Customer Reviews

Swarovski 25-50-xWW Eyepiece

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I have been researching spotting scopes for over a year. After reading countless reviews, I finally settled on the Swarovski 80 ATM HD. The reputation of Swarovski as the best led me to start my search for a spotting scope with them.

I was able to do a side by side comparison of the 25-50X wide angle and the 20-60X eye-pieces at a Cabelas near my house. The zoom on both were great. I did not think the extra 10x magnification would be as valuable to me as the much larger field of view in the 25-50X wide angle eye-piece, so I ended up buying the wide angle 25-50X eye-piece.

My first use of the scope in the field was a hunting trip for coyotes. We didn't shoot any coyotes that day, but we sure observed a lot. We watched a pack of 4 coyotes at 450 yards away (Leica rangefinder) for about 15 minutes. Detail was amazing. The behavior we observed was amazing. 50X magnification means that they appeared to be 9 yards away (450 yards/50x = 9 yards). Even though we didn't shoot any coyotes, I felt ecstatic at being that close to the animals (the real reason I like hunting). This is where the wide angle really helped. We had never been able to see this before using binoculars.

Two weeks later, I took my whole family on a trip to Yellowstone National Park.. I have been to the Park probably a dozen times in my life. On this trip I saw more wildlife than all other trips combined. We located 4 grizzly bears, 6 wolves, 1 black bear, 1 osprey, and countless elk and bison, all in one day. Most of the bears and wolves were beyond the range of binoculars, 800 yards or more. We observed the wolf pack from a distance of one mile (the Leica range finder again). The wolves appeared to be about 30 yards away through the scope (1600 meters/ 50X = 32 meters). With binoculars, the wolves were barely visible and detail was non-existent made worse by hand-shake. The light was poor as it was late afternoon and early evening when we were viewing the wolves. They were located in the shadow of the mountain to their west for the two hours I observed them. We witnessed a standoff between the wolves and a group of 30 bison that were traveling through the area where the wolves were resting. It was fantastic. I was really glad that I had the 80mm vs. the 65mm for its ability to gather more light.

During the day, I had opportunity to visit with many other wildlife spotters. I asked many of them if I could trade looks though their scopes. One of them was even a Swarovski ATM 80 identical to mine but without the HD glass. He even had the 20-60X eye-piece with greater zoom. None of the scopes even came close to touching mine as far as the detail, clarity and sharpness were concerned. The image on mine was distortion free from edge to edge. None of the other scopes were. I thought that the 60X magnification on the other Swarovski would be helpful compared to my 50X, as the wolves were a mile away. However, it was no contest. The wolves looked bigger but showed a lot less detail. I was able to point out details with my scope that none of the other observers could make out. The HD glass in my scope made a huge difference. After using my scope for a few minutes, the owner of the other scope said he was going to sell his and buy one with the HD glass and the new 25X50 eyepiece. Thanks to my scope, I was able to realize a lifetime dream of observing wolves in the wild, specifically in Yellowstone Park. I had never seen wolves before outside of a zoo. The bears and the other animals were just gravy. Even watching bull elk through the scope was a treat. Maybe I didn't see as much wildlife on other trips because I didn't have the right equipment.

After my trip to YNP I purchased the UCA digiscoping adaptor from Swarovski. Along with a 50mm lens hooked to my Canon 7D, it turns my scope into a huge telephoto lens. This combination of lens and eyepiece is perfect. Sharp pictures, wide aperture (F/1.4), and no vignetting. Next time I go to YNP I am coming home with more than memories of the wildlife I have seen.

As usual, buying from Amazon was without trouble and flawless. Amazon Prime and $4 dollar next day shipping, I love you.