• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

New member needs advice Nikon/Kowa (1 Viewer)

greg g

Well-known member
I have been looking at two spotting scopes that are approx. the same money. Nikon Fieldscope 60 ED w/ 20x60 eyepiece and a Kowa TSN 663 w/ 20x60 eyepiece. I'm a birder/outdoors guy. Have a digital Nikon Camera. This will be used mainly for birding. I've been looking thru both of them for weeks and would like some feed-back. The one item I like with the Nikon is the focus collar/ it is user freindly, the viewing image doesn't "jiggle" as easily as when using the knob at the top with the Kowa for focusing. The one item I like with the Kowa is the eyepiece collar fits my eye nicely. What I'm trying to decide is which of these two has better clarity/sharpness and brightness while viewing.
 
Hello there and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

Have you taken a look in our Scope section here? I believe there have been discussions on both these scopes but if you cannot find what you are looking for, just start a new thread in that section with your inquiries.
 
Welcome aboard Greg :t:

As KC says there's a good digiscoping section on the site found from the Forums page where it maybe better to ask.

Either scope should cope admirably though I really like the fluorite glass in the Kowa scopes. I used to own the 823 and it was superb for digiscoping. That aside the slightly larger objective of the 663 maybe better as it will permit a little more light to enter - low light and low shutter speeds are the bane of digiscoping.
 
welcome to the forum.

The finnish magazine Alula did a test of the Nikon vs Swaro vs Zeiss 60-65mm and didn't include the Kowa

"It would also be justifiable to include in this group Kowa’s TSN 663 ED, which I reviewed in ALULA 4/2001. However, during that test the quality of the eyepieces available for it—especially the zooms—proved to be so disappointing that I decided to omit it this time."

Nikon for me.

The Nikon is comparable with the big german makes especially with fixed lenses. The Kowa 663 isn't. I appreciate what Ian says about the 823 but the lenses for the 80mm series are different to the 60mm.
 
Last edited:
greg g said:
I have been looking at two spotting scopes that are approx. the same money. Nikon Fieldscope 60 ED w/ 20x60 eyepiece and a Kowa TSN 663 w/ 20x60 eyepiece. I'm a birder/outdoors guy. Have a digital Nikon Camera. This will be used mainly for birding. I've been looking thru both of them for weeks and would like some feed-back. The one item I like with the Nikon is the focus collar/ it is user freindly, the viewing image doesn't "jiggle" as easily as when using the knob at the top with the Kowa for focusing. The one item I like with the Kowa is the eyepiece collar fits my eye nicely. What I'm trying to decide is which of these two has better clarity/sharpness and brightness while viewing.

Pete,

I should have written the TSN 663 ED. I have been using both the Nikon 111 60 ED Straight and the Kowa 663 ED Angle all weekend on loan. They both have good qualities. The straight is easier to pickup wildlife and the the angled I can watch longer without getting uncomfortable. I found sometimes I missed the bird when trying to line it up. The article is very helpful. I have not found an article that uses these two models with the eyepieces 20x60 zoom and a 40x wide and give me some measurable results.
 
pduxon said:
welcome to the forum.

The finnish magazine Alula did a test of the Nikon vs Swaro vs Zeiss 60-65mm and didn't include the Kowa

"It would also be justifiable to include in this group Kowa’s TSN 663 ED, which I reviewed in ALULA 4/2001. However, during that test the quality of the eyepieces available for it—especially the zooms—proved to be so disappointing that I decided to omit it this time."

Nikon for me.

The Nikon is comparable with the big german makes especially with fixed lenses. The Kowa 663 isn't. I appreciate what Ian says about the 823 but the lenses for the 80mm series are different to the 60mm.

Thanks, pduxon this helps.
 
IanF said:
Welcome aboard Greg :t:

As KC says there's a good digiscoping section on the site found from the Forums page where it maybe better to ask.

Either scope should cope admirably though I really like the fluorite glass in the Kowa scopes. I used to own the 823 and it was superb for digiscoping. That aside the slightly larger objective of the 663 maybe better as it will permit a little more light to enter - low light and low shutter speeds are the bane of digiscoping.

Ian, do you think a 660 will allow in a noticable amount of light difference than a 60?
 
Warning! This thread is more than 17 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top