Zeiss Victory Harpia 85 Spotting Scope Review, By Matt Cashell

[Justin Crossley]

Matt has been out testing Zeiss' flagship spotter, the Harpia 85. How does it compare to his go-to Swarovski ATX 85? Find out in this head to head review.

Zeiss Victory Harpia 85 Spotting Scope Review

 

[realunlucky]

Great review like always Matt. Very interesting how it was best at the highest magnification.

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[JoshAudet]

So basically at maximum zoom the Harpia has unbeatable FOV/brightness with only comparable clarity as the swaro. Swaro sounds likes it only outperforms at lower mag. But I think the full zoom features are more valuable than the minimum zoom features. At minimum zoom, that’s typically scan mode, right? Scoring and picking things apart far away is all done with full zoom, or maybe it wasn’t before but now it can be! Kudos ZEISS!


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[Matt Cashell]

So basically at maximum zoom the Harpia has unbeatable FOV/brightness with only comparable clarity as the swaro. Swaro sounds likes it only outperforms at lower mag. But I think the full zoom features are more valuable than the minimum zoom features. At minimum zoom, that’s typically scan mode, right? Scoring and picking things apart far away is all done with full zoom, or maybe it wasn’t before but now it can be! Kudos ZEISS!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wouldn’t say this is an accurate summary of my review, if that is what you were going for with this post.

What I said is the Zeiss is at its best a high magnification, not that it is better than the Swaro at high magnification. In fact, the Swaro performs better off-axis at high magnifications, IMO.

I also wouldn’t agree with low magnification only being useful for scanning. It is also useful for low light observation, which is frequently important for my hunting uses.

 

[skierhs]

Thanks for the write up! I own a 95 ATX and love the thing. I carry it on all my hunts from evening hunts to backpacking in. I saw Zeiss came out with a 95 and was super intrested in it. knowing the exit pupil is so small now will keep me away from getting another spotting scope. With so much hunting at the book ends of the day I cannot justify a spotter thats is so much darker.

 

[elkeaterco]

Great write up. This definitely is helpful info for me picking a new spotter.