I am thinking about the new Swarovski magnesium ATS spotting scope. Which one 60 or 80 mm?
Or any other make better or as good?
Which one would you buy?

thanks
Watson LAKE

What is the application? What is your intent? As good as it is, as an 85 it's not going to be a very good backpack scope...

Kowa is a quality source for optics, spotting scopes, but as mentioned for hunting/packing their larger versions would not be very handy. Probably more Kowa's used for highpower matches than other brands and mine is more than 20 years old and seen a lot of use and abuse, but still an excellent spotting scope.

BTW, this pix for you Watson:





You live in some AMAZING land!

So, back to scopes. If you want a non-backpacking scope that can do double duty looking at the moon, then the 85 is fine. If you plan to lug the scope around much I'd go with the 60. In the end, I went with a Leica 60 and haven't looked back. I've never wanted for more light gathering ability and it's plenty sharp enough to see .22 bullet holes at 300 yards.

If I was shooting at 1000 yards, an 80 makes sense. The Swaro (and Leica and Zeiss) use interchangeable eyepieces - the same eyepiece used on a 60mm scope gives 15-45x while it gives 20-60x on the 80mm body. So you get a better power multiplier on the bigger scope.

If you don't need the power, then the smaller scope really is nice.

thanks for the information. BTW if you are up this way stop in for a few lies.
Your bike is about 1 mile from our shack and 500 yards from my office..
there are over 66,000 signs in the collection..
Watson Lake

quote:

Originally posted by Watson Lake:
I am thinking about the new Swarovski magnesium ATS spotting scope. Which one 60 or 80 mm?
Or any other make better or as good?
Which one would you buy?

thanks
Watson LAKE

I have the Alunimum Body Swarovski ATS 80-HD, with a fixed 30x Eye Piece. The image is magnificent. I have no capability where I live to find comparable high end spotters to do a comparison. Swarovski did me a HUGH favor, so I felt obliged to buy the Swaro, and I am VERY staisfied with it.
For my application, the weight and eye piece power are right.
I don't know how you will be using a spotter, so beyond what I wrote, I can't advise you.
The 60mm will be lighter and easier to lug around, and that's about all I can say.

Don

quote:

rnovi

I DO LOVE motorcycles...

Don

it depdends on your task...

in daylight conditions, the 65 is the same like the 80mm... the difference comes with the twilight - the longer you wanna be able to see anything, the bigger should be your objective lens.

BUT

the bigger difference comes with the edition you choose: I would definetly go with the HD edition - which has flouride lenses which makes a much clerer, more colourfull and brighter (more natural) image... Choose the 65mm if you are not wanna use it in the dark, but definetly GO with the HD lenses...

Klaus

Klaus,

Am I correct in thinking:

85mm objective lense version = more suitable for static 'surveillance'

65mm objective lense version = more suitable for back packing, spot & stalk.

So, if you were shooting from tree stands, hides etc in the depths of a dark 'little Red Riding Hood' forest, no more than 3km from your transport, the 85mm is the best choice.

Similarly, if you are walking, spot & stalk, 10Km plus a day over the Scottish Highlands, the Rockies etc, then the trade off in weight / bulk against absolute twighlight performance suggests, to me, the 65mm is the better choice.

I would not want to blunder about in the pitch black on the side of the Alps, Dolomites, Rockies etc.

@robthom:

Yes, I would agree with your description under aspect of the weight and size, but the biggest matter is the light gathering: ... as long as You don´t need the highest light gathering ability, the 65mm will fit your needs - the difference just comes in the darkness...

The 80 mm is 9 ounces heavier than the 65 mm.
We won't be doing much long packing with this so i think the Angled 80 mm HD.

Thanks for the input..

Watson lake

Last fall. one of my huntin buddies came up to get a nice bull and had one of those 1700 dollar Swarovski spotting scopes; best spotting scope I have ever used. We sat up on the summit checking out several bands that were scattered on the side hills below; my buddy wanted the best bull he could get. I actually had more fun watching all those bou scratching themselves & spread out on the ground than shooting one. Even had 10 or so walk up single file to within 15 yards of where I was sitting; looked at them and went back to those far off bulls. I do think they are the best out there, but pretty spendy.

I bought, Swarovski 80 mm HD with magnesium body.
got them in Whitehorse at a better price than I could find anywhere.
Watson lake

Than I guess You have now a BIG smile in your face... enjoy the new toy... it is nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Watson Lake:
The 80 mm is 9 ounces heavier than the 65 mm.
We won't be doing much long packing with this so i think the Angled 80 mm HD.

Thanks for the input..

Watson lake

This spotter I bought is my first venture into the angled eye piece domain, and I really enjoy using it now that I have it. Had some reservations about using an angled spotter, but that all went away with actually using the scope at the range. Eye relief of the ATS 80HD is short, so you have to get your eye right down to the eye piece for proper field of view. I got used to that quickly.