Swarovski Optik has introduced a new family of spotting scopes: the Swarovski ATX / STX series. Truly innovative in their design, these new ATX and STX models employ a modular component system that will allow for three different objective diameters – 65mm, 85mm, and 95mm respectively – to be combined with either a straight or angled eyepiece module to produce a total of six different overall configurations: 25-60x65mm, 25-60x85mm, and 30-70x95mm (each straight or angled respectively).
In addition to their modular construction that will allow users to create the ideal spotting scope to suit their specific intended use, the Swarovski ATX / STX models are described as offering a close focus distance which will allow for use not only in bringing distant objects clearly into view but nearby objects as well. The 25-60x85mm configuration, for example, is reported to offer a close focus distance of 3.6 meters (11.8 feet); thus making it useful not simply in bird watching and hunting but in entomology, geology, and variety of other natural history disciplines as well. Of course, such a close focus distance will also make it very desirable to digiscopers.
Yet even more than their close focus distance capabilities, what will make the Swarovski ATX /STX models so desirable to digiscopers will be the new Swarovski TLS APO T-mount adapter module that will allow Canon DSLR, Nikon DSLR, Sony, and four-thirds digital camera system users to connect their camera bodies directly to the scope and use it more in the manner of a traditional long lens than a digiscoping rig.
Naturally, such technology comes with a price. Retail prices for the 65mm model average around U.S. $3,400.00, the 85mm around U.S. $3,800.00, and the 95mm just over U.S. $4,000.00.
