Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Scopes and Optics => Topic started by: highcountry_hunter on April 07, 2024, 07:23:41 PM

Title: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: highcountry_hunter on April 07, 2024, 07:23:41 PM: Anyone on here have experience with both the Kowa tsn 553 and Maven S.3A spottting scopes? Price tags are pretty comparable but the Kowa is literally 1/2 the weight, which is a big bonus for me

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Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: zwickeyman on April 08, 2024, 05:20:41 AM: I have the 554 and its pretty awesome

I havent looked through S.3A so cant comment but the 554 is better optically than the S.2

Last year I ran the 554 against some similar size scopes like the S.2, the Nikon, the Vortex and the Leupold and the 554 is better in my opinion. Ran it side by side with the Swaro STC last week and thought the swaro was maybe a little better over all but not optically
Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: Cougeyes on April 08, 2024, 07:36:02 AM: No experience with either but i run a Kowa 774 and its got great glass.
Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: CamoDup on April 08, 2024, 11:01:07 AM: I have only looked through the Maven spotter and I liked it. I did buy the Maven B.2 11x45 binos this year at the Portland Sportsmens show. I absolutely love them. I looked through them last year and didn't buy them. I thought about them for a whole year and I finally pulled the trigger this year.
Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: Quackaddict on April 11, 2024, 07:32:23 AM: I dont think anything beats Kowa. I run an 884 and would not trade it for swaro.
Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: muleyslayer on April 11, 2024, 09:08:35 AM: I bought a kowa 99 last year, I absolutely love it. I have not used maven products but I hear great things
Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: highcountry_hunter on April 12, 2024, 05:26:39 AM: Thanks for the replies guys. I think I’m gonna go with the Kowa 553 for sure. The substantial weight savings and positive reviews have me sold.

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Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: Pnwrider on April 12, 2024, 11:11:11 AM: Who are you buying from? I had a great experience buying a couple Kowa's from Camera Land NY. They weren't the cheapest posted online price, but calling in I got a great deal and ended up saving quite a bit and I shopped all the well known Kowa dealers.
Title: Re: Maven vs Kowa spotters
Post by: highcountry_hunter on April 12, 2024, 08:03:48 PM: I was gonna try camera land when it comes time to buy, but I also get a deal through ExpertVoice where I’ll get about $150 off what most places have the 553’s listed for.
It’ll be a bit before I buy, I just picked up some Zeiss bino’s so I gotta save up and let my credit card cash back points build back up haha.

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