$2500 Budget for Spotting Scope

[whacker1]

Thanks guys. Is an angled eye piece the way I should go? And are these scopes going to be ok to carry on hike in hunts?

It is about preference. I use the STS - straight, because I like the target acquisition better in finding the animal faster being straight similar to binoculars or a rifle scope. I have used the ATS and it has some benefits, but it comes down to preference.

 

[Broomd]

So last summer I owned a swaro 65mm and a kowa 88 but had an itch to upgrade to a swaro atx85 so I was fortunate enough to get a atx85, leica 82 with extender and zeiss diascope 85 for a couple weeks to compare to my existing scopes. Going into it I thought I would want the atx handsdown. When all the dust settled I bought the zeiss, the 75x zoom rocks and for my eyes was the clearest spotter. Gotta admit it was a hard test because they were all top notch.

Id suggest looking at the zeiss diascope

Great stuff, Lee.
Thanks for sharing. It's fun comparing $$ glass.
Did the Zeiss offer a wide enough angle zoom? That's been my complaint, great glass, but narrow (premium) eyepiece with Zeiss.

 

[Daniel_M]

Great stuff, Lee.
Thanks for sharing. It's fun comparing $$ glass.
Did the Zeiss offer a wide enough angle zoom? That's been my complaint, great glass, but narrow (premium) eyepiece with Zeiss.

Isn't the Zeiss 85 discontinued?

 

[luke moffat]

Great stuff, Lee.
Thanks for sharing. It's fun comparing $$ glass.
Did the Zeiss offer a wide enough angle zoom? That's been my complaint, great glass, but narrow (premium) eyepiece with Zeiss.

I am not sure what you mean by wide enough angle zoom? I have a Diascope and I prefer it over the Swaro 65 HD ATM I have prior to it certainly. Granted its over a pound heavier....but I saves me from a lot of walking so worth it

I do dig the 75X when conditions allow certainly as it seems to carry the resolution all the way through its power range for me. Can always turn down from 75X when conditions don't allow, but can't turn a 60X to 75X when conditions don't allow.

Truth is once you get to this level of glass they all are great and IMO comes down more to personal preference and what you can get the best deal on at the time.

 

[Broomd]

Luke as you know Zeiss offers two zoom eyepieces, the 20-60 (15-45) and the 20-75 (15-56).
You also know that Swarovski offers the 20-60 and 25-50 wide angle. The difference between these two Swarovski oculars is night and day.
The wide angle in the latter is stunning in comparison to just about everyyone that compares the two.
Now, Zeiss came out with their second generation zoom a few years ago, but all of the specs I've read show that it isn't a true wide angle zoom eyepiece. Maybe I'm wrong about this.
I love to play with glass of all makes, I'm broke half the time trying to buy up and try something else(!) but I haven't tried the newest Zeiss zoom offering.
Based on what I've read, it's simply more magnification but not a wide angle zoom ocular.
Kowa's wide angle zoom is excellent as is Leica's outstanding 25-50. Zeiss was overdue, I hope they delivered, but i have my doubts.

Maybe I'm wrong about this. Advise if you or any other Zeiss owner can.

 

[Matt Cashell]

The 20-75 is not WA. The Swarovski 25-50 is much wider at 50x than the Zeiss at 50x.

However, the Zeiss is WAY wider at 75x.

 

[tipsntails7]

I am not sure what you mean by wide enough angle zoom? I have a Diascope and I prefer it over the Swaro 65 HD ATM I have prior to it certainly. Granted its over a pound heavier....but I saves me from a lot of walking so worth it

I do dig the 75X when conditions allow certainly as it seems to carry the resolution all the way through its power range for me. Can always turn down from 75X when conditions don't allow, but can't turn a 60X to 75X when conditions don't allow.

Truth is once you get to this level of glass they all are great and IMO comes down more to personal preference and what you can get the best deal on at the time.

But you can put this on the Kowa and make it a 96

Kowa TSN-EX16 1.6x extender

Leica makes one as well I believe.



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[wind gypsy]

I like my ats 80 hd but plan to add a Kowa 553. Really at the price of the Kowa you will not be disappointed unless you want to but my Swaro for $2500 then I'll buy the Kowa.

I'm really interested in that little guy being released!

 

[Broomd]

The 20-75 is not WA. The Swarovski 25-50 is much wider at 50x than the Zeiss at 50x.

