STC vs Kowa 554 review

mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
I finally got my Swaro STC spotter in and tried out. I have been using a Kowa TSN-554 for several years. A few nights back my buddy I hunt with and I got a chance to compare them off my tripod.

This is no scientific review with charts, just sharing our opinions after trying them out at the same time. We were looking at a brick upright silo I've ranged at 750 yards and some cow/calf pairs grazing at 1.13 miles according to OnX. The tripod we used was my Slik 634 with the Outdoorsman's micro pan head.

The first thing that jumps out about the Swaro is the increased field of view. Between that and the eye relief being less finicky, the Swaro was just easier to use to find the cows, and easier to track them in as they grazed on higher power. This is a spotter I can see using to locate game, not just to evaluate it more than I ever did with the Kowa.

The Kowa's only real optical advantage I think after this test is the micro adjust focus. It's a little easier to get the perfect picture than the Swaro's barrel focus. Both are very clear once properly focused.

We both saw slightly more mirage with the Kowa too for some reason. I'm not sure why that would be different, but it seemed the waves from the atmosphere were more noticeable in the Kowa especially on higher power. This may be nothing, but it's something we noticed.

With the Swaro and Kowa both I could tell if a cow had a tight bag at that distance from not being nursed in a while. That's pretty good detail from a small spotter at that distance. I know my old ED50 wouldn't have shown me that.

I definitely like the Swaro better and will be selling my Kowa sometime this summer. I want to look through both a few more times and will update this if I find out anything new.

To me these are both great spotters. I've typically stayed with a compact spotter for the weight savings to help convince myself to take my 15x Swaro binos when hunting deer.

The Kowa is a little lighter and still very good optically. I've been very happy with it. I typically glass with binos off my tripod (Leica Geovid 10x42 HD-B or Swaro 15's) to locate game. If I want more detail I then switch to the spotter. For that type of use the Kowa has served me very well.
My decision to go to the Swaro was primarily wanting the extra field of view for when I want to save the weight of the 15's but still want more than just my 10's finding game. I also got a heck of a deal on my STC and couldn't pass it up. It does not give up anything to the Kowa except a few ounces of weight. I can stay on the Swaro scope longer without needing to take a break than the Kowa due to the eyepiece. The Ollin phone attachment I got for my Swaro is excellent too.

For anyone choosing between these two, my advice is decide if you locate game with the spotter enough to justify the cost of the Swaro. It is a more comfortable viewing experience with the less finicky eyepiece, and field of view advantage. If you just need the spotter to evaluate game already spotted, the Kowa does just as well for significantly less money.

Hope this helps anyone still on the fence.
 
Nothing like a well timed thread after I’ve spent the past week talking myself into the 554 to send me back to the drawing board.

Appreciate the comparison. Here for the updates.
 
As someone who’s has both I still have the STC. Agree with everything above. Great little scope that will always be in my bag.


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I was between the two recently and was seriously considering the Kowa 554 before I learned they upped the price on them to $2k. Could've bought used of course, but being so close in price to the STC new I dove into a bunch of reviews. I was pretty sold on the STC and, after talking to Cody with GoHunt more about it, took the leap. Seriously impressed with it. Haven't felt underpowered yet and have made a few spots on deer, elk and bear at 3-4 miles.

Hunting partner is looking at an ATS because he wants more magnification...worried he won't be able to count points capped at 40x. Excited for this summer to see just how far I can effectively count points. I'm betting close to 2 miles, especially with digiscoping.
 
I compared my TSN-554 to my buddy's STC. The STC has the better FOV, but that's about it. Thats a non issue for me, since I scan with my binos and pull the spotter only for a better look. We both agreed the Kowa has better image quality. And the Kowa focus is far superior to the Swaro barrel focus, which knocked the image off everytime we adjusted it (very annoying). Both are very good optics, but I'll stick with the Kowa. Buddy fell for the new STC drop/hype and Swaro name. Wishes now that he hadnt.
 
I compared my TSN-554 to my buddy's STC. The STC has the better FOV, but that's about it. Thats a non issue for me, since I scan with my binos and pull the spotter only for a better look. We both agreed the Kowa has better image quality. And the Kowa focus is far superior to the Swaro barrel focus, which knocked the image off everytime we adjusted it (very annoying). Both are very good optics, but I'll stick with the Kowa. Buddy fell for the new STC drop/hype and Swaro name. Wishes now that he hadnt.
That's good to hear.

I switched from 12x50 binos and mostly use 8x32s now specifically for the FOV advantage.

Spotter is just to look at already located animals...sounds like I'd gain nothing with the Swaro
 
Concur. In my assessment the FOV and touchy eye relief is a deal breaker.

I actually reached out to Kowa when reviewing one of their bigger scopes about the 55 series commenting on the shortcomings. The rep made a good point, they were the first with an alpha mini spotter and at the time it was the best (for like 6 years too). I think the market has caught up and they will likely come out with a newer one.

I agree center picture with good placement it is great glass though and I prefer its focus mechanism too.

I’ve pasted this a few places now, but a group of local Colorado folk got together earlier this year and as objectively as we could compared. Results at that event with the 2 samples we had were fairly unanimous.

 
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