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Kowa 823 secondhand? (1 Viewer)

Wrenie

Member
Hi folks,
I can't justify buying the new Kowa 883 (Don't even think about it!) but have been looking at an older secondhand Kowa 823 (at Ace Optics ) which comes with just a 32x eye piece at £649, ( no zoom eyepiece) and another ancient 823 with a fixed eyepiece and a zoom on EBay.

I'm an occasional bird watcher and already have a small Bausch & Lomb 15-45x straight scope but would like to see a bit more distance and detail.

I need to stay under £800. Maybe there are other good scopes out there?

Would greatly value your thoughts/advice. B :)
 
For that price you should be able to get something very decent, any of the high end opticron scopes, or secondhand Leica televids, Swaro AT80HD, Nikon ED82 can all be found within this budget. If you are particularly keen on the Kowa, I found this for considerably less - if the optics are clear, then with a stay on case you could scoop a good deal.

The Kowa is a very nice scope, and is far from obsolete, its a while since I've owned one, but from memory, the zoom lens is nice and sharp, but the field of view is a bit restrictive. The 32x wide is an excellent eyepiece, and makes for a perfect combination with this scope.

The best advise anyone can give would be to try before you buy, in the Midlands area I'd strongly recommend Focus Optics at Corley, I've bought some nice kit from there over the years and generally have a good selection of stock. Further afield, I can highly recommend Cley Spy, excellent service and very good selection of new and used kit.

Hope this helps!
 
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Hi Daniel,

Thanks for this useful advice.

Had the chance to look through someone's Kowa 823 the other day and found it wasn't my bag after all, so discounted that one.
Also looked through somebody else's Leica televid, nice but very heavy so now hoping to get a look through the Nikon and Swarvo AT 80 HD.
Like the look of the Swarvo at swoptics even though it's a bit more expensive.

Not sure about using EBay as I've had my fingers burnt on there but we'll see.

Brilliant, thanks a lot.

Helen
 
I had a Kowa 823 for a few years and It was a great scope, but i recently bought a second unit and that thing is amazing..side by side is obviously resolving more detail and in use in the field gets to that point when you know is all there..at 57X with the zoom and at 65X with the Nikon 75X MC wide the image is outstanding..I am now going to buy a 5mm astronomy eyepiece to get into 90X .All of my units,of 823/4 have been good,so if you find a good deal ,dont hesitate to give it a go..One thing I disagree though,with dwatsonbirder,is the quality of the older 32X wide...the new 32X wide with upgraded coatings is excellent,but older versions of the 32x W feature single coated glass,and contrast is really poor compared with the Kowa 50X wide(multicoated ,perhaps the reason it was not upgraded)or with modern eyepieces like the baader zoom or my 12mm BST explorer..i am not sure ,but i think all the original 32x W are single coated...For that reason I would not buy the deal you mentioned in the first post for 650 pounds for a body with the 32X..(except is it is the new version,then the value changes a lot)
 
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Swift 820ED

I had a Kowa 823 for a few years and It was a great scope, but i recently bought a second unit and that thing is amazing..side by side is obviously resolving more detail and in use in the field gets to that point when you know is all there..at 57X with the zoom and at 65X with the Nikon 75X MC wide the image is outstanding..I am now going to buy a 5mm astronomy eyepiece to get into 90X .All of my units,of 823/4 have been good,so if you find a good deal ,dont hesitate to give it a go..One thing I disagree though,with dwatsonbirder,is the quality of the older 32X wide...the new 32X wide with upgraded coatings is excellent,but older versions of the 32x W feature single coated glass,and contrast is really poor compared with the Kowa 50X wide(multicoated ,perhaps the reason it was not upgraded)or with modern eyepieces like the baader zoom or my 12mm BST explorer..i am not sure ,but i think all the original 32x W are single coated...For that reason I would not buy the deal you mentioned in the first post for 650 pounds for a body with the 32X..(except is it is the new version,then the value changes a lot)

Manuel ..... I can not respond to your personal message, your file is full so I am breaking in here so you might see my response regarding your question .... I am still a member & they are asking $330. dollars for those Swift 820ED binos .... gwen
 
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