However, the Zeiss is WAY wider at 75x.

Thanks, Matt.
Yep, just as I suspected. Disappointed to read this, but not surprised. As I mentioned, I studied the FOV specs and the math didn't work for a true wide angle ocular. It's really unfortunate, everyone wants the wide angle zoom option, a guy can use the fixed Zeiss eyepieces, theye are probably excellent; but Zeiss clearly missed out on what everyone else has perfected in a zoom option.

 

[Matt Cashell]

The new conquest spotter has a WA zoom.

 

[Broomd]

The new conquest spotter has a WA zoom.

Have you spent time behind one? Is it flourite glass? Too lazy to research right now, I suspect it doesn't at its price point.

 

[WRO]

The zeiss spotters I've used, while nice, are not to the quality level of the competition..

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[Broomd]

The zeiss spotters I've used, while nice, are not to the quality level of the competition..

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Agreed, I've had several 65mm diascopes and while very good, they weren't top tier like Leica or Swaro.

 

[lee peet]

The zeiss definetly doesnt have the wide angle eyepiece and funny you bring that up because during my first few days testing them I hated the zeiss for that exact reason. Once I got used to it, it was a no brainer and the clearest scope of the group allowing me to make out fine detail much better. The leica was a close second though and I just really didnt like having the extender seperate and it was to high of magnification for panning to keep it on all the time.

Really it was like putting 4 100,000$ cars against each other and picking your favorite, couldnt go wrong with any of them

 

[sneaky]

I'd stick with the Swaro

The Kowa 883/884 will hang with , or best, any Swaro on the market. The 88 mm Kowa, or a used Leica, would be my choice for glass at that budget.

 

[luke moffat]

The 20-75 is not WA. The Swarovski 25-50 is much wider at 50x than the Zeiss at 50x.

However, the Zeiss is WAY wider at 75x.

HAHA well played sir!!! I guess I never really noticed the low FOV of the Zeiss given I use my spotting really only for sucking in the critters I find with my binos only. Starts out at 20X and then get it centered and then 75X and done.

But I am not fancy enough to pan and such with my spotter.

 

[lee peet]

I pan with my zeiss constantly and it works awesome. I feel the zeiss is the best hunting spotter going right now to be able to pan at 20x then zoom right into 75x all in the eyepiece with bright crystal clear optics its unbeatable. The wide angle field of view that leica, swaro and kowa offer definetly give a wow factor but dont really help in anyway. And the extenders just arent practical for hunting situations at least not for me when your optics are exposed to all mother nature can throw at u for 2 weeks at a time. Just because there cant be anything on those lenses when u put them together.

 

[tipsntails7]

I pan with my zeiss constantly and it works awesome. I feel the zeiss is the best hunting spotter going right now to be able to pan at 20x then zoom right into 75x all in the eyepiece with bright crystal clear optics its unbeatable. The wide angle field of view that leica, swaro and kowa offer definetly give a wow factor but dont really help in anyway. And the extenders just arent practical for hunting situations at least not for me when your optics are exposed to all mother nature can throw at u for 2 weeks at a time. Just because there cant be anything on those lenses when u put them together.

Different strokes is exactly right. I'm the opposite, I've never not seen something at 60x that I would have seen at 75x and the wide angle lets my eye relax more then tight eye pieces (not saying Zeiss specifically).

The extenders I've used are for digiscoping only and are no more impractical then changing lenses on my camera, if it's blowing rain sideways I'm not going to use them as the opportunity for a good shot at that magnification is probably very small.


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[lee peet]

I agree totally that everyone has different preferences, I was really fortunate to get to try all those scopes side by side for a block of time.

I would recomend anyone about to drop a big chunk of coin on a spotter to do the same. I would have bought the swaro had I not done the comparison and in the end liked it the least of the bunch.

 

[Broomd]

Different strokes is exactly right. I'm the opposite, I've never not seen something at 60x that I would have seen at 75x and the wide angle lets my eye relax more then tight eye pieces (not saying Zeiss specifically).

The extenders I've used are for digiscoping only and are no more impractical then changing lenses on my camera, if it's blowing rain sideways I'm not going to use them as the opportunity for a good shot at that magnification is probably very small.
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Same here, I've only used 60x on the deck for looking at detail of turkeys and hummingbirds, etc.
In the field it just never works for me. 32x +/- is about the sweet spot 90% of the time.

Great opinions here and great thread overall.