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Downsizing from 8.5X42 EL (1 Viewer)

B

Baron Birder

Well-known member
I use a pair of 8.5 x 42 bought new in Feb 2008, and wear glasses so eye relief is a factor.

I am considering downsizing since they are heavy and I cannot operate them one handed, which I sometimes try to when holding my tripod over my shoulder with the other hand.

I had a brief go with the new 8x32 which a fellow birder had and my initial reaction was very impressed. So am thinking of trading in my existing ones for the new lighter model.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has or had both.

The newer ones are lighter and can be held steady one handed but is there something important I might miss from the existing pair?
Thanks
BB
 
Baron Birder said:
I use a pair of 8.5 x 42 bought new in Feb 2008, and wear glasses so eye relief is a factor.

I am considering downsizing since they are heavy and I cannot operate them one handed, which I sometimes try to when holding my tripod over my shoulder with the other hand.

I had a brief go with the new 8x32 which a fellow birder had and my initial reaction was very impressed. So am thinking of trading in my existing ones for the new lighter model.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has or had both.

The newer ones are lighter and can be held steady one handed but is there something important I might miss from the existing pair?
Thanks
BB
Click to expand...

I've used both the 8.5x42 Swarovision and the 8x32 Swarovision for years. As far as I'm concerned the only thing you give up with the 8x32 is a slight increase in magnification. Brightness seems about the same, although my 50+ year old eyes may not be what they once were in that department.

If I could only keep one it would be the 32mm. Just a sublime little thing. My heirs can squabble over it.

Hope this helps,
Mark
 
Swaros

I have both the 8x32 and 8.5 x42 swarovisions. I MUCH prefer using the former and they have become the bins that I pick up as I walk out the door. Ok, you lose a tiny bit of mag but you gain big time in fov and weight. They are as good as it gets.
 
Same here. I have both as well. To be honest I much prefer the Swaro 8x32's as they're so lightweight, bright and sharp. You don't feel the weight on your neck at all. For my local patch and longer woodland walks I always take 8x32's.

Being based in an area with saltmarhes and estuary ponds though the 8.5x42's are a real must as the 8x32's lack the magnification for the greater distances when trying to pick out waders.

Likewise if I had to go down to one pair I'd keep the 8x32's but I'd sorely miss the 8.5x42's.
 
IanF said:
...the 8.5x42's are a real must as the 8x32's lack the magnification for the greater distances...
Click to expand...

Ha! Amazing that the match between your eyesight, the size of the birds, and their average distance (disproportionately distributed too far for 8x to be insufficient but just close enough for 8.5x to be enough) are such that the extra 0.5x is meaningful. If the utility of the 8.5x42 in those situations is not imaginary, I rather thinks it reveals that they are superior in other respects, such as better contrast, ease of getting good pupil alignment (thus maximizing optical performance), or better stability from the weight when hand-held.

--AP
 
Swaros

Sometime, I have to admit, that I would like a high mag. However, if I really felt that I was missing out on this I'd sell my 8.5s and buy a pair of swarovision 10x32, which are also phenomenal.
 
As much as anything with the 8.5 x 42 is the wider field of view when on the beach and saltmarshes whilst looking for waders and birds in flight.
 
As I've mostly worked on open prairies, I have been using an 8x32 lately; however, anytime I've had the chance to go birding in areas with more canopy cover, I do notice a distinctly drabber, less vibrant view that makes parsing out fine details sometimes a bit more difficult. As a result, I'm thinking of reupping to x42s.

Your mileage may of course vary.

Best of luck,
Justin
 
Alexis Powell said:
??? But the 8x32 has the wider FOV! --AP
Click to expand...

Lol! True. My boob.

It's the additional magnification with the 8.5 x 42's that makes a big difference for more distant birds. It might only be a slight increase in magnification numerically but the difference is quite marked as regards the view. I was picturing in my mind one of the locations I visit where the birds are quite distant when I had both pairs with me. I could see far more detail with the 8.5 x 42's. The birds were too small to even identify with the 8 x 32's.
 
