Lightweight Wide Angle Spotter

[ianpadron]

All right, who's going to be the first optics company to come out with a compact spotter that doesn't have a restrictive FOV??? I'm talking sub-40 ounces here.

I about cried when I read the Kowa's FOV specs, so disappointing!

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[Bowhunter50]

Feel the same way! I would rather the kowa spotter be 15-30x with wide angle view.


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[PredatorX]

What is your idea of a good FOV? I sacrificed big time on the weight...but i have trimmed every other aspect of weight so i can justify carrying the big S2 spotter with the WA eyepiece. I'm a serious ounce counter, but glass is one that seems to get an easy pass in my spreadsheet.

 

[Eric4]

Is zooming a requirement for you? If not, you could consider a Kowa 660 with the 30x wide eyepiece.

 

[ianpadron]

What is your idea of a good FOV? I sacrificed big time on the weight...but i have trimmed every other aspect of weight so i can justify carrying the big S2 spotter with the WA eyepiece. I'm a serious ounce counter, but glass is one that seems to get an easy pass in my spreadsheet.

That's an option I've considered. Just suck it up and carry a big spotter. I just have a hard time believing that someone doesn't have the ability to come out with a WA eyepiece for a compact spotter.

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[ianpadron]

Is zooming a requirement for you? If not, you could consider a Kowa 660 with the 30x wide eyepiece.

You know Eric, I've never ran a spotter with a fixed magnification eyepiece so I'm really not sure if I would consider that a requirement or not, what have your experiences been with a fixed mag eyepiece?

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[Bowhunter50]

Is zooming a requirement for you? If not, you could consider a Kowa 660 with the 30x wide eyepiece.

What’s the weight for this whole set up? I can only find the weight for the body at 36 oz. none of the websites I’ve seen have the weight for the eye piece listed.


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[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I'm correcting the angle numbers I think I previously assigned the max mag deg to the lowest zoom.

I have an opticron mm4 50mm that is ~30oz with the HDF zoom on it (40deg at 12x/ 58deg at 36x), with the SDL eye piece its 2oz heavier (36.3deg at 12x/ 68.6deg at 36x) or with a fixed 18x (65deg) its 2oz lighter. Its not a Swarovski but the optics don't suck and the eyepieces are interchangeable (with twist up eye cups) between the smaller 50mm & 60mm MMseries and the larger HR & ES series. They don't get much press here due to being more of a European distribution.

I've collected up a selection of bodies/eyepieces on sale/used/etc. so I have a straight 50mm MM4, angled 60mm MM3 and straight 80mm HR ED along with the HDF T zoom and SDL V2 zoom, I don't have the fixed 18x(in the 50mm) eye piece yet but would like to get it sooner or later. I'm not sure where they compare in the field of competition but I've been rather pleased with what the little 50mm can do esp. for the weight, I could see 30cal bullet holes on white paper at 550yd the other day for instance.

Edit these were apparent FOV numbers, I believe the true FOV is apparent / magnification and at 1000yd 1deg = 52.5' (someone correct me if I'm wrong):
40deg @ 12x = 3.3deg or 58.3yd @ 1k ------> 58deg @ 36x = 1.6deg or 28.2yd @ 1k
36.3deg @ 12x = 3deg or 52.9yd @ 1k ------> 68.6deg @ 36x = 1.9deg or 33.3yd @ 1k
65deg @ 18x = 3.6deg or 63yd @ 1k

 

[307]

What’s the weight for this whole set up? I can only find the weight for the body at 36 oz. none of the websites I’ve seen have the weight for the eye piece listed.


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I have the Kowa Prominar 663 scope with a fixed 30x eyepiece. Total weight is 45 oz. The view is tack sharp and bright.