Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece)

Comments about Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88 mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece):

My TSN-883 yields remarkable bright, crisp razor sharp images. The colors are rendered accurately. There is no false color on bright objects. Even on the moon or brightest stars, there is no false (violet or green) tinging. Surprisingly light due to magnesium alloy tube assembly. The pure fluorite crystal outperforms the far higher priced German optics. Dual focusing system is a delight.The rotating mounting plate has 1/4-20" and 3/8" mounting screws. Extremely pleased with my Kowa scope.

Comments about Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88 mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece):

Bought to digiscope with Canon 5D DSLR. Is great for this purpose and is small enough to use as a "spyglass" by holding in your hands without a tripod.

The eyepiece is the best one I've seen on a scope ever, it is bright and there is none of the usual vignetting when using high zoom. The optional DSLR eyepiece works great for digiscoping, it projects a unmagnified, very bright image at a great angle to photograph

Comments about Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88 mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece):

I am a birder learning to digiscope. I am also a professional nature tour guide. This is the fourth spotting scope I have owned and easily the best. I find it is bright, sharp and focuses easily. It is heavier than many scopes, but I find the extra margin of clarity, contrast and brightness provides a significant edge in identifying birds in dim light and allowing digiscoping at higher speeds and magnification. The zoom eyepiece is well adapted to digiscoping.

Comments about Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88 mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece):

I was enthusiastic about my Kowa scope and set it up quickly for a view of the mountains. The reviews I had read about this scope raved about the clarity and brilliance of the image. I found the scope to be of beautiful quality, just what I expected. When viewing however I found the image to be less than what I was expecting. At 60x it was not producing quality images and compare well to my 30 year old Swift 20 – 60x. I was not impressed. I am now looking at the Zeiss.

Comments about Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88 mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece):

I use this scope for birdwatching and the clarity is the best ive seen. Cant reccomend it enough

Comments about Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88 mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece):

I did months of research before buying this spotting scope, testing all of the other top brands in the field in Yellowstone. It's the best out there for wildlife watching bar none! I use it to watch and study the Wolves and Grizzley in Yellowstone in all types of weather, from frezzing snow to hot it shines above all other scopes. I have set it up next to some of the other top scopes on the market watching Wolves and it had much better performance than ALL other top brands and they were all there(we know who they are). The Kowa was sharper, better contrast, true'er colors and alot brighter more so into the evening hours. The biuld is best in class, the eye pice is the best I have seen. A home run Kowa!

Comments about Kowa TSN-883 Angled 88 mm Prominar Spotting Scope (Requires Eyepiece):

I have been seeking a replacement for the original Swarovski AT80 for some years. I had bought & returned 2 of the new ATS80 which simply aren't as sharp as the old AT80, the fault appearing not to be with the zoom eye-piece as I'd put the new one on the old body without diminution in performance so apparently it's with the body design.

So I bought the new Kowa & tested it over a period of hours birding in the field against both the new & the old Swarovski. I think it's better than the new although there's not that much in it but it's definitely not as sharp as the old. It just doesn't have the precision focus of the old Swarovski, even the 10 year old well-used example I tested it against. The zoom eye-piece has a wider field of view at 20x but is narrower at higher magnifications. I should say I'm less influenced by a scopes rubber armour, weight or size than others might be. For me ultra-sharp easy focus is the most important & the Kowa doesn't do it. Please Swarovski, bring back the old AT80!
I returned the Kowa & sent my old Swarovski for cleaning.