Here is an extract from my Bird Fair report that is available in full in the binos section:
This year’s Bird Fair was as well attended as ever. On the first day (Friday 18th August) by 11:00 previous year’s total for the whole of Friday had been exceeded.
Kowa
Believe it or not there was another new scope at Bird Fair: Kowa’s TSN-550 Prominar. Kowa has taken the optical concept of their legendary TSN-883 complete with its Fluorite crystal objective lens and have shrunken it down to almost pocket proportions and created a fabulous travel scope. Available in angled or straight versions it has a 55mm objective lens and superb image quality and is price around £1500/1600. This has got to be the ultimate travel scope. The one small disappointment is that is attaches to the tripod by a base plate attached directly to the body and not a tripod ring. Fans of sneaking up on birds and animals by squatting among vegetation and rocks with their tripods set low and swivelling the scope around so that the angled eyepiece is parallel with the ground and can be looked through from a sitting position will be disappointed. But this technique is by no means common and I rarely see it. Anyone looking for a premium travel scope should take a look.
Lee
This year’s Bird Fair was as well attended as ever. On the first day (Friday 18th August) by 11:00 previous year’s total for the whole of Friday had been exceeded.
Kowa
Believe it or not there was another new scope at Bird Fair: Kowa’s TSN-550 Prominar. Kowa has taken the optical concept of their legendary TSN-883 complete with its Fluorite crystal objective lens and have shrunken it down to almost pocket proportions and created a fabulous travel scope. Available in angled or straight versions it has a 55mm objective lens and superb image quality and is price around £1500/1600. This has got to be the ultimate travel scope. The one small disappointment is that is attaches to the tripod by a base plate attached directly to the body and not a tripod ring. Fans of sneaking up on birds and animals by squatting among vegetation and rocks with their tripods set low and swivelling the scope around so that the angled eyepiece is parallel with the ground and can be looked through from a sitting position will be disappointed. But this technique is by no means common and I rarely see it. Anyone looking for a premium travel scope should take a look.
Lee