Spotter recommendations?

[Decker9]

Another spotter well worth looking at, is the pentax ED. Side by side, my pentax 65ed will do 99% of what my swarvo ats 65hd will do, at half the price and a lighter unit.

I run all Swarovski optics, truth be told, your paying more for name.

 

[Usmcff]

Another spotter well worth looking at, is the pentax ED. Side by side, my pentax 65ed will do 99% of what my swarvo ats 65hd will do, at half the price and a lighter unit.

I run all Swarovski optics, truth be told, your paying more for name.

How well does it work at cutting through the shadows and shady spots. That was the biggest downfall of my other spotter. I couldn’t really see into dark spots in groups of trees. Also how’s the low light performance?

 

[Decker9]

How well does it work at cutting through the shadows and shady spots. That was the biggest downfall of my other spotter. I couldn’t really see into dark spots in groups of trees. Also how’s the low light performance?

I have a hard time seeing into the deep shadows with either of my spotters, especially on higher magnification. The Swarovski does shine a little over the pentax in that last couple minutes of light, but not really noticeable to my 20/20 eyes.

 

[gcronin]

I tried searching through the forums but couldn’t quite find what I was looking for. I will soon be looking for a new spotter. Current spotter is a Leupold fixed 30x60 but I’m not too impressed with it. The eye relief wasn’t all that great and it just felt more like a weight than helpful. I am looking to upgrade to something with a bit more power so considering something along the lines 15-45 and around a 65mm objective. Mostly hunting deer out west, using at the range, but eventually would do elk and one day try a goat or sheep hunt. I’ve read a lot of mentions on kowas, meoptas, and mavens bit don’t have experience with any. Currently eyeballing kowa or a zeiss diascope. I’m not opposed to vortex either and would most likely pick up a used spotter if it’s in good shape. My current Binos are an older pair of slc NEU’s so I have good Binos. My budget would be around $1k and can go a bit higher or lower. Thanks in advance!

Hey there - great questions! One important factor to consider if this is going to be used for hunting (especially on a goat or sheep hunt) is weight. As you go with bigger optics, heavier glass, etc. you are adding a lot of ounces. My favorite spotter in our lineup is actually our Razor HD 11-33x50. It offers all the magnification I need for any hunting situation and can easily spot impact on steel shooting at the range 1,000 yards+. The true selling point for this optic is that it comes in at just 25.0 oz.

If you were looking for that bigger size, I would stick around that 65 mm objective. The Razor HD 22-48x65 would be another option, but you are going to be adding weight.

If you have any questions on our spotters, don't hesitate to reach out!

 

[lcpaul22]

The kowa 77 has a bigger objective for roughly the same weight as a swaro 65 ats. Barring that, any of the big three are great and sometimes can be obtained in your price range. I would caution against buying vortex as I have had several products fail in the field including their spotters. Just my 02

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[Usmcff]

The kowa 77 has a bigger objective for roughly the same weight as a swaro 65 ats. Barring that, any of the big three are great and sometimes can be obtained in your price range. I would caution against buying vortex as I have had several products fail in the field including their spotters. Just my 02

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I actually ended up going with a Swarovski ats 65. I found one on Facebook marketplace in pretty good condition with the 20-60 eye piece for under 1300$ shipped. I did consider kowas but all the ones I found were the non HD variants and mostly straight and was wanting an angled spotter.

 

[lcpaul22]

I actually ended up going with a Swarovski ats 65. I found one on Facebook marketplace in pretty good condition with the 20-60 eye piece for under 1300$ shipped. I did consider kowas but all the ones I found were the non HD variants and mostly straight and was wanting an angled spotter.

Thats an awesome deal! Congrats sir.

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[SteveW1473]

i purchased the razor 27x65x85 UHD last year. No complaints put it next to a Swaro. and took some pictures at long range no noticeable difference in quality.

 

[6mm Remington]

Leupold 15-30x50mm Gold Ring spotting scope.

I sure like mine and it is an easy carry in a day pack. It's sharp and clear with a larger more useable eyepiece than the fixed power scope you currently have. I have a 20x Leupold fixed power spotting scope also and the new variable power compact spotting scope listed is a vast improvement.

My 15-30x50mm scope using my Spot-Shot attached to my spotting scope. The Spot-Shot sends images to the Spot-Shot app loaded onto my cell phone. The top of this ridge is just a touch over 1 mile from my house.



This picture was taken using a tripod with my Leupold 15-30x50mm scope with the Spot-Shot attached. This is a peak in the Tetons from last summer (was some smoke in the air but not terrible). This peak was estimated to be about 12 miles in a straight line to the top.