Swarovski Spotting Scope

[Sakoman]

As the field narrows. For those that have them would you select thew 65 mm HD Objective or are you better of with the standard 80 mm. I am more worried about low light conditions.

Thoughts??

[BrownBear416]

I would go with the standard 80 over the 65HD.

I would also recommend buying the STS over the ATS.

[varmitr]

i have a pair of 1040 swaros, although i dont have a (quality) spotting scope, swaros (and other hi quality glass) will hold its value and therefore i say you should buy as much as you can afford and 25% more. more is always better.

[GRTWHT]

Hi Sakoman, I do some guiding up in the NWT and have seen just about every spotting scope that there is, I personally own a leica televid 77 and like it, However of all the scopes that I have looked through the Swarovski's are the best. If it were me and you don't mind the extra size of the 80mm that is the one I would go with. As far as the HD, it is my experience having looked through both the regular and HD that there is little difference for the extra you will spend. Now if you are planning to attach a camera to the scope and take pictures then the HD might yield better picture quality than the reg Swarovski. I like the 80mm's because they do gather that extra light that is necessary when hunting in overcast or low light conditions. The other thing I like about the Swarovskis over the leica that I own is the rubberized outer coating. I would reccommend spending the extra you would have spent on the HD and buy youself a real good tripod. Many times I have seen guys with great optics perched upon a crummy tripod, nothing is more frustrating than having a tripod that shifts and wabbles when you are looking at game. I would recommend a manfroto tripod, I personally use The manfroto 718B, however they do make a slightly smaller version of this model, and if I was to do it again the smaller one is the one I would purchase. I think I cost around $150 bucks. Good luck with your purchase.

[bullgetter]

If you are packing into the mountains for sheep the 65 is the way to go. Even this can be a little big sometimes. If you are on the flatlands for antelope from your truck go with the 80.