EL 8.5X42 dilemma (1 Viewer)

I've decided to hunt down the original EL's, the RB issue on SV's has me scared. I live in a very rural area, and no dealer to view the bins at locally. I lost out on a pair for sale, and am now in full hunt mode.

I have glaucoma and my eyes are very particular, can develop black-out headaches at the snap of a finger. If I pan very quickly with my Victory FL's, I can get a bit of RB....I use my bins for 10-12 hrs a day, yet have no RB with my Classic B's.

So after weeks of reading these are my thoughts, correct me if I'm a moron 3

Get a pristine pair of Original EL's, send to the factory and have a new focus wheel(fast), lens with new coatings, eye cups replaced...and have a "new" pair of Original EL's in the 2009 format.

I've read you can send them in for excellent service, at a reasonable price. This should eliminate the RB effect for me, and let me enjoy the view from Swaro. The price will end up about the same as pre-owned EL SV's, but should eliminate any buyers remorse.

Thoughts ?

Thank you,
Eric

Of greater concern than your choice of binoculars ...... what are you doing to treat the glaucoma?

Maljunulo said:

Of greater concern than your choice of binoculars ...... what are you doing to treat the glaucoma?

Click to expand...

Appreciate your concern :t: but alls well on that issue.

I take drops once a day at bed time, had 4 surgeries including lens replacements....was hoping for a daily immersion into THC, but that's illegal here :smoke: My vision is fantastic, approximately 18% above 20/20 according to my specialist....what most can see at 20', I can see at 28' :king:

I spent 2 1/2 years plagued with total black-out headaches(called silent migraines), totally lose my vision for no reason. Finally was diagnosed with a brain tumor, pushing on my optic nerve,,,told to prepare for dangerous surgery & make my final will & testament :eek!: I happened to go in for my regular eye exam and was pressure tested, yep glaucoma...never had a tumor at all....I then immediately changed my will, which donated all of my estate to the local cat shelter :cat: 3 Kinda pulled a Picasso

I'm a well known archery tournament shooter, and my vision is critical to success and life....an engineer by trade. An avid outdoorsman, and wood craftsman.

That was 5 years ago, and in my rear view mirror...life has moved in a more horrific direction since then:

*My 28 yr. old daughter lies dying in a hospital bed, brain dead never to recover.
*My 10 yr. old granddaughter fights bone cancer, with a 10% survival rate.
*My wife has died 4 times on the operating table, to fight again today.
*My 28 yr. old son was assaulted while sleeping in bed, head smashed in with a rolling pin,,,27 staples, brain swelled and lost vision temporarily, he is back home and well today...his wife arrested for attempted murder.

So the important question: Is the service upgrade with old EL's, a sensible approach to gaining Swaro's in my collection ?

OoooKkkk, I'll move along...sorry.

Bwana1 said:

So the important question: Is the service upgrade with old EL's, a sensible approach to gaining Swaro's in my collection ?

Click to expand...

Definitely. In fact, a pair of 'late' manufacture 'old' EL's are so good they won't need any service upgrade. As regards other issues, best of luck.

I prefer the SLC Neu more than the EL (non-SV). With similar money (or lower), you could have a look at Meostar HD, Razor HD or Conquest HD. Even the Leica latest Trinovid.

If fund is not a concern, SV10x50 is the best 10x bins I've ever tried and the RB is well controlled within the SV series.

You can check the Camera Land NY list of Leica Demo binoculars. (And Others) There are 8x42 Ultravid HDs and HD+ binoculars along with Ultravid Blacklines and Ultravid Silverlines available at quite substantial discounts. They come with Leica's Certified Pre-Owned 10 year Warranties. Some of them have never been touched. (I have one of these.) The boxes were opened and taken to Binocular shows.

http://www.cameralandny.com/demos-leica.html

Bob

Apparently not for everyone.:eek!:

winwinbino said:

and the RB is well controlled within the SV series.

Click to expand...

Why not just purchase a new current SLC 8x42?
Other than differences in handling it would be optically superior to a pre swarovision EL?

jnielsen said:

Why not just purchase a new current SLC 8x42?
Other than differences in handling it would be optically superior to a pre swarovision EL?

Click to expand...

I considered that, and read quite a few reviews that sent me on the Original EL path...late model.

I have the very last of the 8x32 EL and in some ways I prefer them to the equivalent SV which I have too. Anybody else the same?

But, But!!

...did you mention the zeiss 7x42 Classic BGATP? This is the easiest and most relaxing binocular, (along with the 1.4kg 7x50 Fujinon) I have ever looked through (but the zeiss is half the weight and has a much larger fov)....Pure relaxing joy for the eye and brain. There are still a few very good late examples of this leaded glass bino available.

It's generally absurd to tell people what their needs are or what they need...but you sir, need this particular zeiss. I have it now and feel like a buffoon for not getting it earlier.

If you have eye problems I would highly recommend this older school zeiss. If your eyes are prefect I recommend it!

Rathaus

Just this weekend I tested the SV 8.5x42 and the SV 8x32 against Ultravid HD, Zeiss HT, Zeiss SF, and a couple of SLC thrown in for good measure. To my eye, the used SLC 8x42 HD was BY FAR the best of the bunch!

Comparing directly to the newer Swarovskis, my thoughts were as follows:

1) The rolling ball effect in the 8x32 SV was awful. (The test was a bit extreme - panning along a bramble hedge)

2) The rolling ball effect in the 8.5x42 wasn't nearly as noticeable, but I still felt a wee bit uncomfortable when panning along the hedge.

3) The SLC HD seemed MUCH more forgiving of eye position - it mounted bang-on, immediately; the 2 SV models took a bit of adjustment. No rolling ball. No CA. Ultra-bright, razor sharp, super colours and great contrast. Of all the world-class, alpha binoculars on the table, this is the one I kept picking up and thinking "I must be doing something wrong - why do the others not look like this??". But I spent a good half hour trying, swapping, adjusting, trying again, and again, and again, and the SLC HD was just astonishingly brilliant.

4) Regarding the flat field advantage of the SVs, it totally gives me a headache when I try to look at things at the edge of a wide-FOV image - I only ever use the centre of the view for my focus. I don't need ultra-sharpness in my peripheral vision. Having said that, I was completely unaware of any weakness of the SLC image at its edge. Just didn't occur to me at all to look critically at the edge of the field. So.. the flat field is a completely unimportant 'advantage' to me.

To get the EL 8.5x42 quality, but WITHOUT the rolling ball, I recommend you have a look at the SLC - preferably one of the last 'HD' models.

Al Downie said:

To get the EL 8.5x42 quality, but WITHOUT the rolling ball, I recommend you have a look at the SLC - preferably one of the last 'HD' models.

Click to expand...

for most people RB is not a problem in the 8.5x42 SV,
and with the edge to edge sharpness, less panning is needed,