iebirdie
Well-known member
Greetings to all, I am new to birdforum, and have to say, very impressed !
I am in the market for a new scope, and key criteria are portability/compactness with fairly good optics for general viewing (as opposed to digiscoping).
The Kowa 663 is about my price range and seems to fit the bill. I have heard though that the 30x tsn eyepiece is "old" technology and there are better eyepieces on other brands. A specialist birding optics retailer I spoke with the other day said Kowa "have had their day...". What does anyone think of the K 663?
Also, the Leica 62 (non apo) is roughly the same price as the K663. Does the K663 (with ED/fluorite glass) beat the non-apo Leica 62 ? Or are Leica's optics better even in the non-apo 62 ?
Any other suggestions in that price range ?
I am aware of all the advice to stretch a bit more up to, say an apo Leica 62, but assume for the moment that K663/Leica 62 non-apo represents max budget - how do they compare ?
thanks for info
cheers
Niall
I am in the market for a new scope, and key criteria are portability/compactness with fairly good optics for general viewing (as opposed to digiscoping).
The Kowa 663 is about my price range and seems to fit the bill. I have heard though that the 30x tsn eyepiece is "old" technology and there are better eyepieces on other brands. A specialist birding optics retailer I spoke with the other day said Kowa "have had their day...". What does anyone think of the K 663?
Also, the Leica 62 (non apo) is roughly the same price as the K663. Does the K663 (with ED/fluorite glass) beat the non-apo Leica 62 ? Or are Leica's optics better even in the non-apo 62 ?
Any other suggestions in that price range ?
I am aware of all the advice to stretch a bit more up to, say an apo Leica 62, but assume for the moment that K663/Leica 62 non-apo represents max budget - how do they compare ?
thanks for info
cheers
Niall