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Michael
and Diane Porter and a team of Iowa birders tested 24 spotting scopes
for a review in the March, 2003, issue
of Bird Watcher's Digest. This account is part of that review.
 The
new Swarovski
scopes took the honors for ergonomics and elegance of design.
There are four 80mm models and four in 65mm.
Each size comes in angled (STS) or straight-through (STS) design,
and with regular glass or with HD ("high definition") glass for
elimination of chromatic aberration. Of the large scopes, we tested
the ATS80 HD (the angled version with the special glass).
We
thought the previous Swarovski scope, the AT80 HD, was great, but
this new one is even better. It's more compact, lighter, and more
maneuverable, yet possessed ofextraordinary optical powers that
equal or exceed its predecessor.
Smooth
and slender, with rounded lines, the Swarovski ATS80 body is shaped
like a stuffed green sock, just over 13 inches long and weighing
only 3 lb., 10.3 oz. There are no edges to snag or hang up on anything.
With superb balance, it's an easy scope to grab around its wasp
waist, easy to carry (even for small hands), easy to put on and
off a tripod.
In
fact, we found that at 20x we could comfortably hand hold it, supporting
the body from below while turning the ribbed, rubberized focus band
that circles the barrel. In that position, the grip feels nice and
solid, as if the scope were designed to be held in the hands. With
pleasant, non-slip, hand-friendly covering like that on Swarovski's
EL binoculars, the scope is more pleasant to the touch in cold weather
than are the metallic surfaces of some other scopes.
Normally
you might not wish to hand hold a scope, but in a birding emergency
you could brace this one on a car window or the steering wheel for
a quick identification that you might otherwise miss. And because
of the ding-resistant armoring, you won't mar the scope's finish.
A removable "peashooter" sight near the base of the eyepiece serves
as a finder.
The
20-60x zoom eyepiece (sold separately) is a pleasure to use. Even
at maximum magnification, the 17mm of eye relief allowed us to see
the whole picture easily, wearing glasses. Turn the eyecup to adjust
the eye relief, and your setting remains until you deliberately
change it again. By the way, you'll never lose the Swarovski lens
cap, as it's tethered to the eyepiece. We also appreciate the latch
that prevents a user from accidentally unscrewing the eyepiece while
attempting to change the magnification or the eye relief.
Swarovski
says they went back to the laboratory to create this family of scopes.
Working with new computer technology in a vacuum at temperatures
close to absolute zero, they applied more than 30 coatings to every
glass surface. They matched glass of slightly differing optical
characteristics to bring light rays together with great precision,
producing true colors and eliminating the need for filters to compensate
for light shifts. The result is the brightest optical instruments
Swarovski has produced to date.
--
Michael and Diane Porter
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Swarovski