I used to have the ATS 80 in non HD. I sold it because I do a lot of backpack hunting and went to the ATM 65 with HD to save weight. I love the 65 and can see everything with it that I could see with the 80. But I love to take pictures through my scope and I learned that the 80 allowed me to take pictures in more situations than the 65 due to more light gathering capability. I did notice that the quality of my pictures were better with the HD as compared to the non HD but in low light situations the 80 allows me to take those pictures earlier in the morning, later at night and on overcast days. I'm considering going back to the 80mm but in the HD model.
As stated above, the tripod is the key to wether or not your scope will be shakey. So it makes no difference which scope you get when it comes to shakiness except for the fact that the 80mm is a little bit heavier and will probably sturdy up the scope better than the 65. Kinda like a heavy barrel on a rifle.
Every scope in the world will show heat waves and there is no getting away from it. Swarovski will just make them prettier to look at, lol.
You cannot go wrong with Swarovski and everybody compares thier other namebrand scopes to swarovski. Anything made from Mattel or Tonka to Tasco, Vortex, Leupold, Nikon, Kowa and everything in between. Its because Swarovski has proven to be one of the best and has proven to honor thier warranty, has proven to make attachments and tripods to go with thier products, and has proven to stay on top in the field of optics. There definitely are other namebrands that are just as good and other namebrands that are a lot cheaper that look comparable to the untrained eye but you will definitely have one of the best when you get a swaro. Goodluck, fatrooster.