Baron Birder said:
I use a pair of 8.5 x 42 bought new in Feb 2008, and wear glasses so eye relief is a factor.

I am considering downsizing since they are heavy and I cannot operate them one handed, which I sometimes try to when holding my tripod over my shoulder with the other hand.

I had a brief go with the new 8x32 which a fellow birder had and my initial reaction was very impressed. So am thinking of trading in my existing ones for the new lighter model.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has or had both.

The newer ones are lighter and can be held steady one handed but is there something important I might miss from the existing pair?
Thanks
BB
Click to expand...

BB,

Having tried a pre-SV EL, I can understand why weight would be an issue if you carried them around all day long, not only the neck strain but the shoulder ache from lifting them up to your face repeatedly. Not everybody has Arnold arms or can eat a can of spinach in a single gulp. ;)

I much preferred the baby EL, because it was lighter but still allowed me to get my fingers around the barrels for a comfortable and steady grip, which I can't usually get with closed bridged roofs, though the new "open hinge" design like the Nikon M7 and Swaro SLC HD roofs have works pretty well for me. Not sure if that would be true of the SV EL baby EL, whose barrels might be too slim for my big hands.

However, what I don't understand is why you need to hold the EL one handed? Do you only have one hand?

A lot of two-handed Euro Swaro owners also like the EL because it can be used one-handed. I can understand that for hunters, who are carrying their gun in their other arm, and from what I've read, Swaro designed the EL with hunters in mind, but why would a birder need to use an EL one-handed?

What are they holding in the other hand, a field guide? Some food like Wayne Mones? Their smart phone? I'm genuinely curious about this.

BP
 
Thanks for all the input. I will now try out both at a local Field day before taking this further.

I don't often go birding, particularly for waders, without my scope so perhaps its use will counteract the mentioned downsides of the slight reduction in magnification.

BB
 
32 vs. 42

jremmons said:
As I've mostly worked on open prairies, I have been using an 8x32 lately; however, anytime I've had the chance to go birding in areas with more canopy cover, I do notice a distinctly drabber, less vibrant view that makes parsing out fine details sometimes a bit more difficult. As a result, I'm thinking of reupping to x42s.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting observation, and one I very much agree with.

However, so far I haven't seen any really convincing explanations for this effect. But it's there, in my opinion.

Hermann
 
I had the Swarovski 10X42'S. The eye relief was terrible for glasses wearers. So I sold them, bought a pair of 8X32'S and a Vortex Razor scope and I couldn't be happier. The eye relief is great on the 8X32'S . The image is bright and wide. What a difference in ease of use, Nice to grasp and light around the neck. One complaint I have is the focus knob. I don't like the feel of it and I have a pair of cheap knock around Eagle Optics with a better working focus. That said they are wonderful binoculars !
 
Even with such an ergonomic pair of binoculars as the 8,5x42 I find it practically impossible to watch anything for details with the bins in just one hand; even more so when I have to look upwards as is so often the case when watching birds. So the argument that the 8,5x has to be traded in for something smaller because of them being too heavy for one hand (?!) seems slightly bizarre. All bins shake far too much if you want to see details one-handedly. Watching deer is not a problem with one hand, neither with the 8,5x nor with the 8x ...
 
Well, it's warbler time again. And guess what? I pull out the 8.5x42 no matter what. It's true warblers have a lot of room to spread out around here (100's of thousands of acres in fact), so heck I go for the mag no matter what.

I respectfully retract what I posted earlier. I'm not giving up my 8.5!

Mark
 
Reading through this thread I can give no opinion on the virtues of the two models discussed but I simply do not accept that any bird unidentifiable with 8x is suddenly detailed with 8.5x !
 
Torview said:
Reading through this thread I can give no opinion on the virtues of the two models discussed but I simply do not accept that any bird unidentifiable with 8x is suddenly detailed with 8.5x !
Click to expand...

Torview,

I didn't say anything went from "unidentifiable" to "detailed." I suggested it went from "unidentifiable" to "identifiable."

That's life in the big woods. :t:

Mark
 
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