Joe H
Well-known member
I started bird watching this year due to my wife’s life long interest in the sport. As I got more involved I started to suspect that maybe my trusty 30 year old Bushnell 7x35 wide-angle “quik-focus” porros were in need of an upgrade. I bought a pair of Swift HHS 8.5x44 based largely on the internet reviews (especially the one on BetterViewDesired.com). I tried the Swarovski 8.5x42 in a couple of local sporting goods stores (among many others) and found them to be about the best to my eyes. The 8x42 Zeiss Vicory IIs were second choice based primarily on their weight, feel and price - the view to me was every bit as good. Not wanting to spend a fortune on a new hobby (I should have abandoned all hope) I bought the Swifts to bridge the gap until I figured out what I really needed in a primary binocular. I hoped the Swifts were indeed 95% of the Swarovski. They proved to be quite good in terms of view, and excellent in terms of field worthiness (water and fog proof, rugged, light, fairly compact and easy to use, even with one hand). They were my only bins for about four months but they had two noticeable flaws to my eyes. First they did not have a particularly wide Field of View (FOV), 336 feet at 1000 yards, and I beleive this was reduced by my glasses somewhat. Secondly, my pair had a very pronounced difference in focus between the center and the edge of view. I could look at a tree and see the top and bottom in crisp focus, but the middle was fuzzy. If I corrected the focus to get the center of view crisp, the edges were lost and my usable field of view was reduced even more. When panning along a horizon, this was especially noticeable. I also found them to be a bit too large for every day use.
So I started my search for the “perfect binocular.” Interestingly, the process taught me more about myself than binoculars. For instance I never knew my eyes saw in two different magnifications. While very minor, my left eye sees things ever so slightly larger than my right. Also, I learned that my right eye sees a noticeably dimmer view than my left. I’ve always been aware that my left eye had a more “cool” or purple cast, but during this process I’ve come to realize that it is actually neutral and that my right eye sees things with a warmer or slightly orange tint.
I also learned that my glasses have a big impact on how binoculars work for me. The difference in close focus on some binoculars changes by up to a foot when I take off my glasses. Infinity settings and edge curvature also change depending on if I do or don’t use glasses. Since I always use glasses when bird watching, this was an important aspect in selecting bins that worked for my (admittedly bad) eyes with my glasses. I point out all this to emphasize that my impressions may not apply to anyone else - it is always best to look through the exact binocular you plan to buy.
Most importantly I learned a little about bird watching. I learned early on that I could get more IDs by studying a good field guide than by using a nicer set of bins (not that I still didn’t intend to buy better glass). In my admittedly minor experience, most of my birds were “found” by hearing them first, and locating them in my binoculars only after my ears pointed me to them. I got to the point that I could identify a Boreal from a Black-capped Chickadee before I saw them by their calls. I love being in the woods and almost always combine birding with some other sport (bicycling, canoeing, skiing, or hiking). Waterproof and fog proof was an absolute must. I could not cross country ski with my Bushnells inside my coat and use them for more than a few moments before the insides would frost up. If I left them outside my coat, the focus would freeze. I have small hands and short fingers so the size of the binoculars actually made a considerable difference to me. I came to prefer bins with a large field of view, probably because those old Bushnells had a claimed FOV of 578 feet at 1000 yards! They certainly don’t manage that with my glasses, but it is a big, if somewhat fish-eyed view. I’m less likely to spend a lot of time along the shore so 10 power was never a real consideration. I learned that the internet has far more current and detailed information on binoculars than any book or magazine. This excellent site and the one mentioned above were two of the best that I found. Along the way I purchased a pair of the excellent Zeiss 8x20 Victory compacts but my wife adopted them almost immediately (if anyone is interested, I posted a review of these in the “Compromise Binoculars“ thread). I did learn from that process that compacts are perfect when bird watching was secondary to some active sport, but their limitations wouldn’t let me use them as primary optics. So with all that new found knowledge I set out to buy my “last pair of bins.”
I wanted a waterproof, small and light binocular with a large field of view. I was willing to pay for an exceptional view and have a personal preference for European optics. It was actually an easy choice for me; I ended up with the Swarovski 8x32 ELs almost by default. The new Zeiss FL 8x32 was not yet available nor was the Leica Ultravid 8x32. If I had to make my decision today I’m sure far more time pestering the local dealerships would be required!
