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STS HD 202 to 2015 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter handwerk
- Start date
John A Roberts
Well-known member
Hi HW,
In terms of improvement, the hardware and optics (the glass) have not changed
However, it would be reasonable to expect that there may have been improvement to the coatings over a decade or so, and indeed that is the case . . .
See the attached graph from a test conducted by Gijs van Ginkel comparing AT units from 2002 and 2009 (both the ST and AT lines would have the same changes)
The 2009 figures presumedly show the major upgrade to coatings that took place on all Swarovski products in 2009, see: https://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=1639843&postcount=29
There may be slight further improvement by 2015
The graph is from the 12 mb 100 page presentation 'History and quality development of Swarovski Optik 1935-present time'
which can be found at: https://www.houseofoutdoor.com/verrekijkers/verrekijkers-testen-en-vergelijken/
John
In terms of improvement, the hardware and optics (the glass) have not changed
However, it would be reasonable to expect that there may have been improvement to the coatings over a decade or so, and indeed that is the case . . .
See the attached graph from a test conducted by Gijs van Ginkel comparing AT units from 2002 and 2009 (both the ST and AT lines would have the same changes)
The 2009 figures presumedly show the major upgrade to coatings that took place on all Swarovski products in 2009, see: https://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=1639843&postcount=29
There may be slight further improvement by 2015
The graph is from the 12 mb 100 page presentation 'History and quality development of Swarovski Optik 1935-present time'
which can be found at: https://www.houseofoutdoor.com/verrekijkers/verrekijkers-testen-en-vergelijken/
John
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I have had the older ATS, plus the ATM (2012 to 2015), and now the new ATS. My thoughts from being in the field were that the older ATS was better than the ATM, but not as good as the new ATS. But....a huge factor (if not the one and only) is that I am now using the 25-50x instead of the 30-60x eye-piece.
But I can remember birding with the old ATS plus the 20-60x eyepiece and finding it wonderful. I sold it for some odd reason but not mechanically related. I missed my scope so bought the ATM with the 20-60 eyepiece and at that time I saw a huge difference. It could have been a bad eye-piece, not sure.... Either way, spend the extra bucks and get the 25-50x eyepiece..... jim
But I can remember birding with the old ATS plus the 20-60x eyepiece and finding it wonderful. I sold it for some odd reason but not mechanically related. I missed my scope so bought the ATM with the 20-60 eyepiece and at that time I saw a huge difference. It could have been a bad eye-piece, not sure.... Either way, spend the extra bucks and get the 25-50x eyepiece..... jim
