sense. i also like how the eyepiece is smooth and makes no noise. im not saying the vortex is a flop just for me. now the question.... is the swaro worth the extra grand? all what makes you happy and feel stoaked about your investment. for me yes, the glass works better for whatever reason for my eyes.

 

[handwerk]

spotter

I too have swaro EL binos and when it came to a spotter I chose the swaro non-hd 65mm w/25-50 and am very happy with it after 2 years of use.

 

[parshal]

I know this is an older thread but I thought I should follow up. I just ordered a demo Swarovski STX 85mm objective. I'll check it out and return it if I don't like it. It's a lot of money but...