Kowa 554 $1439

[Ronb]

Like I said, its hits a home run for the backcountry guy. I hope to own one someday. Not gonna give up my ats 65 just yet. But, maybe some day. Especially if they came out with one with a wide angle eyepiece and a bit more eye-relief.


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[dotman]

Like I said, its hits a home run for the backcountry guy. I hope to own one someday. Not gonna give up my ats 65 just yet. But, maybe some day. Especially if they came out with one with a wide angle eyepiece and a bit more eye-relief.


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If you looked through one you would

 

[Ronb]

Maybe?


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[HookUp]

I carry an atx that I don't use enough. This looks ideal but i'm not switching until I test the small kowa in the field.

 

[Bowrider3]

I just got the kowa 55 that I was lucky enough to get from opticsplanet when they had the deal. The glass is fantastic based on my initial use. Reminds me of all the swaro optics I have looked through. Just thought I would mention this to anyone considering this scope. Before I never considered bringing spotting scope on backpacking hunt but now I definitely would.

 

[Dobermann]

At 45x I’ll take the little Kowa over both just because the optical quality is excellent and it is so small/light. But that is my style.

Tim, are you running the straight or angled? Any reflections on the pros and cons of either - especially other than the usual arguments - for these particular two scopes?

 

[dotman]

Tim, are you running the straight or angled? Any reflections on the pros and cons of either - especially other than the usual arguments - for these particular two scopes?

I run the angled but really between the two it’ll just be personal preference but being that it does not have the rotating collar a straight maybe more appealing to some.

 

[Dobermann]

Thanks Tim, that's really helpful for thinking it through ...

 

[Northernpiker]

I like the angled also but I got the straight Kowa (because of the sale). One advantage will be using this Kowa with a window mount from my vehicle. Haven't got to use it much yet but the glass seems really nice and the size and weight are great.

 

[Ronb]

There’s one up for sale right now for $1295. Pretty good price.


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[coues32]

Where at?

 

[dotman]

Where at?

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/rokslide-classifieds/87385-kowa-tsn-554-1295-a.html

 

[sneaky]

There’s one up for sale right now for $1295. Pretty good price.


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It is really hard to save money for tags at this point with all these deals popping up in the classifieds.

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[VernAK]

Sure like to find a scopecoat to fit one of these.

 

[FlyGuy]

I'm waiting for the next wave of these. Keeping my straight small vortex for now as I got it for $1000 less and it fits my current needs. This scope got a lot of buzz and i'm sure the other optic companies took note of it. Hoping that next year we'll see new entries from some of the smaller up-and-coming guys like Mavin, Sig, etc. Then the big guys may decide to enter and blow it away.

Until then, I'll stick with good enough for now and maybe wait and see if a straight version of a used 55 pops up sub $1000.

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[dotman]

Sure like to find a scopecoat to fit one of these.

The Vortex Razor 50mm fits these perfectly and I believe scoatcoat makes it.

 

[dotman]

I'm waiting for the next wave of these. Keeping my straight small vortex for now as I got it for $1000 less and it fits my current needs. This scope got a lot of buzz and i'm sure the other optic companies took note of it. Hoping that next year we'll see new entries from some of the smaller up-and-coming guys like Mavin, Sig, etc. Then the big guys may decide to enter and blow it away.

Until then, I'll stick with good enough for now and maybe wait and see if a straight version of a used 55 pops up sub $1000.

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Considering it’s big brother is still considered the best spotter available by many I don’t think you’ll see one blow it away by Swaro, Leica etc.

 

[FlyGuy]

Sorry, that read a lot differently than I intended it to.

What I meant by "blow it away" was that the big guys will hopefully jump in to this emerging market for small & lightweight spotters; not that they would blow away the Kowa 55 specifically.

 

[sneaky]

Maven is hardly new, or an up and comer. It's rebadged Brunton optics. Nothing wrong with that, but they hardly started from scratch.

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[Ryan Avery]

Maven is hardly new, or an up and comer. It's rebadged Brunton optics. Nothing wrong with that, but they hardly started from scratch.

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Did you ever look through a Brunton? They were OK and overpriced at best.

Maven may have Ex-employees from Brunton but that's about where the optics comparison ends IMO