Recommend me a spotting scope

[Zeneffect]

Budget is $1400

Would like the ability to digiscope with it

Got eyes on a kowa but I'm not familiar with brands or what is really in the market except for the big names. Anything NOT made in China, japan or European glass is preferred

Anyone try a meopta spotter? I was able to directly compare a zeiss conquest against my meopro and meopro wins hands down but that's rifle scope that doesn't involve prisms and stuff

[MachV]

Ive got an older TGA75 that i dont use anymore if your looking for a good pack spotter about half what your looking to spend. Have done some phone pics with it, a little lacking in color but sharp.

[Zeneffect]

Was looking at the meopro HD80. B&H has them at exactly the price point I'm looking at, but I have no first hand experience and 1400 isn't a small chunk of change to spend on optics sight unseen (literally)

[CJW]

[LR1955]

Kowa or Vortex.

LR55

[Zeneffect]

Kowa stepping up to the fluorite crystal... yowzers
TSN-82SV + a good LER eyepiece might be in the cards.

I see there is a 1.25 adapter which opens the door as far as eyepiece selection (looking at pentax)

Going this route gives me a little we wiggle room towards a quality stand but the meopta gives me superior optics technology...

[SDW]

I have the Kowa TSN-601, which is a bit more compact than the 82SV. Uses the same quality glass. BTW, you might want to do a little research on the glass type. I believe these two models use Kowa's "ordinary glass", which is still pretty good obviously. Not the FC glass, from what I can tell:

https://sportingoptics.kowa-usa.com/scopes/

I ended up getting two eyepieces for my 601. BTW, these eyepieces are also compatible with the 82SV and the higher-end TSN-663M (which uses their Prominar XD glass).

Started with Kowa's 25x LER, which is nice, though I found It's hard for me to use while wearing glasses. Apparently it's not LER enough, since that eyepiece has a built in rubber shroud that's kinda long already. So later I got Kowa's 30x Wide-Field. I end up using the WA one more often. More magnification is a little better for shooting, and I kinda like the wider-angle aspect. If you look through one you'll know what I mean.

The 601 is nice if you want something more compact and also very light to carry. I've never used the 82SV but I kinda picture myself getting one some day. I just have to see what that's all about. 82mm (vs 60), that's a LOT more light coming in, so everyone says. But the 663 is kinda tempting. $900 at B&H. Not as much light but better glass:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1123628-REG/kowa_tsn_663m_angled_body_with_prominar.html

[Zeneffect]

I did a ton of research actually which made me realize ehat kind of glass is in what series. Only the prominar 663/664 and 773/774 use the xd glass. The 880 and 990 are just out of my price range with the pure fluorite crystals.

My dilemma is now, cheapskate it with a 663, spend for a 773, or spend slightly less overall than the 773 + eyepiece on a used zeiss conquest gavia (eurooptic has them)

I'm going to shove a pentax 20mm XW in whatever eventually.

[SDW]

My conclusion as well. You have to pay $$$$ for their FC-glass models.... unless you want the 'small' 663/664 for $900. All the others are closer to $2K or even more. I tried doing research last year on "TSN-82SV vs TSN-663M", but I could not find a direct comparison. I'm curious because they're close in price. I don't remember reading of anyone ever complaining about the 82SV's glass and I know they're very popular in F-class shooting.

Incidentally, with the Kowa fixed-power eyepieces, Kowa says that if you use them with the 82SV, you get little more magnification than spec'd. For example, the "25x" will give you 27x and the "30x" will give you 32x.

Changing gears a little, a friend of mine bought one of the Vortex spotters recently. One of the nicer 85mm ones, Razor I think, with HD glass that cost a little closer to $2K. You can swap eyepieces with it also, and so he bought the MOA ranging reticle model. Just 22x, but I can still see that coming in handy. If he needs more magnification he can use the zoom eyepiece that came with the scope.

I'm curious about that Pentax 20mm. Is it that much better than what Kowa offers? I looked at them on B&H. No mention of what magnification you get with it. So I assume it just depends on what you're using it on. E.g., an 80mm spotting scope or 6" telescope. So, what kind of mag do you expect to get with it on a a 66mm or 82mm Kowa using that 1.25" adapter?

[Zeneffect]

Ended up landing on the meopta again after checking out the 82sv, the zeiss conquest, vortex razor, athlon ares, and meopta meopro in person after visiting various bass pro sportsmans warehouses, and a couple of camera shops that also had optics today.

Meopro was winner of all of them. Clarity, brightness, ease of use, resolution. Found one online for $1k and a 60 day return policy so I ordered it. No swappable eyepiece but I'm going to have a cell phone on it 99% of the time via phone scope (as a dedicated setup with an older note 9. Great camera on it and i can control remotely via spen)

Flouride doped schott glass.... 99%+ light transmission... it really shows.

2 day shipping with a phone scope case and other bits to make digiscoping not a pain.

Need to figure out how to remove the 5 min limit, or record at 1080p60 to get the 10 min stages recorded in full.

I do have 1 more trick up my sleeve but it's a bit much for a match.... pics in a moment.

[Harpoon1]

[lazyengineer]

KOWA is the benchmark of spotting scopes. You can't go wrong, and you can resell easier than anything. I like the TSN 773, with the angled eye-piece. Which if you search, you can probably find in your price-range.

[Zeneffect]

Forgot to post this



Projection (wirelessly) to laptop, and laptop can control camera functions. Got a few things figured out on the phone. 60fps viewfinder, 1080p 240fps recording... cool stuff, no more time limits on recording length.

If this one doesn't work out, I'll be looking at the 773. Should be alright, nightforce spotters are just rebranded meopta.

Regarding fine focus, since primary use is digiscoping, I have 2 ways to focus. On camera (manual or auto) or fast focus ring on scope, either way I get best possible focus, no eye strain, infinite eye relief, digital zoom, color correction etc.

Joined the rokslide forum just to get into the for sale section incase this one doesn't pan out. They have some crazy nice optics for sale 2nd hand over there.

New spotter arrives tomorrow. I agree kowa is setting the benchmark, but it's a touch out of my price range for what I would want (the 773 or better.) If I end up going this route I'd have to sell one of my 22" grendel uppers to afford it.

[Zeneffect]

First pic with meopro. 26 yards according to range finder, 20x zoom on scope

[Harpoon1]

Cool! Hope it works out for you!