I’m going to upgrade my hunting spotter. Unfortunately, I don’t have a close place to compare the two I’m considering and would like some insight between the two. Both have great reviews so I suspect I’m down to hair splitting and personal preference.

The spotter will be used for hunting out west. I’m just starting with DIY hunts and do not expect to do a remote backcountry hunt for 3-5 years. Use for now will be walks to glassing spots and day hunts from a fixed camp. I’m looking at pronghorn, deer and cow elk over the next few years. If I discover that I am going to do a multi-day day backpack hunt I would consider a smaller spotter.

I wear glasses when I hunt but have good vision. I’m mildly nearsighted and spend most of my time without glasses. Point is, in the limited opportunities I have had to use good glass, I feel like there was a difference between high end glass and the mid-level glass I currently use. Nikon and Leupold mostly. A Pentax DCF ED 10x43 binocular had noticeably better resolution when used off a tripod than my 10 yr old Leupold 15x30 GR spotter. I’ve stolen looks through Swaro and Zeiss products on guided hunts and think I see a difference from my current gear. I also realize that my success on next years hunt doesn’t hang on me getting new gear. I would get more benefit from dry firing my rifle than posting about the minutia of optics.

The two spotters in my budget that I am interested in are the Kowa TSN-774 and the Meopta MeoStar 82 S2.

The price is the same and the weight with eyepiece is very similar. The Meopta is physically bigger and will be better in low light. The fluoride lens could also make a difference. I like the more compact format of the Kowa (closer to a 60-65) since it could work as backpack scope and that if I wanted a big spotter I could use the same eye piece with the Kowa 880 series. But that is about it, no real deal breakers. Like I said, probably splitting hairs. I have to find a place to do a side by side.

Until then, should I expect any difference in the quality of the optics?

Any other thoughts on the two? What are your experience with these two scopes?

Thanks

Scott

Scott
Both are excellent scopes. Top of the lines choices. IMO the Kowa may be the better choice as the Prominar eyepiece is one of the finest made and as you stated if you ever want to go bigger the eyepiece will transfer.
I’m out of the store today, however, if you have time on Monday please give me a call and we can discuss this.
Have a great weekend

It's been a couple of years or so, but I owned the Kowa 884 and S2 briefly at the same time, and compared them several tmes side by side. Out to about 40x I could tell little to no difference. Both were very sharp to the edges. The closer I got to 70x, the better I liked the S2, as it maintained it's sharpness a touch better. When there's no mirage, the S2 is better at max ranges. I have never seen the 774, but I wish Meopta would come out with a 65mm S2 type spotter.

I’ve got a Kowa 883 with prominar glass and I think the Kowa would be hard to beat.

A little dated maybe, but still pertinent.

http://www.petersenshunting.com/featured/bes-spotting-scopes-of-2013/

I have the 773 with the WA Fluorite eyepiece. I’m still impressed every time I look through it. Beat out a Swaro STS 80 HD.

All, thanks for the replies

JG, I agree a 65 mm class spotter with the same eye piece would make Meopta vs Kowa even harder for me

Schaaf, how does the 773 perform at first and last light?

I’ve got the Cabela’s branded S2. I got it on sale a couple years ago for $1600 and change. It’s been an incredible value.

It's more than an incredible value....

Amazingly well. It’s incredible for a spotter that feels like a 65mm

https://www.longrangehunting.com/th...-te-11wz-eyepiece-spotting-scope.200438/

I noticed S2's in abundance at the Winter Games. I bet that was a bit of a black eye for any Swaro exec watching.