Alaska Caribou - Swarovski/Kowa Spotting Scope Review

Follow along as we put the Kowa and Swarovski spotting scopes head to head during our Alaska Caribou hunt. Rifle hunting DIY mountain Caribou with multiple bears and Caribou on video.

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[johnconklin]

I think the fairer comparison would have been the 85 ATX from Swarovski. But the guys are correct that wrong with either. The weight of the Kowa will come into play and the lack of rubberized coating in cold weather will be felt. But no question two great scopes.

[TourDeMadone]

I use Swarovski NL PURE 8X32 for my binoculars and KOWA TSN-99S for my field scope. Both look exceptional and I respect both brands.
Nice video.
Thank you.

[ByronCbyzi]

I have the kowa and am really impressed with it.

[MasterOfPace]

well done! Very honest and informative!

[ryaniam]

Looks like the atmosphere is the limiting factor in clarity are that distance you were looking at those animals from at the end. Which is why magnification above 30× doesn't help much except in really cold environments

[Zerodriftgear]

Is it just me or does the swaro look sharper?

[GM-bqzo]

Guy with the black and white hat reminds me of Steve-o

[ryaniam]

Pretty sure the original zeiss diascopes still can match or beat anything available today. Wish you had the chance to test it. Only 51 oz too. Especially the 65mm diascope is incredibly good resolution and still better light transmission than any kowa, meopta, leica or swaro made today (slightly). But zeiss coatings allow so much blue light through that in low light 65mm scopes from zeiss match 80-85mm scopes from other brands.

Meopta actually made the diascopes for zeiss under contract (they say made in Czech Republic on the bottom) but with zeiss coatings. The new meopta s2 is killer especially with the ultra wide 30-60 eyepiece. I can't imagine a kowa out resolving that s2 but could be wrong. Still it's clear even the wide angle kowa 25-60 eyepiece it doesn't have near the 66 degree afov of the meopta. I prefer the 65 mm spotters to save a pound on the spotter and another pound on the lighter tripod.

Probably all the high end brands rock. Thanks for doing the work of the reviews.

[commonsense]

How would the Pentax 100 compare? They are a discontinued Japanese spotting scope right at the $2000 price point.

[offraed]

Based on the phone images alone, the Swarovski scope gives a sharper image. However, if you were using two phones then that would make a small difference, and also the image of the Caribou and the rocks behind looked slightly out of focus in the Kowa image. The light gathering increase provided by the extra 8mm is not as important as you might think. At 60X, the Swarovski provides an exit pupil of 1.33mm. The Kowa at the same 60X gives 1.46mm. Not a lot of difference! Its image contrast and sharpness that is more important, even in low light.

[svx]

The VR is obviously missing when you look at the video clip. Nikon EDG Fieldscope 85 VR will beat those two.

[AADmrstangerbanger]

When I buy optics I buy on resale value . Swaro is king just saying.. Also the wide angle 25-50 on the swaro is way better and more field of view but both top of the line spotters.

[MindbodyMedic]

Ko-ah is how its pronounced according to their website, I also was calling it COW-ah before finding this out. Pinnacle of optics for me, depending on sample. Swaro is extra expense perhaps worth it for their EXCEPTIONAL customer service.

[joejeans]

10:20 still daytime? whpa where at in Alaska. ? so anyways which one would you recommend Ive got about 4k to spend. help me decide. which has best warranty, clarity etc.

[andrewwyndham]

thanks for video, think it would of been fair to get the same by using the swaro 85 or 95, obviously they would have given more light and then most likely been your choice, the only difference I heard really was the amount of light and an 80 compared to a 88 was not a fair comparison, maybe next time get a fair comparison, but still enjoyed the video, thks

[Michael-Ray]

Would love to see you guys compare the new US$380 Svbony SV406P to the Kowa. Both have almost the exact same design but I'm not sure how much different they are in terms of image quality.

[vinydi]

kowa is way better, no chromatic aberation

[bradleyjohnson]

🍎 and 🍊 comparison. May as well throw the Swarovski 95 mm in the mix which is closer to the 88mm of the Kowa than the 80 mm is.