Steve O4B
Optics4Birding.com
Yves,
The resolution charts we have were given to us by Swarovski. I don't remember the link, but you should be able to find it in the discussion on the Kowa TSN-553/554 scopes.
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Kowa 88mm vs 77mm (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mick50
- Start date
Yves,
The resolution charts we have were given to us by Swarovski. I don't remember the link, but you should be able to find it in the discussion on the Kowa TSN-553/554 scopes.
mayoayo
Well-known member
Not all ED glass is the same but the best ED glass is very close or equal to fluorite..The 773 is a slower scope than the 883, so maybe the use of ED glass is the right decission..Swaro,zeiss or leica do not use fluorite in the HD scopes that they make,and their top models compete with kowa's fluorite models in optical excellence..
Jay Gamble
Active member
I own both the 773 and the 883, and also a Swarovski ATX 95 and the 85 module. I previously owned a 2010 Zeiss 85 that I thought might replace my 2002 Swaro AT80 HD, but I did not find it to be as good as my older AT80 and sold it.
IMHO, the Kowa 883 is the best VALUE in a high performance, alpha spotting scope today. It gives up very little, if any, to the ATX 95 in image quality, and is about 30% less expensive.
The Kowa 773 is a fine scope and it gets a lot of use as we are a family of three birders often using the three scopes together side by side. At low power, 20x - 40x, my 773 is a pleasure to use with a very fine image. Above 40x-45x, the 883 and ATX easily surpass it in image quality in both brightness and resolution. Both females prefer the Kowa focuser over the Swarovski focuser.
I've tested all my scopes with the 1951 USAF charts (and others), and the 773 cannot resolve what the 883 can, even if you use an aperture mask on the 883 to give it the same effective aperture. The 773 has more CA, but I rarely notice it and certainly do not find it objectionable although some people are more sensitive to CA than I am.
I enjoy using the 773 and consider it a keeper scope. Unless you outclass it with a very select few alpha scopes such the 883, I think you will find that it is a very fine scope that will serve you very well in real life usage.
Jay
IMHO, the Kowa 883 is the best VALUE in a high performance, alpha spotting scope today. It gives up very little, if any, to the ATX 95 in image quality, and is about 30% less expensive.
The Kowa 773 is a fine scope and it gets a lot of use as we are a family of three birders often using the three scopes together side by side. At low power, 20x - 40x, my 773 is a pleasure to use with a very fine image. Above 40x-45x, the 883 and ATX easily surpass it in image quality in both brightness and resolution. Both females prefer the Kowa focuser over the Swarovski focuser.
I've tested all my scopes with the 1951 USAF charts (and others), and the 773 cannot resolve what the 883 can, even if you use an aperture mask on the 883 to give it the same effective aperture. The 773 has more CA, but I rarely notice it and certainly do not find it objectionable although some people are more sensitive to CA than I am.
I enjoy using the 773 and consider it a keeper scope. Unless you outclass it with a very select few alpha scopes such the 883, I think you will find that it is a very fine scope that will serve you very well in real life usage.
Jay
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An interesting compromise would be to get hold of a second-hand Kowa 823 (or preferably the reinforced body 823M). I have one and it's a wonderful piece of optics, sharing proper fluorite glass with its larger 883 cousin. Its one drawback, for fans of zoom eyepieces, is that the new wide-angle zoom for the 883/773 does not fit the 823. However, there are wonderful 32x fixed and 50x fixed eyepieces and a decent 20-60x zoom (and eyepieces from the 663 series and earlier TSN-3s can be used with it with the appropriate adaptor). Just a thought as there are some good deals to be had sometimes on these optically brilliant scopes.
