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Kowa Prominar TE-11WZ (2 Viewers)

P

pavan_n

Active member
Hi All,

I have a Prominar TE-11WZ eyepiece, which i bought last month. (I am just outside the return window to send it back to the retailer).

I just discovered that there is the dreaded black speck in between 30x and 40x. What have others with this issue done to resolve it? Is this something that Kowa is able to fix?

I have read that this is due to metal filings from manufacturing inside the eyepiece. Does this mean there is a possibility of more of these getting dislodged over time?

I should have tested it out more thoroughly, but did not notice it before. When I was looking at the super moon this evening, it was very evident against the white background.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
pavan_n said:
Hi All,

I have a Prominar TE-11WZ eyepiece, which i bought last month. (I am just outside the return window to send it back to the retailer).

I just discovered that there is the dreaded black speck in between 30x and 40x. What have others with this issue done to resolve it? Is this something that Kowa is able to fix?

I have read that this is due to metal filings from manufacturing inside the eyepiece. Does this mean there is a possibility of more of these getting dislodged over time?

I should have tested it out more thoroughly, but did not notice it before. When I was looking at the super moon this evening, it was very evident against the white background.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Same problem here. It is a systemic problem and Kowa knows about it. After my brand new eyepiece was cleaned (specks at 55-60) I found specks in the same region (35-40) you're reporting. I have been "ignoring" them for some time because I love the scope and the view. If I see them I change magnification slightly to get them out of the view.

The "solution" is to replace faulty lenses with lenses that are pristine. This is not rocket science and Kowa should make good on this. I would send your lens in and see what happens. Personally, I'm waiting to see if they come up with a permanent fix before parting with my eyepiece one more time. I don't like the specks but I absolutely do love the view.
 
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Did you buy this new? If it's faulty there is no return windows a such. Here in the UK you have up to six years for faulty goods.

Ron
 
Hi Pavan, Pileatus

I believe the "solution" Kowa have arrived at is to magnetize the metal part(s) of the internals to presumably keep any filings in place. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence for me. It implies there are problems in the manufacturing process.

Perhaps you can test to see if the eyepiece displays any magnetic properties. A thought occurs that if you had a strong magnet you may be able to shift the specks with it albeit at the risk of shifting any other flecks that might be lurking within the eyepiece.
 
Hi - i'd read a thread on this issue prior to buying my eyepiece, and followed jring's advice elsewhere (joachim) on the testing of these. I can't find a link to the post, unfortunately. I explained why i was doing this, and the retailer in question said that some had been returned for that reason. However, he had been told it wasn't metal, but paint flakes. I have encountered another birder who has unfortunately experienced this at certain zoom positions.
Personally, at the price these devices are, i would return it if there was anything at all wrong, particularly if it was at point of manufacture, which i believe it is.
 
Forgot to mention - i'm certain at one month you are not outside the guarantee period as fixed by Kowa, whatever the retailer says about return periods.
 
Hi

I had the same problem with my eyepiece, took a number of different eyepieces and several months but Kowa (Europe) did replace each time with a new eyepiece.

I do not see how just because you are based in the USA that they could refuse to change your eyepiece for a new one to sort this problem. It is obvious Kowa know about this issue but seem to have a bit of a ostrich head in the sand approach to actually resolving it, this is a shame because it cannot be doing anything other than damaging their reputation..... The scope/lens is the best, but many people will go to swaroski instead - which I understand have their own issues.......crazy, top 2 scopes/lens in the world yet they keep selling (apparently) faulty products...........its beyond me.

Anyway, good luck in getting this resolved.

John
 
There seems to be arriving a second version?
www.kowaoptic.com

Kowa TE-11WZ II 25-60x / 30-70x Wide Zoom Eyepiece

KOWA TE-11WZ II 25-60X / 30-70x wide zoom for TSN-99/88/66 spotting scopes. A first for any KOWA eyepiece, the optical construction of the TE-11WZ II contains 2XD-lenses.Images are delivered with outstanding sharpness even at...
www.kowaoptic.com www.kowaoptic.com

Any changes? Don't see any in the specs although I can find weight of second version right now
 
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Ries said:
There seems to be arriving a second version?
www.kowaoptic.com

Kowa TE-11WZ II 25-60x / 30-70x Wide Zoom Eyepiece

KOWA TE-11WZ II 25-60X / 30-70x wide zoom for TSN-99/88/66 spotting scopes. A first for any KOWA eyepiece, the optical construction of the TE-11WZ II contains 2XD-lenses.Images are delivered with outstanding sharpness even at...
www.kowaoptic.com www.kowaoptic.com

Any changes? Don't see any in the specs although I can find weight of second version right now
Click to expand...
I believe the changes are cosmetic. Markings were added to reflect the powers for use with the 99 scope bodies.
 
It's not exactly new. I bought a TE-11WZ II almost 2 years ago. It appeared along with the TSN-99 and I believe has the same coating upgrades that were introduced on that scope.
 
Hi Henry, I was under the impression that it's optically identical to the original one, but just has some extra etchings on it to reflect the power of the eyepiece when attached to the 99....

Happy to be corrected.
 
Hi Robert,

You could be right about that. I just waded through some of the marketing material for the TSN-99 from two years ago where I thought I had seen mention of improved eyepiece coatings. All I can find now are definite claims of improvements to the coatings of the scope, but no direct mention of the eyepiece itself. Could be I just assumed the eyepiece would have been included in the improvements since the majority of the coated glass surfaces are in the eyepiece, not the scope body (14 surfaces vs 8 surfaces.) Why would they choose to improve only 8 of the 22 coated surfaces in the scope?

Henry
 
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Ries said:
Any changes?
Robert_Scanlon said:
Hi Henry, I was under the impression that it's optically identical to the original one, but just has some extra etchings on it to reflect the power of the eyepiece when attached to the 99....

Happy to be corrected.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I've been discussing this with a Kowa dealer today, but by email, so the conversation, as such, was limited.

From what I gather, the TE-11WZ II has a wider field of view than the original version. Also happy to be corrected, if anyone can say definitively.
.
 
I just downloaded a 2016 Kowa catalog which shows the original TE-11WZ had the very same FOV spec on the TSN-880 as the current TE-11WZ II.

Perhaps the dealer was thinking of the old 20-60x zoom, which did have a narrower FOV.
 

Attachments

  • 2016-Kowa_Catalog_Scope.compressed.pdf
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You're right Henry. Thanks for the clarification. There's a used 883 for sale locally that has the older eyepiece - I can renew my interest.

Edit (next day): In fact, I went and bought it. The shop confirmed what we already know, that the EP is practically identical to the mkII. Fingers crossed, but so far I've not seen any of the dreaded black specs between 30-40x... nor any of the kidney beans that are provided free of charge with the Swarovski 25-50!
.
 
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