Swarovski HD vs Non-HD spotting scope (1 Viewer)

[rwolfert]

I will be purchasing the Swarovski 80 spotting scope for birding within a few months. I have been able to grab a few minutes of viewing time in the field with others' scopes and like how it works with my glasses. Superb bright image with good eye relief. What a difference from my nearly 30 year old (now broken) Swift spotting scope.

I am curious as to whether the HD version really offers a significant advantage over the non-HD version with the zoom lens. Any opinions?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Parker]

Hi Rich, Unfortunately i havn't had the opportunity to look through a non HD Swaro scope. I am lucky enough to own the 65hd & the 80hd & would recomend the HD models. As far as i know they are a few hundred pounds more expensive but as you will have to part with up to £1400,with eyepiece, so you might as well go the whole way & get the HD scope. I would also recomend the 65hd over the 80hd, as it is smaller, lighter & just as good, in fact the same, in Field of view & sharpness of image as the 80hd. You only notice a diferance when the light is poor, either at dawn or dusk when the weather is overcast & gloomy,then the 80hd is better. It depends on when & how long you go birding & your own preference. I've seen the ATS65hd with 20x-60x zoom & stay on case for £1250 recently. Hope this is some help, cheers, Parker.

 

[blizdas]

I will be purchasing the Swarovski 80 spotting scope for birding within a few months. I have been able to grab a few minutes of viewing time in the field with others' scopes and like how it works with my glasses. Superb bright image with good eye relief. What a difference from my nearly 30 year old (now broken) Swift spotting scope.

I am curious as to whether the HD version really offers a significant advantage over the non-HD version with the zoom lens. Any opinions?

Thanks,
Rich

Rich,
Over the past 10 years I've sold HD and non-HD scopes to numerous birders. I've never met someone who purchased the HD scope and thought it was a waste of $. I've had many customers who purchased non-HD scopes come back and ask if there was a way to "upgrade" their scope to an HD version. The solution is to keep your eyepiece and buy a new scope body.
My opinion is that if you're considering a non-HD Swarovski, you could save yourself a lot of $ and get a comparable performer with something like the 80m Pentax scopes. It's the HD glass that makes a Swarovski purchase worthwhile IMHO.
Right now there are closeouts on the ATS and STS scope bodies which can save you over $700. That's like getting a free wide angle zoom eyepiece. Same optical system as the more current ATM and STM models.

Ben

Ben Lizdas
Sales Manager
Eagle Optics
www.eagleoptics.com

 

[karmantra]

Rich: Eariler in the spring I did one side-by-side comparisions with a non-HD ATS 65 & an ATS 65 HD on a resolution chart indoors & outside in bright sunlight, using the 20-60x zoom & a 30x fixed. I found that both scopes were very similar in resolution with the HD slightly better. The main difference was the CA that appeared on the non HD scope vs. the HD scope when used outside against a bright background, most noticeably in the zoom than in the 30x fixed. I already had the non-HD ATS 65 & returned the ATS 65 HD because CA is not a big issue to me and the resolution to detail was so close between the two. I have since picked up an ATS 80 HD from Eagle Optics at a great price & now use the 30x on the ATS 65 & the zoom on the
ATS 80 HD.
If you are going for the Swaro, I would pick up the ATS-STS models before they are gone--The price difference between the non HD & HD 80 model has gone from over $600 to less than $360 (Eagle Optics)--I'd jump on a HD now.

 

[kristoffer]

I have the ats65hd with the 20-60x zoom, and I really like it. Superb image and in small package. I have not compared it with the non-hd but I will receive a pentax pf65ED scope in a week or two, and then I will test them side by side, maybe it can be interesting for someone.

 

[jaco]

I'd suggest going for the HD version.

I'd also suggest not even thinking about buying any scope until you've tried it side by side with the alternatives.

 

[dnogin]

I have the ats65hd with the 20-60x zoom, and I really like it. Superb image and in small package. I have not compared it with the non-hd but I will receive a pentax pf65ED scope in a week or two, and then I will test them side by side, maybe it can be interesting for someone.

