Best 50mm spotters?

[coues craze]

As the title says I am looking for a light weight spotter to use. I already have a big spotter and binos in Swarovski, but they don’t offer a small scope. What have you guys used that is good?

 

[tdhanses]

Best if it’s in your budget is the Kowa 55mm series. Better then the swaro HD a/sts and weighs less then 2lbs and half the size. It’s all I pack hunting, big spotter (for me) is for scouting and just general off season use. You can get the Kowa from site sponsors for a pretty good deal but it isn’t cheap.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Yeah, that little Kowa is pretty hard to beat for quality glass in a small package. Do I think the glass is as good or better than my Swaro 80mm HD, absolutely not, but for it's size and wt. it definitely has a place in my pack for a fair amount of my mountain hunts.

 

[as.ks.ak]

Yeah, that little Kowa is pretty hard to beat for quality glass in a small package. Do I think the glass is as good or better than my Swaro 80mm HD, absolutely not, but for it's size and wt. it definitely has a place in my pack for a fair amount of my mountain hunts.

Gregg, have you gotten your hands on the bigger kowa glass?


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[tdhanses]

Gregg, have you gotten your hands on the bigger kowa glass?


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Personally I prefer the Kowa 773 and the Meopta S2 over the swaro a/sts hd line, but all our eyes are different. Like Greg said, he’s sees a big diff in his swaro over his little Kowa, I didn’t, FOV is the big limiter but the optics in the Kowa are crystal clear to my eyes. The Kowa didn’t gather as much light but it didn’t become unusable too much earlier then the swaro 80 HD I had.

 

[coues craze]

Thanks guys I was leaning toward the Kowa but don’t have a place locally to look through it. I looked through the 50mm razor and wasn’t impressed.

 

[tdhanses]

Thanks guys I was leaning toward the Kowa but don’t have a place locally to look through it. I looked through the 50mm razor and wasn’t impressed.

If you buy from SandS archery use discount code Rokslide for 10% off, if you call cameralandny talk to Doug or Joel and see what their price is, both great companies and you can return it within 30 days to both I do believe.

Some people have a hard time with the short fov but to me it’s for getting a better look not scanning.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Gregg, have you gotten your hands on the bigger kowa glass?


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No, I haven't. The only Kowa I've ever even looked through was the one I own, and I had to buy it first. Quite literally purchased "sight unseen".

 

[coues craze]

No, I haven't. The only Kowa I've ever even looked through was the one I own, and I had to buy it first. Quite literally purchased "sight unseen".

do you have the tsn-554 ?

 

[AK Troutbum]

do you have the tsn-554 ?

I have the 553. I wanted to go with the angled since my other one is straight.

 

[as.ks.ak]

No, I haven't. The only Kowa I've ever even looked through was the one I own, and I had to buy it first. Quite literally purchased "sight unseen".

That very well may be what I do when I get the TSN-883 with the 25-60 eye piece. And then I’ll add in the 1.6x extender to take it from a 25-60 x 88mm to a 40-96 x 88mm.

You buy all that from Kowa and you’re still cheaper than a swaro (without even including their extender) by $1000!

Here’s the price layout. Of course these are all MSRPs so I’d be extremely interested how much a guy could shave these prices off waiting for deals.

-swaro...$4920
-ATX 30-70x95

-kowa.....$3925
-880 88mm $2725
-eye piece 25-60 wide angle $775
-TSN-EX16 1.6x Extender $425


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[tdhanses]

That very well may be what I do when I get the TSN-883 with the 25-60 eye piece. And then I’ll add in the 1.6x extender to take it from a 25-60 x 88mm to a 40-96 x 88mm.

You buy all that from Kowa and you’re still cheaper than a swaro (without even including their extender) by $1000!

Here’s the price layout. Of course these are all MSRPs so I’d be extremely interested how much a guy could shave these prices off waiting for deals.

-swaro...$4920
-ATX 30-70x95

-kowa.....$3925
-880 88mm $2725
-eye piece 25-60 wide angle $775
-TSN-EX16 1.6x Extender $425


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I like the extender but it does reduce fov and eyerelief but is light/compact and easy to remove.

 

[idahohikker]

I’d do the little Kowa or Nikon 50. The Athlon Ares is what I have and I really enjoy it. Kind of a get a 65mm scope for little more than 50mm size and weight idea. It saves some $$. If budget was no concern, probably the Kowa.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

If you buy from SandS archery use discount code Rokslide for 10% off, if you call cameralandny talk to Doug or Joel and see what their price is, both great companies and you can return it within 30 days to both I do believe.

Some people have a hard time with the short fov but to me it’s for getting a better look not scanning.

Thanks for posting this, you saved me 180 bucks. Just ordered the scope after months of going back and forth between the it and the swaro 65....

 

[OXN939]

I know I'll get called out by the "mean income" crowd, but I just got a Bushnell Prime 16-48x50, and it is quite impressive. And also, 1/5 to 1/10th the cost of some of the optics mentioned here...

 

[tdhanses]

I know I'll get called out by the "mean income" crowd, but I just got a Bushnell Prime 16-48x50, and it is quite impressive. And also, 1/5 to 1/10th the cost of some of the optics mentioned here...

Really all that matter is that your happy.

 

[Jimss]

Do yourself a favor and keep your eye on the classified section on this website for a nearly new Swaro! You can't go wrong with a Swaro and the 65 HD isn't really that heavy or bulky! You can likely find a nearly new 65 HD for around $1,600 to $2,000. I got a nearly new one for $1750 a couple months ago!

 

[tdhanses]

Do yourself a favor and keep your eye on the classified section on this website for a nearly new Swaro! You can't go wrong with a Swaro and the 65 HD isn't really that heavy or bulky! You can likely find a nearly new 65 HD for around $1,600 to $2,000. I got a nearly new one for $1750 a couple months ago!

Whats funny is the 65 is huge compared to the Kowa 55, that sucker is small.

 

[Newtosavage]

Nikon ED50. 20 oz. And done.

 

[Tahoe1305]

Kowa 554 is pretty awesome. Size, weight, performance balance is probably unbeatable. Rent it from amazon and see if you like it.