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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Kowa's next big thing?-a price rise (1 Viewer)

dipped

Well-known member
Nothing on the Kowa Europe site, but a number of people I know are getting Kowa 883 scopes before a price rise of about £400 kicks in according to what they've been told from Viking Optical.

Couldn't resist the title.

Maybe the first Brexit effect from the devaluation of the pound on Optics prices.
 
Nothing on the Kowa Europe site, but a number of people I know are getting Kowa 883 scopes before a price rise of about £400 kicks in according to what they've been told from Viking Optical.

Couldn't resist the title.

Maybe the first Brexit effect from the devaluation of the pound on Optics prices.

Exactly why i bought mine two weeks after the Brexit vote. My brother has to go to Japan next week on a martial arts course and the pound/yen exchange rate has gone to the rats. It was obvious this was going to happen after existing imported stock was sold.
I would expect a similar hike with all other Japanese imports.
 
Me too - it seems fairly obvious to me that the current price of Kowa scopes is going to rise sharply and with various deals including stay-on-case & zoom I got mine a couple of weeks back.
 
Just been told Kowa price hike to UK effective from November 1st, and that most European optics will cost more too from the next shipment. Zeiss/Swaro holding out at moment, but with the exchange rate, they are likely to follow.
 
Wholesale U.K. optic prices on a wide range of items have already risen.
It might take a short while till retail prices rise.

That is one reason I bought the Nikon Monarch 8x42 HG.
I wish I hadn't.
 
Hi Steve,
I bought an early Monarch HG 8x42 and there is an unacceptable amount of CA centrally and much worse off axis.
At the edge the main deterioration of image is for me false colour.
I hope that Nikon can alter the glass mix or the separations of the lens elements to fix this.
Although mine might be worse than it should be.
Near the Sun, with the Sun behind a roof, mine has awful CA, but I wouldn't normally use it like this.

In addition when observing at night with a streetlight just outside the field of view there are many large arcs of ghosting or flare, although if the light is in the field things are fine.
I can see no way of fixing this. I think it is imperfect baffling in a small body.

My needs are clearly different to birdwatchers, as they seem to think the Monarch HG is fine.

Mine is a class down at least from the Canon 10x42 L IS.

Both cost me £800. The Canon is fully worth it. My Monarch HG would not be good enough for me at £300.

It does however, have a very bright view, and may have other attributes like focusing etc, which are of little concern to me, but may be important to birdwatchers.
 
Hi Steve,
I bought an early Monarch HG 8x42 and there is an unacceptable amount of CA centrally and much worse off axis.
At the edge the main deterioration of image is for me false colour.
I hope that Nikon can alter the glass mix or the separations of the lens elements to fix this.
Although mine might be worse than it should be.
Near the Sun, with the Sun behind a roof, mine has awful CA, but I wouldn't normally use it like this.

In addition when observing at night with a streetlight just outside the field of view there are many large arcs of ghosting or flare, although if the light is in the field things are fine.
I can see no way of fixing this. I think it is imperfect baffling in a small body.

My needs are clearly different to birdwatchers, as they seem to think the Monarch HG is fine.

Mine is a class down at least from the Canon 10x42 L IS.

Both cost me £800. The Canon is fully worth it. My Monarch HG would not be good enough for me at £300.

It does however, have a very bright view, and may have other attributes like focusing etc, which are of little concern to me, but may be important to birdwatchers.

Thanks for the reply. As you know, they have not even been announced here in the US. We're looking at a January announcement and springtime delivery. According to my Nikon rep, the delay is due to quality issues, mostly concerning fit and finish. I hope the image quality is decent when they finally reach us.
 
In the unlikely event that the pound ever manages to appreciate in future I doubt we'll see a corresponding price cut from the manufacturers!
 
I was tempted by the Uttings offer on the 883 but in the end decided to stick with my 823, as it just seemed too much money I don't really have for a small incremental increase in performance. Hopefully I won't come to regret this!
 
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