As it was, my main competition was the Ultravid 8x42 with the leather cover. It’s still waterproof but less protected from nicks and dings. It was the top choice of an Eagle Optics rep I spoke with here in AK (he preferred the 10x model for shore birding), due to its lighter weight than the armored models. The view was excellent but it wasn't any smaller or lighter than my Swift. The Leica Trinovid 8x32 was a serious consideration but it was fairly heavy and didn’t fit my hands that well. I was also a little leery of spending a large sum on dated technology. I’m not sure if that was a fair assessment but I really would have been interested to see an Ultravid in that size (I don’t think they were even rumored to be coming out when I was doing my research) . Since I liked the Swarovski 8.5 EL so well I tried out the smaller 8x32 as soon as one was available here in Anchorage. This was just what I was looking for - the 8.5 version was great but is quite a big set of optics. The field of view on the mid-sized EL is fantastic! It’s billed at 420 feet and even with my glasses I can get a nice clear view of all of it. There is some linear curving at the edges (probably the 8x42 Ultravid or Zeiss Victory II had the least of this distortion to my eyes of any of the various types I tried). The very edges can be out of focus when the center is crisp, but this is almost unnoticeable compared to the Swifts (in this regard, the Victory IIs seemed to have the flattest view, but their FOV was not as wide as the mid-sized Swaros). In terms of light gathering, these things let me view later into dusk than I could with naked eyes. I would put them on par with my Swift 8.5x44s but I have not compared them in the field to other full sized models. In stores, even in dim areas, my eyes could not tell much of a difference in this aspect. For instance, a 10x32 Trinovid, looked very slightly dimmer, but I couldn’t see any difference in brightness between the 8x and the 10x32 Swarovski ELs. The Zeiss Victory II was definitely brighter, but only by a very small margin - not enough for me to sacrifice the lighter weight and great handling of the mid-sized EL. Much has been said about the slow focusing of the 8.5s, but the 8x32s went from six feet to infinity in just shy of one and a half turns.
One thing not often mentioned is the direction of the focus. My Swaro and Zeiss focus in the same direction. My Swift is set up in the opposite direction. Because I had been using the Swift primarily, this caused me to focus in the wrong direction initially when a brief view of a bird presented itself. This is certainly not a big issue I’m sure, but if I was putting together a set of binoculars that I planned to use interchangeably (compact, mid and full sized) I’d try to see that they all focus in the same direction.
Another minor point about the 8x32 ELs that I have not noticed on other binoculars is that the eyepiece lens is not convex, but concaved. This may have something to do with the wide angle view, but an additional advantage is that the eyepiece glass is very easy to clean - right out to the edges.
The overall impression I have is that the 8x32 EL is a great all-around binocular. The build quality is top notch, the handling is superb, and the view is excellent to my eyes. I’ve only had them about four months but they have been used pretty much daily, taken on several planes, stored in an unpressurized cargo hull at 29 thousand feet, bounced around in all manor of vehicles, hiked through some torrential rains - no mechanical problems of any sort to report.
I should point out that I tried many different binoculars during this process. I have no idea how many of them were cherry models or beat up show room demos. All of them were darn good optical systems and all of them would have given me all the view required to identify birds in the field if I had done my homework with the field guides. I believe the 8x32 EL was best for me due to my combination of personal preferences and perception of their view. I’m not saying it was the best binocular though. I think at this price range they are all excellent - it’s up to us to try them out to see which one works best for our needs and our eyes.
I hope this long-winded review will be of some value to anyone else trying to learn enough to confidently spend upwards of a thousand dollars on new binoculars. I would have been much less comfortable in the process if it weren’t for great sites like this to help me out. Thanks!
Joe H
So I started my search for the “perfect binocular.” Interestingly, the process taught me more about myself than binoculars. For instance I never knew my eyes saw in two different magnifications. While very minor, my left eye sees things ever so slightly larger than my right. Also, I learned that my right eye sees a noticeably dimmer view than my left. I’ve always been aware that my left eye had a more “cool” or purple cast, but during this process I’ve come to realize that it is actually neutral and that my right eye sees things with a warmer or slightly orange tint.
I also learned that my glasses have a big impact on how binoculars work for me. The difference in close focus on some binoculars changes by up to a foot when I take off my glasses. Infinity settings and edge curvature also change depending on if I do or don’t use glasses. Since I always use glasses when bird watching, this was an important aspect in selecting bins that worked for my (admittedly bad) eyes with my glasses. I point out all this to emphasize that my impressions may not apply to anyone else - it is always best to look through the exact binocular you plan to buy.
