Reviews - Kowa 88mm High Performance TSN-884 Spotting Scope - Straight BODY ONLY Reviews - KW-SS-TSN-880-884

Author: Yiu Wah Lee (verified customer) , Bird watcher and photographer, from Hong Kong on Jan 22, 2012
Pros:  Excellent image quality.
Cons:  Nil
Would recommend:  yes

Yiu Wah Lee wrote:

Image quality is as good as my much more expensive telephoto gears. Highly recommended

Author: Virgil Ward (verified customer) , Hunter, Target Shooter ,Birder,Digiscope photos , from Bulverde Texas on Dec 28, 2010
Pros:  Excellent Product, bright, clear, ease of use, very clear
Cons:  None
Would recommend:  yes

Virgil Ward wrote:

I spent 6 months looking at all brands. The Kowa 883 won. This scope is the highest quality, extremely bright and clear. I can see the bugs on my pond. Used it recently in Newfoundland for viewing Caribou, Moose, even whales, puffins, meres, etc. I am very satisfied with this product, which beats Swarovski and Zeiss in my opinion. I wanted the best commercially available and I believe that is what I have.

Author: williams-jones (verified customer) , Keen amateur birder, from East London on Apr 18, 2010
Pros:  value for money
Cons:  weight impacts on portability
Would recommend:  yes

williams-jones wrote:

As a keen birder, I've been looking to acquire a high end spotting scope for a while now and thought I'd wait until the new Swarovski ATM-80 HD hit the stores in January 2010, before shelling out well over $2000 of my hard-earned cash. Having checked out the Kowa TSN-883 Prominar angled High Performance Spotting Scope specifications and in-the-field performance, it was hard to contemplate paying close to $3000 for the new Swaro magnesium-bodied scope, when Kowa offers such excellent value for money with an intrinsically better optical design, utilising good old-fashioned basic physics. Its enormous 88mm Fluorite Objective lens, sucks in 20% more light than the 80mm Swaro Objective lens and makes images substantially brighter, which really counts in low light conditions. As with all things, there is a price to pay for all this Fluorite glass and that is a weight, without eyepiece, that runs to over 1.5kg, which would be even greater if Kowa hadn't housed all of this high quality glass in ...
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Author: John Warszawski (verified customer) , High Power Rifle Shooter, from Jamestown, R.I. on Jan 24, 2010
Pros:  Marganally better than scopes at 1/10 the price
Cons:  Overpriced Over rated
Would recommend:  no

John Warszawski wrote:

This is an okay scope but for the price it is highly over rated

Author: Barry Bumaw , I am a Professional Artist and photographer. I spend alot of time in Yellowstone studying the Wolves and Grizzles and this., from Newport WA on Aug 26, 2008
Pros:  Sharp, best in class color, contrast and very bright.
Cons:  None
Would recommend:  yes

Barry Bumaw wrote:

I spent months researching scopes before I got the kowa 88 florite.I have firends with the other top name brands (we know who they are)that study Wolves and Grizzle's in Yellowstone. I have set my Kowa up next to the other top brands and we compaired them. The Kowa was sharper, brighter, truer color, and had better contrast. The Kowa was ever better that the rest in the evening hours. The biuld is top notch, and has on of the best eye pices I have seen. Great job Kowa!

Author: renbe (verified customer) , Avid birder and target shooter, from Mission, Texas on Apr 16, 2008
Pros:  sharpness, smoothness of focus and zoom
Would recommend:  yes

renbe wrote:

I purchased the Kowa 883 and the Kowa zoom eyepiece together after looking at all the scopes I could and reading all the reviews I could find. Since the 883 was a new scope, there weren't too many reviews. My overall comment is the same as that of most people who look thru my scope - WOW. Resolution is outstanding from edge to edge. The dual focus knobs are smooth to operate. The zoom eyepiece is also very smooth and focus stays sharp throughout the zoom process. I bird with the scope and there are always people wantint to look through it even with the Swars, Zeiss and Liecas around. By far the best scope I've ever used.