Kowa vs Swarovski (1 Viewer)

[Craig H]

I currently have a Swarovski ATX85 which I’ve had for a few years - warranty runs out this year. Despite it being optically excellent I have never really got on with the helical focus (previous scope was a Leica APO77 and I loved the focus). I should have swapped years ago but held on purely due to Swarovski’s after sales reputation. I’m now thinking of swapping. I’m considering the Kowa 77 as a replacement, slightly smaller/lighter scope that would sit nicely between the current 82/85/88 mm models and the 62/65/66 mm models. I just don’t see many of them in use and everyone raves about the 883 model. My other consideration is cost - if I wanted the 883 I’d probably have to find extra cash and I just don’t know if it’s worth paying more given I’ve managed with it so long. In theory though I could get enough for my ATX (which is mint) to cover the purchase of a 77mm.

Would appreciate any thoughts on the 77mm models.

 

[jring]

Hi,

while the ATX has a few disadvantages in my view too (weight, helifoc), if your example is really optically excellent (as in good or better star test and snappy focus at 60x), I would really keep it as it will be quite difficult to get an equally good example of any other alpha scope.

Joachim

 

[CMB]

The Kowa TSN-773 model gets very good reviews. The difference between it and the 883 (aside from size) is the lens material. The 773 uses Kowa's high density glass, while the 883 uses fluorite crystal. Fluorite crystal reduces CA a little more than the high density glass does, but both control CA very well. If you are not someone that is very sensitive to CA then the cost difference between the 770 and the 880 probably isn't worth it.

The ATX85 didn't work for me because it had too much CA at the edge of the field. My spouse didn't really notice it. The TSN-883 we were evaluating against the ATX controlled CA better.

There are ergonomic difference between the Swaro ATX series and the Kowa 770/880 series. We were split on these differences and how much we liked using the two different styles of scopes.

One of us found the eye cup on the ATX series to be slightly too large in diameter to be able to get comfortable eye placement. It has a lot of extra material surrounding the the eyepiece lens. Kowa's zoom eye cup does not have as much material around the actual lens and allowed more comfortable eye placement.

The ATX's stock eyecup thickness results in less useable eye relief than the Kowa zoom. Swaro offers a thin eyecup to help increase the eye relief, but the Kowa still worked better overall in terms of eye relief.

One of us didn't care for the ATX helical focus, and found the tension on the zoom to be higher than comfortable. The Kowa's zoom is a traditional style and easy to move, and the focus is easy to work. We both felt the ATX zoom and focus is easier to use than Kowa's when wearing heavy gloves/mittens. The Kowa's dual speed focus isn't something we use.

The Kowa uses a belt driven focus system while Swaro uses the helical. With our sample of the ATX, the focus mechanism made light clinking noises while walking depending on where in the focus range the lens assembly ended up being when we picked up the scope. Kowa's belt driven system doesn't make noise.

We live in a very dusty area so we tend to add cases and use lens covers to protect optics.

The ATX armor is nice (especially when it's cold outside), it does add some bulk and weight. We tried a stay on case for the ATX and felt it really restricted use and didn't add protection for our situation.

The Kowa lacks armor. We use a padded stay on case that fully encloses the scope. This increases bulk but adds a lot of protection in our conditions.

That's the ergonomic differences we noticed between the two styles of scopes.

 

[Bill Atwood]

I agree with pretty much all of the assessments in this thread of the various pros and cons of the most recent Kowa and Swaro scopes.

A couple new topics:

1. With the 77 You could be giving up a fair amount of brightness under dim conditions. Anecdotally the ATXs seem to hit above their aperture when it comes to brightness.

2. The 77 scope foot may require you to change/add mounting plates.

 

[kwikstaart]

I have compared the Kowa TSN's 773 and the 883 in the field. On its own the 77 looks great but compared to the 88 the 88 is fantastic: sharper, more contrast and a little brighter. A good sample of 88 is at least as sharp and bright as Swaro but virtually without ca and excellent fine focussystem. I have the 883 now for 13 years and it feels and works as new

 

[DRodrigues]

I would never recommend a 77mm scope for someone coming from a X85, specially if he classifies it as excellent optically...
Regarding the focus, although I used Nikon fieldscopes some years, I used many years the Optolyth 100 and the transition to the X95 was easy being that the fine focus started to be done not by the hand, neither the finger, but by the nail, and this at >120x, using the extender! Try to practise it before swapping one of the best 82-88mm scopes!

 

[Craig H]

Cheers for the feedback and advice. I think I need to have a think!!