• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

my review of Kowa TSN 883 Prominar (also with astronomical eyepieces) (1 Viewer)

binomania

Well-known member
Dear friends.
I've just published the review of Kowa TSN 883 Prominar.
I used it also with astronomical Eyepiece.
You will find, in the article, some images of the "kowa adapter" demo, that the Japan engineers has sent to italian distributor, for binomania.
I do not know if this adapter will be put up for sale.
Best Regards from italy
Piergiovanni
 
Dear friends.
I've just published the review of Kowa TSN 883 Prominar.
I used it also with astronomical Eyepiece.
You will find, in the article, some images of the "kowa adapter" demo, that the Japan engineers has sent to italian distributor, for binomania.
I do not know if this adapter will be put up for sale.
Best Regards from italy
Piergiovanni

Thanks for the review.

A few years ago I met the designer of the Kowa at the UK birdfair and through an interpreter asked about the possibility of a higher powered zoom and if Kowa would do an astro eyepice adapter. He said there was a company in Japan that made one but subsequent enquiries proved fruitless.
He didn't think there was a demand for higher powers in a birding scope. However with the advent of the big Swaro and the tendency towards widefield high power zooms perhaps there will be a rethink from Kowa.

Unfortunately Japanese companies don't seem to respond to feedback from customers well. Witness the heavy Nikon Edge scopes, no new zoom for the fieldscopes. At least a Kowa Astro adapter would be a step in the right direction.

It would have been informative if you were able to star test the Kowa (and future scopes), and maybe photograph the results as part of your review. It would help to build up a picture of the quality control of different manufacturers and help inform your comments on the individual scope under review.
 
Here's hoping that adapter *is* put up for sale. It would make getting the TSN-883 a more attractive option to me, certainly. I wonder if this adapter would make it possible for the scope to use ultra wide field (80-82 degree) eyepieces, or whether there is something about the scope's construction that would preclude such?
 
All fieldscopes share a prism window opening of ~20mm or less which limits WIDEST TRUE FIELD non-vignetting eyepieces to an AFoV of ~70deg and ~fl=22mm at the best. Its possible to use ultrawide ~85deg AFoV eyepieces but their focal length would be limited ~17mm or less. Also because the fieldscope use an internal focus lens, it may not be possible to bring some eyepieces to focus on targets less than 100m distant.
 
Last edited:
All fieldscopes share a prism window opening of ~20mm or less which limits WIDEST TRUE FIELD non-vignetting eyepieces to an AFoV of ~70deg and ~fl=22mm at the best. Its possible to use ultrawide ~85deg AFoV eyepieces but their focal length would be limited ~17mm or less. Also because the fieldscope use an internal focus lens, it may not be possible to bring some eyepieces to focus on targets less than 100m distant.

Yes, you are right! Thanks for your opinion.
Piergiovanni
 
Te-11wz

Will be using the new TE-11WZ on the KOWA TSN-883 in the next couple weeks. Will be comparing it to the TE-10Z. Il see how it goes.
 
Will be using the new TE-11WZ on the KOWA TSN-883 in the next couple weeks. Will be comparing it to the TE-10Z. Il see how it goes.

Hi, i've published a "rapid" review of the New Kowa TE11-WZ
I've also done a photographic comparison, with the other Kowa Eyepieces
Best Regards from Italy
Piergiovanni
 
Is it worth replacing old 20x-60x kowa zoom for the new one?
Do we have lesser vignetting for digiscoping cameras?
Is there any photo quality comparison of old zoom vs. new?

Regards,
Mariusz
 
I finally got to do a brief side-by-side last week. The AFoV in the new eyepiece is HUGE at 60x. So much so that I could barely see the fieldstop unless I pressed into the eyepiece which made it somewhat less comfortable than the old at high power. I probably should have tried to adjust the eyecup in a notch but it didn't occur to me until after I left the shop. Little if any distortions or field curvature and focus seems to be nearly parfocal. Then again, the old eyepiece gives very similar views albeit at narrower AFoV. Unlike with the Swaro 25-50x, there are no blackout or kidneybeaning issues either.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top