Old style swarovski spotter

[Chesterwyo]

Does anyone here have any experience with the older style swarovski spotters (they were grey in color) are they optically compareable to the newer ones?

 

[D13er]

if you are talking about this one....

my experience is that optically they are every bit as good....



JB

 

[Chesterwyo]

Thats it. Any experience?

 

[swivelhead]

I've got a Habicht AT 80 with the 20 - 60 X eyepiece. Image is sharp & flat. Don't have the dope on FOV with the old style eyepiece but the apparent FOV is like 50 degrees. Good scope but runs about 5 ounces heavier than the new ones. I'd like to try the new 25 - 50X WA on my old beater. FOV is critical with spotting scope IMO.

 

[kk]

I have had one for about 10 years and use it a lot. It has been a real good scope. There is always a new scope that is better, newer, lighter but it is a great scope. I am not looking to upgrade.

 

[azbow]

I have had mine since it was new. I also got one of the newer 65mm HD to take when I wanted to carry something smaller. I think that the old one is better optically than the newer one, but it is a little more awkward to deal with.

I wonder if the wide angle eyepiece will fit the older style.

 

[swivelhead]

"I wonder if the wide angle eyepiece will fit the older style."

I emailed Swaro a couple months ago asking that very question. According to Swaro the new eyepieces will fit the ST / AT scopes. Unfortunately the eyepieces won't "lock in." Probably not an issue with the fixed powers but when twisting on a variable ...... who knows when it'd come loose and drop to the ground.

Azbow, why not try eyepiece off the 65mm scope on the older 80mm scope? Give us an update if you do. The newer eyepieces have a bigger field ..... I think.

 

[azbow]

Swivelhead,
I got both my scopes out and checked the eyepieces. They are both 20-60 and look differant but were interchangeable. That kind of surprised me. I didn't notice any diff in field of view though.
The wide angle should fit. I wish that it was more like 15-50 power though. I think 15 power wide angle would be great for scanning and then you could zoom in to see detail.

 

[swivelhead]

Thanks for the update. Good to know there is little or no advantage to ugrading to a newer style 20 - 60x eyepiece. I prefer fixed power eyepieces but packing multiple units is not an option when hiking.

 

[nickman]

Interesting that you seldom see a used older gray one listed for sale, but the newer one's are offered regularly.

Why is this?

"whackin' a surly bartender ain't much of a crime"