Advice asked (about spotting scopes)

VeijoM

FNG
Joined
May 29, 2021
Messages
2
Hi!

I am trying to sort couple of angled spotting scopes in order of image quality. I have zero possibility to test these, not alone or compare them. In Finland, where I live, and in Europe (not including UK) almost all of them are "out of stock". Any help would be appreciated. I have limited budget and of these the Kowa 663 is a bit over the limit :) . This particular price point of the Kowa is near a price point where I would have many other quality choices too. I have to mention that when purchasing abroad the returns are kind of ruled out (because of the high expenses related), so I want my first purchase to be widely accepted as "good".

My interest is to compare these spotting scopes:
Hawke Endurance ED 15-45x60 (cheapest, lightest (big plus), but a bit smallish lens size)
Hawke Endurance ED 16-48x68 (I have found zero information of the IQ)
Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45x65 (good reviews, but is it anyway better than Hawke?)
Kowa TSN-663M with 20-60X eyepiece (lightest of the scopes that have 65+ lens size)

According to the scarce information I have found no one compares them against each other. Ares has got good reviews here and was highly appreciated in Backwood Pursuits spotting scope showdown February 23, 2021. In this forum the Ares has been mentioned to be similar in IQ than the Hawkes. How does it compare to the 663 Kowa? With Kowa I doubt the zoom eyepiece as it has been mentioned clearly worse than the one they use in the bigger scopes. I am familiar with fixed eyepieces (and have good experience with them), but with this purchase I also want to have a good zoom option.

I have made my search through this forum and still think I cannot find an answer to this comparison. Thanks in advance.
 

Jimss

WKR
Joined
Mar 6, 2015
Messages
2,074
I would watch for an almost new Swaro in the classified section of this website. I bought mine almost new for 1/2 price! You may also be able to find a nearly new demo at Cameraland or elsewhere. It took me time to find one but we’ll worth the savings!
 

JRMiller

WKR
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
579
Location
Texas
I cant comment on the last three but I tried your first the Hawke x60 and it was terrible and returned it. Glass optical quality was low
 
OP
V

VeijoM

FNG
Joined
May 29, 2021
Messages
2
Interesting experience. Thank you for sharing this. I guess this size is anyway pushing the limits of usable image at 40x, which is what I would quite regularly use.
 
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