Comprehensive 85mm Spotting Scope Review

***correction - I stated that the price for the maven is $3000 in this video. That is wrong. It is $2200 USD. When I was pulling up the prices on the Maven site it automatically converts to CAD as I am in Canada however it does not indicate on the site that it is listed in CAD so I was unaware. I updated the info in the spreadsheet and it does not change my recommendations but it certainly makes the scope more attractive at that price***

Welcome to my most ambitious review yet. I compare 6 popular 85mm spotting scopes: Swarovski ATX 85mm, Kowa TSN Prominar 88, Zeiss Conquest Gavia 85mm, Maven S.1A 80mm, and Zeiss Victory Harpia 85mm to give you a better understanding about what makes them different, and which one may be best for you. 100% unbiased, highly technical, and overly detailed, as always!

***RAFFLE IS NOW SOLD OUT***

0:00 – Intro
1:47 – Mindful Reviews and the spotting scope raffle
3:36 – Tribalism and psychological marketing
5:04 – Objectivity and financial incentives
7:59 – No such thing as a “perfect” spotter
9:07 – Review methodology and categories
13:20 – Scoring system
18:27 – Pricing
21:53 – Weight & Weight Honesty
26:25 – Length
27:57 – Angled & Straight options
29:33 – Origin of manufacture
35:44 – Descriptive Class Rankings
36:26 – Warranty
44:12 – Durability
49:16 – Hardware
53:19 – Build Quality
53:57 – Weather Resistance
58:24 – Frame Material
1:00:11 – Internal Gas Purged
1:02:49 – Construction Class Rankings
1:05:16 - Magnification
1:06:54 – Objective Lens Size
1:07:13 – Field of View
1:10:37 – Glass Quality
1:20:24 – Glass Coatings
1:22:53 – Eye Relief
1:24:52 – Close Focus Distance
1:26:30 – Optics Class Ranking
1:28:28 – Performance Class
1:35:51 – Final Rankings

Mindful Reviews

Jay Nichol

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[tylerd]

Reviews like this really enrich the hunting community. The time, effort, and honesty you put in are appreciated. Cheers.

[anthonyeverett]

This is such a phenomenal review. Not a hunter but came across this review when trying to decide on spotting scopes to see birds and landmarks from my high-rise apartment. Your breakdown and thorough analysis was insanely helpful, clear and concise. Your reviews are great man - used your first aid video for prep on an upcoming camping trip. Great work.

[cameraprepper]

I have used spotting telescopes since 1987 for bird and wildlife watching, my first scope was the Kowa TSN-3 with 20x, the second scope the Zeiss Diascope 85 with 20-60x zoom. The latest scope is the Kowa TSN-99 Prominar with both 30-70x zoom and 40x which are the very best spotting telescope you can get right now for bird and wildlife watching, I can very highly recommend the Kowa TSN-99 Prominar spotting telescope ! I have tried most of the top tier spotting telescopes on the market, when I got the Kowa TSN-99 I compared it side by side to the Zeiss Victory Harpia 95, the Kowa are faster and much more easy to "catch" a bird in flight and focus on !

[Awesymoto]

watched the range finding bino’s review and now this. Subscribed due to the quality and detail.

[bowentian]

Awesome review. The most detailed I’ve seen on YouTube. Earned my sub. However I do want to point out that Kowa USA, which according to Kowa covers the whole America continent, has a limited lifetime warranty instead of the 40:00 listed 10 year limited warranty at the time of writing.

[ssoffshore]

Great showdown/review. I really wish you'd do the same for 80mm-100mm spotting scopes UNDER $2k! Lots of great glass here, but lets face it, most of your more average hunters do not have an extra $3k-$5k kicking around for a spotting scope! No doubt there's a performance difference in these price classes as was seen here, but I have to believe these still some reasonably good glass out there that your general audience can still afford. The Athlon Cronus G2 UHD 20-60x86 can be bought well under $1k and seems to have some promising reviews. Celestron Regal M2 100ED 22-67x100, although large, again seems to have some fans and way under $2k. Nikon? Many players in this space, but let's be honest, this is the market most of the more average Joe's can start to afford, and I'm guessing most of the sales take place in!

[jasonnewman]

This is a fantastic review and very educational. With the options that I got to use I went with the Maven and I love it. Thanks again for the great review

[quentinmallie]

I am not a hunting enthusiast, but I recognize the seriousness in the work that has been provided. Theses optics are relatively expensive and their acquisition must be thought out. I think that your review allows us to put in perspective the decisions to make or not without influencing us directly by the marketing. Thank you very much.

[vancejohnson]

Hell ya Jay one hell of a review, I think you did a great job in how u set it up and being non bias as always! Even being long no issues sitting down to watch start to finish 👌

[sekaf]

This is my opinion, I was on my annual moose hunting trip to the Alaska range. This particular year we had 4 different spotting scopes in camp. Swarovski, Leica, fujinon, Zeiss. All were top quality with the big glass. We put them side by side. In my opinion and the other guys except the Swarovski owner said hands down the zeiss was clearer/brighter better edge to edge. I realize there are different models etc. also my first year there I was next to my buddy, we were looking for animals through our binocs. I am very good at spotting game, but he was always beating me!!! Finally I Sid “let me see your binocs” WOW!! He had a pair of 10x42 Leicas. I had a Brand New pair of Nikons. At first chance they went back and I bought the Leicas. NO MORE EYE fatigue. Thank you for the reviews. Like I said. This is my opinion. Can’t beat great glass (PS it will cost a lot……period)

[ronschuddeboomdigiscoping]

I do digiscoping with the Swarovski ATX 115 mm scope with outstanding results😀👍…. Good in dept review

[southbaygladiator]

This is amazing content. Truly becoming one of my favorite hunting channels. Informative and truthful.

[commonsense]

I've always thought Maven was a direct competitor of Tract Optics and the Tract Toric 27-55x85 cost $1497.00 before any discounts. How does it compare to the $2200.00 Maven? I would also like to see how the $999 Athlon Cronus UHD G2 20-80x85 stack up as well.

[B-rad]

I'd like to see your thoughts on the Athlon Cronus Gen ll. I just got It and I'm loving it for the price. I'm a Swaro guy and I'm happy with The Athlon. Swarovski is the best on earth but OMG out of my price range

[drewolm]

Checking in before the actual reviews start. I own the Vortex, no way it wins. For some reason I’m real curious how the maven stacks up though.

[peterbowler]

Trouble with eye relief is different manufactures measure it differently so it is tricky.
Great review though.

[Youknowthetruthdontyou]

I was on the argon band wagon for a while as well. But there is a reason Swarovski and Kowa are using nitrogen.And it is definetly not the cost of the gas. They know something that vortex does not.

[ramakrishnannanjan]

Hi JAY, This is an excellent review. Very useful as I am in process of buying one only for gazing at the nature and the sky. Thanks for the time and effort. I would like to know what you think about the LEICA Televid 82. It was introduced in 2009 and is it being replaced?

[oakandtheindians]

Great video. Let’s dive deeper into the glass manufacturing process!!

[Joe-qwil]

How would my humble Leupold SX2 20-60 x 80 compare to these heavywieghts? Once I pay down a few bills going to give serious consideration to the Meopta S2, the Kowa 88 and the Kowa 99, I love high end optics