Most importantly I learned a little about bird watching. I learned early on that I could get more IDs by studying a good field guide than by using a nicer set of bins (not that I still didn’t intend to buy better glass). In my admittedly minor experience, most of my birds were “found” by hearing them first, and locating them in my binoculars only after my ears pointed me to them. I got to the point that I could identify a Boreal from a Black-capped Chickadee before I saw them by their calls. I love being in the woods and almost always combine birding with some other sport (bicycling, canoeing, skiing, or hiking). Waterproof and fog proof was an absolute must. I could not cross country ski with my Bushnells inside my coat and use them for more than a few moments before the insides would frost up. If I left them outside my coat, the focus would freeze. I have small hands and short fingers so the size of the binoculars actually made a considerable difference to me. I came to prefer bins with a large field of view, probably because those old Bushnells had a claimed FOV of 578 feet at 1000 yards! They certainly don’t manage that with my glasses, but it is a big, if somewhat fish-eyed view. I’m less likely to spend a lot of time along the shore so 10 power was never a real consideration. I learned that the internet has far more current and detailed information on binoculars than any book or magazine. This excellent site and the one mentioned above were two of the best that I found. Along the way I purchased a pair of the excellent Zeiss 8x20 Victory compacts but my wife adopted them almost immediately (if anyone is interested, I posted a review of these in the “Compromise Binoculars“ thread). I did learn from that process that compacts are perfect when bird watching was secondary to some active sport, but their limitations wouldn’t let me use them as primary optics. So with all that new found knowledge I set out to buy my “last pair of bins.”
I wanted a waterproof, small and light binocular with a large field of view. I was willing to pay for an exceptional view and have a personal preference for European optics. It was actually an easy choice for me; I ended up with the Swarovski 8x32 ELs almost by default. The new Zeiss FL 8x32 was not yet available nor was the Leica Ultravid 8x32. If I had to make my decision today I’m sure far more time pestering the local dealerships would be required!
As it was, my main competition was the Ultravid 8x42 with the leather cover. It’s still waterproof but less protected from nicks and dings. It was the top choice of an Eagle Optics rep I spoke with here in AK (he preferred the 10x model for shore birding), due to its lighter weight than the armored models. The view was excellent but it wasn't any smaller or lighter than my Swift. The Leica Trinovid 8x32 was a serious consideration but it was fairly heavy and didn’t fit my hands that well. I was also a little leery of spending a large sum on dated technology. I’m not sure if that was a fair assessment but I really would have been interested to see an Ultravid in that size (I don’t think they were even rumored to be coming out when I was doing my research) . Since I liked the Swarovski 8.5 EL so well I tried out the smaller 8x32 as soon as one was available here in Anchorage. This was just what I was looking for - the 8.5 version was great but is quite a big set of optics. The field of view on the mid-sized EL is fantastic! It’s billed at 420 feet and even with my glasses I can get a nice clear view of all of it. There is some linear curving at the edges (probably the 8x42 Ultravid or Zeiss Victory II had the least of this distortion to my eyes of any of the various types I tried). The very edges can be out of focus when the center is crisp, but this is almost unnoticeable compared to the Swifts (in this regard, the Victory IIs seemed to have the flattest view, but their FOV was not as wide as the mid-sized Swaros). In terms of light gathering, these things let me view later into dusk than I could with naked eyes. I would put them on par with my Swift 8.5x44s but I have not compared them in the field to other full sized models. In stores, even in dim areas, my eyes could not tell much of a difference in this aspect. For instance, a 10x32 Trinovid, looked very slightly dimmer, but I couldn’t see any difference in brightness between the 8x and the 10x32 Swarovski ELs. The Zeiss Victory II was definitely brighter, but only by a very small margin - not enough for me to sacrifice the lighter weight and great handling of the mid-sized EL. Much has been said about the slow focusing of the 8.5s, but the 8x32s went from six feet to infinity in just shy of one and a half turns.
One thing not often mentioned is the direction of the focus. My Swaro and Zeiss focus in the same direction. My Swift is set up in the opposite direction. Because I had been using the Swift primarily, this caused me to focus in the wrong direction initially when a brief view of a bird presented itself. This is certainly not a big issue I’m sure, but if I was putting together a set of binoculars that I planned to use interchangeably (compact, mid and full sized) I’d try to see that they all focus in the same direction.
Another minor point about the 8x32 ELs that I have not noticed on other binoculars is that the eyepiece lens is not convex, but concaved. This may have something to do with the wide angle view, but an additional advantage is that the eyepiece glass is very easy to clean - right out to the edges.
The overall impression I have is that the 8x32 EL is a great all-around binocular. The build quality is top notch, the handling is superb, and the view is excellent to my eyes. I’ve only had them about four months but they have been used pretty much daily, taken on several planes, stored in an unpressurized cargo hull at 29 thousand feet, bounced around in all manor of vehicles, hiked through some torrential rains - no mechanical problems of any sort to report.
I should point out that I tried many different binoculars during this process. I have no idea how many of them were cherry models or beat up show room demos. All of them were darn good optical systems and all of them would have given me all the view required to identify birds in the field if I had done my homework with the field guides. I believe the 8x32 EL was best for me due to my combination of personal preferences and perception of their view. I’m not saying it was the best binocular though. I think at this price range they are all excellent - it’s up to us to try them out to see which one works best for our needs and our eyes.
I hope this long-winded review will be of some value to anyone else trying to learn enough to confidently spend upwards of a thousand dollars on new binoculars. I would have been much less comfortable in the process if it weren’t for great sites like this to help me out. Thanks!
Joe H