60-65mm high end comparisons (1 Viewer)

[jhyatt01]

Hi everyone,

Fairly new here, have been monitoring the forums but haven't posted. What I am looking for is has there been a published article of the higher end 60-65mm spotting scopes? I have looked and all I can find is for the big scopes (80+mm). I have been looking at a few different scopes, (some out of my price range) but don't know if it is worth my money to save up and spend for a Zeiss or Swarovski or Leica scope or can I get an equal product with the Kowa TSN-663 or Vortex Razor 65mm (I know it hasn't been out long) or another comparable scope like the Zen Ray. If anyone can point me towards such an article it would be great. Or if you have insight into any of the listed scopes and comparing them to others, or even any other scopes I should be considering.

Thanks.

 

[lawreman]

Kowa TSN-884 Prominar new course record for the 200/300/500 meter distance.

 

[looksharp65]

Nikon Fieldscope ED III A with 30x Wide MC!

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

jhyatt01,
I have investigated a number of high quality 65 mm observation telescopes and the Swarovski ATM65HD with 25-50x zoom eye piece turend out to be the best choice both from the point of view of optical performnce as well as from the point of view of comfort of use. In addition the telescope is compact, has a very low weight and the after sales service of Swarovski is excellent. I published the results (in Dutch) on the WEB-site of House of Outdoor in The Netherlands.
Gijs

 

[kabsetz]

I'll second Gijs's advice here. in the 60-65mm class, Swarovski has the best scope/eyepiece combos. The 60mm Nikon Fieldscope is excellent but no better, but the zooms for it are not as good as Swaro zooms. The 65mm Nikon EDG is also no better than the Swaros for image quality, and is so much bigger that you might just as well get an 80-85mm scope instead if you were considering it.

Kimmo

 

[Jumbo]

Another supporter for the opinion given above.

Here's a couple of links which may be of interest:
-Swaro65 v. Zeiss65 v. Nikon60...... from BVD, as is the link below...

-"Big scope fightback" (Swaro and Zeiss).


Leica have priced themselves out of the market here in the U.K

I've used the smaller Kowa scopes, and like them, but in the end my money went on a Swarovski 65HD. Optical excellence in a compact and light package.:t:

Ultimately you need to go and have a look through your shortlisted models before making a final decision. HTH

 

[badger1962]

I had a Swaro 65 HD which was great apart from me not getting on with the helical focus mechanism - a very personal thing I know. I've now got a used Leica APO62 and it's brilliant; I find the coarse/fine focussing so much better.
Think you'd be hard pressed to see much difference between any of the alpha's - it comes down to personal preference and the overall viewing experience.

Cheers,

H

 

[hinnark]

The Kowa TSN-663 is hard to beat. However, I would take the Leica APO-Televid 65 into account. The Leica zoom-eyepiece provides the most relaxed view among zoom-eyepieces I know. The image is bright and contrasty. Close-focus is very good, too, better actually than with the Leica 7x42 Ultravid bins, BTW. For digiscoping you can get everything including camera from one and the same manufacturer in Germany. As always, try before you buy and if you try, check which focussing mechanism works best for you. If you are interested in digiscoping, check the same with mounted camera.

Steve

 

[jhyatt01]

Everyone, thanks for your input. I don't know if this made my decision making any easier or not, but I truly appreciate the input. For now it may be what I can afford.

 

[Oskar Moilanen]

I hardly think you'd be disappointed with the value and optical quality of a Pentax PF-65ED II with an eyepiece from the Pentax XW line, the 14mm is a good start which roughly gives 28x magnification and a 70° AFOV. The view is immersive and right up there among the best, if you use a quality EP that matches. The scope is very compact and comes with an all-ready case included.

And besides all this is one of the main reasons to buy one, in my opinion. That is the 1.25" socket that allows the use of any 1.25" astronomical eyepiece. I reject the brands that stick to their own eyepiece connection probably because they want to ensure only their own eyepieces sell, I wish all could stick to a common standard.

 

[Boogieshrew]

I hardly think you'd be disappointed with the value and optical quality of a Pentax PF-65ED II with an eyepiece from the Pentax XW line, the 14mm is a good start which roughly gives 28x magnification and a 70° AFOV. The view is immersive and right up there among the best, if you use a quality EP that matches. The scope is very compact and comes with an all-ready case included.

And besides all this is one of the main reasons to buy one, in my opinion. That is the 1.25" socket that allows the use of any 1.25" astronomical eyepiece. I reject the brands that stick to their own eyepiece connection probably because they want to ensure only their own eyepieces sell, I wish all could stick to a common standard.

I agree with everything you say.

The Pentax is a fantastic scope. I have been using it for over two years and I still get a wow when I look through it. And I have had swaro owners look through it and say wow too.

If one is looking for a top of the range 60-65mm scope the Pentax really should be on the shortlist.

 

[Hermann]

The Pentax is a fantastic scope. I have been using it for over two years and I still get a wow when I look through it. And I have had swaro owners look through it and say wow too.

If one is looking for a top of the range 60-65mm scope the Pentax really should be on the shortlist.

I find the Pentax is nowhere near as good as the top 60/65mm scopes. The difference at high magnification (>40x) was pretty obvious to me every time I had a chance to compare one to my Nikon ED III.

Like Kimmo said, the best package is nowadays probably the Swrovski with the 25-50x zoom eyepiece.

Hermann

 

[FrankD]

Hermann,

Out of curiousity, what eyepiece combinations were you utilizing with the Pentax when you did the comparisons? One of the Pentax zooms? One of the XW eyepieces?

At one point I did utilize the XW 10 mm with the Pentax 65 but I never tried any of the shorter focal length XWs with the scope. The 10x yielded somewhere in the high 30's in terms of magnification (I forget what the PF ED's focal length is at the moment). I would feel fairly confident in saying that up to 40x the Pentax is very impressive.

Beyond that I cannot say as I never used a high quality eyepiece in the scope at higher magnifications. I did have an inexpensive after market zoom eyepiece that I utilized on some occassions but the XW series practically lived in the scope when I owned it. The low cost zoom did not provide anywhere near the experience of the XWs with that scope. Magnifications anywhere higher than 30x with that zoom produced acceptable but certainly not impressive performance. Since I did not have any short focal length eyepieces of better quality to compare the zoom to I have no idea if the scope or the eyepiece was the limiting factor at higher magnifications.

Like I said, I was just curious and really looking for an explanation for the differences in opinion.

 

[Kevin Conville]

My experience with Pentax ED scopes and XW/XL eyepieces is that they perform beautifully. The 65 ED II with the XW14, in particular, is kind of magic.
It will yield 28X and for me, for birding, this was great. The XW10 is also good at (I believe) 39X. If you, like many, want/need high power this probably isn't your best choice.

For a top-end zoom in that size scope, I'd go with Swarovski.

 

[Boogieshrew]

I find the Pentax is nowhere near as good as the top 60/65mm scopes. The difference at high magnification (>40x) was pretty obvious to me every time I had a chance to compare one to my Nikon ED III.

Like Kimmo said, the best package is nowadays probably the Swrovski with the 25-50x zoom eyepiece.

Hermann

Ahhh, I only use the Pentax with the 14mm eyepiece or less so not over 28x mag.