Re: Which spotting scope for competition?
+1 more on the Kowa. I did my own test, side by side, between the Kowa 65 and the Swaro 65. The Outdoorsman in Phoenix allowed us to test both several times during the day, particularly in low-light conditions. Both were on tripods and pointed at a mountain some 1,900 yds away where a hiking trail could be clearly seen. Using hikers as reference points, we looked at brightness, color transmission, clarity, depth, definition, etc. In some aspects the Swaro was better, but overall, I had to give the nod to the Kowa. No one was more surprised than I. In the end, I went with a Kowa 82.