Subject: Re: WTB: Telescope
Date: Jul 24 20:14:02 1995
From: Tom Foote - footet at elwha.evergreen.edu



On Mon, 24 Jul 1995, Stuart MacKay wrote:

> I'm in the market for a telescope - probably a 20-60x zoom.
>
> Anybody have any good, bad or ugly things to say about the various ones on offer ???


Stuart--

We have to talk...I think the Kowa situation was confused by the
folks at the Cornell Lab trying out 4 or 5 TSN-4's and then writing a review
that said they didn't measure up to the 5 year old TSN-4 one of the lab guys
had...

>

> Is it possible to buy Optolyth scopes out here ?
>
It's possible to buy anything as most people shop the 800#'s
for the best deal on a product they have made up their mind
about..


The best 20-60x zoom at the moment is probably the Swarovski..the're touting
no diminished field of view all the way from 20 to 60...the Kowa loses quite
a bit in that range..the Swarovski is a bit heavy, but it's water proof..
It dos have helical focus, which many birders don't like as it is one
turn to infinity compared with Kowa's 5 1/2 turns to infinity, which cuts
you more slack while focusing..personally, I think the Swarovski has the
better zoom, which is pretty much acknowledges in every review I've seen.
If you really must have the 20-60 zoom I think the Kowa would be a
disappointment..however, if you got a wide angle fixed 30x or something at
the lower end, performance would be comparable..(except the Kowa doesn't
have the water proofing..it's also heavy, but coming from a culture where
guys were kilts and throw logs around...I mean, even a Swarovski can't be
even close to being as heavy as a Caber...

I might add that I've used Burt's TSN-4 and Lanny's, and it's a really fine
scope. The Flourite lens, while an expensive option, is really worth it
as it makes color definition better and most of the reflection is sucked
up in the coatings, so you get a sharper picture..I also birded with David
Jennings' (Black Hills Audubon prex) Swarovski and it's zoom is
unquestionably better than the TSN-4..the scope, BTW, was sharp without
Flourite glass, but this year Swarovski added ED glass, which is
comparable and should mek the image even better (if that's possible)
If it didn't have helical focus, was a little lighter, etc..I'd buy one
myself..I may do it anyway..

Tom