Hi kristoffer,

I pushed search hard but didn't find your comparison of pf65ed and ats65hd. I saw that you get Pentax and sold Swaro at some point. And know I'm prette much the same crossing. Can you say how was the owning of Pentax after Swaro? How far they are from each other?

Does Pentax work well on high magnification such as 50x-60x ?

Best regatds,
dnogin

 

[steph.661]

Hi kristoffer,

Perhaps you didn't realize that the message is 15 years old, and the user may no longer even be alive. As far as the 80HD is concerned, I can only tell you that my 80HD it is optically as good as my excellent ATX95. If it hadn't been possible to add the ATX extender, I'd have spent money for nothing.

 

[dnogin]

Perhaps you didn't realize that the message is 15 years old, and the user may no longer even be alive. As far as the 80HD is concerned, I can only tell you that my 80HD it is optically as good as my excellent ATX95. If it hadn't been possible to add the ATX extender, I'd have spent money for nothing.

Hi Steph!

Thanx for your answer. 120x zoom! Wow! What about the FOV ? Is it any good?
ATX is a bit pricey for my wallet. But there is Kowa 843 and it's also support extender with 96x in total. What do you think, is it worth it?

Best regards,

PS: Yes, I saw that the thread was 15 y.o. and Kristoffer was a year ago at BF. Anyway it's a proper thread if you've come to visit )

 

[steph.661]

Hi Steph!

Thanx for your answer. 120x zoom! Wow! What about the FOV ? Is it any good?
ATX is a bit pricey for my wallet. But there is Kowa 843 and it's also support extender with 96x in total. What do you think, is it worth it?

Best regards,

PS: Yes, I saw that the thread was 15 y.o. and Kristoffer was a year ago at BF. Anyway it's a proper thread if you've come to visit )

Hello,
I never felt that the fov is limited at 120x. I think Swarovski was conservative with the 120x limit probably to ensure great quality.
I'm not a good adviser, I used to work in the security field, and that was the reason why I bought the 80HD and the ATX95. For the past few years, however, everything has changed in the civilian and military fields, drones are kings for rapid observations and reports and much more. We see this everywhere even in the current hypermediated warfare.
And maybe one day we will see a 'silent' Swarovski drone for wildlife observation....

 

[Peregrine Took]

I re-read a post I made a year ago, where I wrote off a secondhand Swarovski ATS for having too much colour fringing - I rated it second lowest of several scopes that I trialled, which included an Opticron MM4, but above the dreadful Zeiss Gavia.

However, I have just bought an ATS 65 HD and it is the sharpest edge-to-edge scope I've ever poked an eyeball at (equal to a Kowa 883), right up to 50x. This example has no evidence of false colours and has great contrast and saturation.

I can only assume, since my memory fails me, that the scope I tried a year ago was the non-HD version. So the difference between non-HD and HD, for me, is between a scope that I didn't think was worth the money and a scope that I now find absolutely incredible.

(I may have this wrong, and the previous example was just a poor copy, but it was being sold by a very reputable dealer, so I doubt it.)
.

 

[jb b]

I re-read a post I made a year ago, where I wrote off a secondhand Swarovski ATS for having too much colour fringing - I rated it second lowest of several scopes that I trialled, which included an Opticron MM4, but above the dreadful Zeiss Gavia.

However, I have just bought an ATS 65 HD and it is the sharpest edge-to-edge scope I've ever poked an eyeball at (equal to a Kowa 883), right up to 50x. This example has no evidence of false colours and has great contrast and saturation.

I can only assume, since my memory fails me, that the scope I tried a year ago was the non-HD version. So the difference between non-HD and HD, for me, is between a scope that I didn't think was worth the money and a scope that I now find absolutely incredible.

(I may have this wrong, and the previous example was just a poor copy, but it was being sold by a very reputable dealer, so I doubt it.)
.

Thank you for your opinion of the ATS 65 HD. Is the eyepiece 25x50 or 20x60?

 

[Peregrine Took]

Thank you for your opinion of the ATS 65 HD. Is the eyepiece 25x50 or 20x60?

I bought the 25-50, which I didn't get on with when I tried it with an 85mm ATS a few weeks ago, but I gave it another try and no longer suffer from the 'kidney beans' effect.
.