KOWA 883 or NIKON ED82A? (1 Viewer)

Hello,

I am new in BF and into birding for about a year.

I am ready to buy my first scope. My uncle will buy it for me from Canada these days. I am going for a good ED large model. The opportunity to buy it from Canada has appeared now and also I believe I will save a lot of EURO'S since in Greece scopes are difficult to find and rather expensive (e.g. the ZEISS 85 goes for EUR 1.850-body only and zoom lense about EUR 450). Overall I see it as a long-term if not lifetime investment.

Although I don't have the chance to actually see and test spotting scopes I've screened out KOWA 883 and NIKON ED 82A for the following reasons:

1. KOWA 883 gets good reviews as I found out and I think will have better eye-relief for me (I wear glasses all time)
2. NIKON ED 82A looks like a best buy for the money though eye-relief might be a problem
3. The NIKON ED82A + zoom 25x-75x + s.o.c. will cost me CAD1.500 (about EUR 1.065)
4. The KOWA 883 + zoom 20-60 will cost me CAD 2.429 (EUR 1.700)
5. The ZEISS 85 was rejected - it costs about the same as the KOWA and SWARO ATS 80 HD rejected also since it goes for CAD 3.000 (EUR 2.100).

In conclusion do you believe that KOWA deserves the extra cash or I will do my birding perfectly with NIKON? (Without adding extra eyepieces since this will raise the cost to probably similar level to the KOWA).

I'm waiting for your opinions and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

George

Hi ! I am new to bird watching and just finding my way around this forum .

I don't think you will be disappointed with the kowa. I have the 884 plus zoom and also wear glasses, I love the scope.

A quick question to help you dicide though - have you considered the focus mech on both scopes. The kowa is super smooth and has course / fine focusing unlike the nikon which is helical.

I prefer the central focusing ring of the Nikon. I have a ED82A with a 30x eye piece and think it's brilliant. I tested it against the Swarorvski 80. and found very little difference optically. Certainly nothing worth the difference in price!!

Thanks for the info. I'm still confused but I guess I'll go for the Kowa for the better E.R. with the zoom eyepiece. Happy New Year to all!!!

George

Well it seems quite simple really.

The Kowa is generally accepted as the best spotting scope currently available on the market so if you have the money and are prepared to pay the money, why settle for second-best? Get the Kowa. :t:

Regards.
Jaff

Jaff said:

Well it seems quite simple really.

The Kowa is generally accepted as the best spotting scope currently available on the market so if you have the money and are prepared to pay the money, why settle for second-best? Get the Kowa. :t:

Regards.
Jaff

Click to expand...

Ooher!! :eek!:

That is until the next big badge comes out.....then it'll be ''Ahaaa mi maties, drop anchor and let's jump ship Jim lad''

Wait till the next ship[ comes in though or you will get wet. Seriously the Kowa 883/884 will last you a lifetime, there will be no need to jump ship as my learned friend Ian proclaims.:t: