Swarovski BTX eyepiece

[HayStax]

Has anyone used the new BTX eyepiece? I’m hoping to look through one but they are tough to track down and handle in store. I’m really interested in the concept but a little concerned about the lack of zoom. I’m looking at the 85mm body but may go with the 95mm. Is the lack of eye fatigue and all the hype really true in the field? Did you buy it and regret it? I guess it is easy enough to buy the other eyepiece but that gets spendy

I will be glassing for elk, mule deer, and antelope in Nevada and most of the time will be close to the truck. Not really worried about spotting shots or range use, strictly hunting. I’ve decided that weight isn’t really an issue although a tripod upgrade isn’t out of the question to try to save some pounds somewhere.

 

[IntoTransonic]

Has anyone used the new BTX eyepiece? I’m hoping to look through one but they are tough to track down and handle in store. I’m really interested in the concept but a little concerned about the lack of zoom. I’m looking at the 85mm body but may go with the 95mm. Is the lack of eye fatigue and all the hype really true in the field? Did you buy it and regret it? I guess it is easy enough to buy the other eyepiece but that gets spendy

I will be glassing for elk, mule deer, and antelope in Nevada and most of the time will be close to the truck. Not really worried about spotting shots or range use, strictly hunting. I’ve decided that weight isn’t really an issue although a tripod upgrade isn’t out of the question to try to save some pounds somewhere.

I have a BTX 95MM. Photo below will say more about it than I am able to. I have the 1.3 magnifier attached for this photo.

You will not go wrong with the Swaro BTX.
Chris Schmidt
Tennessee

 

[goosed]

Has anyone used the new BTX eyepiece? I’m hoping to look through one but they are tough to track down and handle in store. I’m really interested in the concept but a little concerned about the lack of zoom. I’m looking at the 85mm body but may go with the 95mm. Is the lack of eye fatigue and all the hype really true in the field? Did you buy it and regret it? I guess it is easy enough to buy the other eyepiece but that gets spendy

I will be glassing for elk, mule deer, and antelope in Nevada and most of the time will be close to the truck. Not really worried about spotting shots or range use, strictly hunting. I’ve decided that weight isn’t really an issue although a tripod upgrade isn’t out of the question to try to save some pounds somewhere.

I don't own one, just looked through a few during competitions.

My take is they are by far the most comfortable all-day viewing you will find from a spotting scope. The view through the BTX is no doubt still top tier as evidenced by the nice photo in the above post, but there is a noticeable trade off in clarity and brightness compared to the best single eye pieces. For hunting the hardest thing for a spotting scope or any optic, imo, is separating a dark fur coat from the shadows at distance. Whether the BTX still has enough brightness and clarity to work well in the shadows is unfortunately a question I could venture a guess at, but can not answer definitively.

 

[HayStax]

Thanks for the replies, although I couldn’t pick out any horns from the photo! Looks like Cabelas has one so maybe I can look at it at the end of the week. I’m sure the resale value is there if I can’t get along with it for some reason.

Buy once, cry once right?

 

[ghostmoney]

I have the BTX with 95mm along with the 1.7 magnifier and was watching a herd of elk at 3100 yards. One thing I noticed with the 1.7 magnifier was that it was very difficult to get it to focus very well. There is just a very tiny window where it was focused "somewhat", but never as clear as it was without it. I ended up not using the magnifier as the image was more clear and without it I was able to see if any had antlers. Used the BTX all weekend glassing from 1200-3500 yards and never used the magnifier.
I would like to pick up a used atx eyepiece to try, but for now I do not feel I need more power than the 35x the btx offers.

 

[HayStax]

Well I did it. Local shop had all the components in stock. Single eyepiece felt like going back to the Stone Age after looking through the BTX. Now I’m gonna have to upgrade my tripod too...

 

[ghostmoney]

Well I did it. Local shop had all the components in stock. Single eyepiece felt like going back to the Stone Age after looking through the BTX. Now I’m gonna have to upgrade my tripod too...

Were you able to look through them in low light? Interested in comparison between btx and Atx eyepiece as I have read various comments from people saying the single eye eyepieces are bighter and clearer.

FYI I am running the slick Pro 634 CF tripod with Sirui G-10X head with the BTX and 95mm objective. Works pretty well, but I would recommend a heavier stronger tripod if you dont plan on hiking with the Btx. I will be packing mine a few miles for hunting so needed lightweight.

 

[HayStax]

I wasn’t able to look at low light at the store. Looked through the BTX tonight and they are pretty damn good, Leica 10x42 Geovid are better. Both beat my Swaro scope on the rifle but that’s to be expected. It was well past legal daylight hours by the time I looked through it anyway.

Magnifier is garbage, it might go back. It’s fine up to 1200yds or so, but not really impressed at greater distance. It would be really hard to score a borderline bull to decide whether to put on a stalk. 30x is much more crisp, which I was told and noticed slightly when I bought it but in low light it is worthless.

I think I know a guy who has the ATX so maybe we can get together and really put them through their paces but then one of us will be pissed if there’s a big difference so maybe we will just skip that and call it good enough. The way I figure is I’m gonna be glassing through it in good light or morning light getting better rather than at dark losing light, when light is low the idea is to be close enough to pull trigger right?

 

[DetroitRearView]

I had the ATX Eyepiece/BTX Eyepiece/65MM/85MM/95MM on my RRS series 3 tripod for a while. I am not an expert by any means, but I do a lot of glassing for deer/antelope/elk.

The meadow is @ the red dot 14 miles distant at 60X. (3 elk in the meadow bad phone image but clear to my eye)

I sold everything except the tripod/BTX/95MM/Magnifier.

BTX kills the single eyepiece in my opinion.

Additional 1.7X will be handy on occasion but will do most glassing with the 35X.

 

[bwahl]

I compared an ATX 85 with a btx 85. While the btx is very comfortable to look through with a superb image, I thought there was a noticeable difference in light transmission, with the ATX winning that by a fair margin. I could even tell a difference in light transmission inside the store. Out in the field I saw the same thing. The btx is still a wonderfully pleasant viewing device, but when hunting I was not willing to give up any light transmission.

I stuck with the ATX.

 

[waveslayer]

I have one, i'm a big fan! So comfortable to use, just bulky to pack around.

 

[VaRandy]

I have not tried the box but I am a strong optics user. For starters, I can vouch for the importance of using two eyes for extended (over 3-4 hours a day). It will save you some really bad headaches, and dry irritated eyes. That means you take breaks and if your target picks that window, you may have lost the trip. I could justify a pair of Swaro 65 STX strapped into binoculars. We spend 5-8 hours a day set up at a single location covering ground out to a mile or more for long range groundhog hunting.The cost is rough and I have 35 wide lenses and 45 power as well and a backup 20-60 variable. I can pick up targets at great distances because of the color difference from the crops to the very top of their heads. I had no idea that true color would transmit a mile and beyond. My enjoyment of my optics is equal to that of my prized rifles.

 

[Archangel01]

A fella i work with has the BTX.... looking through it is clearer than real life! lol

In all seriousness tho it was like i wasn't looking through a magnified optic, clarity and zero eye fatigue was beyond what i had expected.

 

[DetroitRearView]

Late afternoon yesterday I found 5 muley bucks in the deep shade @ 2700-2800 yards with my BTX 95MM setup.

92 degrees significant mirage - but I I could easily discern width/height and almost points per rack. Two were in the 160-170 class and I could not distinguish brow tines or if they were 3x4’s or 4x4’s etc.

The setup is beyond amazing. As already mentioned I can spend several hours behind 2 eyepiece devices w/o fatigue.

As a result, I find critters that I would not otherwise have located.