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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

EL's new Easy to Clean coating (1 Viewer)

D

dipped

Well-known member
Hi All,

According to the new July Birdwatch magazine, a new water repelling coating is being applied to EL's from July, called an Easy to Clean anti-adhesion coating.

For anyone contemplating buying EL's it may be worth hanging on a bit and seeing what the benefits are and if there's any drop or improvement in optical performance, or indeed if it stays the same.
 
Griffin, what does it mean, "piece of urine to clean"? Do you clean your bins with urine like the old mountain men use to clean their blackpowder bores?
 
foxbo said:
Griffin, what does it mean, "piece of urine to clean"? Do you clean your bins with urine like the old mountain men use to clean their blackpowder bores?
Click to expand...

Actually, the ammonia in urine neutralizes the acid residue left after burning the black powder. Not very good for binocular coatings, though.
 
foxbo said:
Griffin, what does it mean, "piece of urine to clean"? Do you clean your bins with urine like the old mountain men use to clean their blackpowder bores?
Click to expand...

The term "a piece of urine (p**s)" means something is easy to do, like "a piece of cake".

Hope that clears things up a bit.

Cheers
 
griffin said:
My 2+ years EL's are piece of urine to clean, but I like the idea of the water repelling properties..

Griffon.

Just make sure you don't confuse urine with anyone else's bins! :'D :'D

Bob
Click to expand...
 
dipped said:
Hi All,

According to the new July Birdwatch magazine, a new water repelling coating is being applied to EL's from July, called an Easy to Clean anti-adhesion coating.

For anyone contemplating buying EL's it may be worth hanging on a bit and seeing what the benefits are and if there's any drop or improvement in optical performance, or indeed if it stays the same.
Click to expand...

Worth hanging on - gadzooks man, they're going up by 12% as we speak - see seperate thread. I've been able to look through a pair of 8 x 32 ELs with the new coatings ( yes you can tell which coating is which if you are an anorak like me!) alongside one with the tried and tested Swarobright and there is certainly no drop off in optical performance i.m.o.

I think any differences will be so marginal most users won't be able to detect them - this is not meant to be patronising even if it appears so. Whether or not its worth waiting till the prices shoot up is another question. Also I think it will be applied to the range of Swarovski spotting scopes as well, but not the SLCs?
 
"Easy to Clean" news item

The following news item appeared on Swarovski's "United States" English homepage two days ago, but not on the others:


SWAROVSKI OPTIK INTRODUCES NEW EASY TO CLEAN COATING
17.07.2007

Swarovski Optik, the Austrian based company, has announced that keeping your optics clean is now effortless with Swarovski Optik's New Easy to Clean coating.

Easy to Clean is an external coating for lenses, which makes it considerably easier to clean both the objective and ocular lenses, especially after coming in contact with dried-on mineral residues, watermarks, and insect repellents.

Swarovski Optik's expertise of surface finishes makes it possible to apply the coating with a thickness of less than 10 nanometers. The coating is so thin that there are absolutely no effects on optical performance; it is so effective that the cleaning effect can be experienced immediately.

Tom Hogan, Senior Technical Product Specialist for Swarovski Optik said, "We are very excited to bring the Easy to Clean to the Market, as we are quite focused on bringing the best image possible and this will revolutionize the ability to keep your glass clean."

The Easy to Clean coating is characterized by extremely low surface energy, which results in reducing the amount of contaminants that can adhere to it. The result is that dirt cannot stick to the lens.
 
Sounds like the R&D and Marketing folk at Swaro are in desperation for a new USP; I´ve got two pairs of EL´s already but can´t say I feel I´m missing anything by not having easyclean coatings!;)
 
foxbo said:
Thanks for clearing up that "Urine" thing. :) I had never heard it used before now.
Click to expand...


Don't feel bad, I didn't know what it meant either. Here in the states, when something is referenced to urine or feces...it's usually a bad thing. We might say, "those darn things are hard as p*ss to clean," meaning difficult....lol

Funny to see the difference there.

I've never thought of my ELs as difficult to clean, but must admit that the LotuTec coatings on my FLs make them a bit easier to clean.
 
The objectives on my 4 year old EL 8.5's were recently replaced under warranty. I think Swarovski must have put the new easy clean coated ones on as they are even easier to clean ! Seem to repel rainwater as well.

I always thought the design of the removable eyepieces to clean the occular lenses was a brilliant design - the lenses themselves being slightly concave makes it really easy to wipe from edge to edge. My Ultravids are not as easy to clean in this respect - though are brilliant glasses also.
 
How do you tell by the serial number which ELs have the easy-clean coating and which ones don't?
 
Thanks for checking on this. It corroborates what Clay Taylor recently told me: that refinements are introduced some time before they're officially announced, to allow time for the older models to make it through the retail pipeline. My serial number starts with L7612, well within the Easy to Clean range, but I bought the bins in December 2006, seven months before the announcement.


Steve

 
stabor said:
Thanks for checking on this. It corroborates what Clay Taylor recently told me: that refinements are introduced some time before they're officially announced, to allow time for the older models to make it through the retail pipeline. My serial number starts with L7612, well within the Easy to Clean range, but I bought the bins in December 2006, seven months before the announcement.


Steve
Click to expand...

i have ask swarovski and on the box there is a text saying that this bino has easy to clean coating !!!!!
 
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