Binocular observations at a birding event (1 Viewer)

Just as fodder for discussion, I though I would put up my observations about what birders at this past weekend's Whooping Crane Festival in Port Aransas TX were using. This was our first organized birding event we have ever attended. It was very interesting to see what other birding enthusiasts are using. We attended two boating excursions, and went to several well-known observation areas that were heavily used.

The only recent-production alpha binos we saw were from Swarovski. The only Zeiss we saw were a few Conquest HD's, one Terra, and two old and well-worn ClassiCs. No SF's or HT's at all, and the only Victory FL we saw was the 7x42 that I brought. The only Leica we saw was a very old Trinovid and a modern compact Trinovid. No UV/UVHD's at all. The rest of the alphas we saw were Swarovksi EL's, of which was saw a great number, and two CL's. The EL's were divided about half and half between 32mm and 42mm. The only 50mm I saw was my own. I do remember a few older roofs that I think may have been SLC's. I was somewhat surprised at how many more Swarovskis we saw compared to the other brands. I was not surprised that we did not see any Nikon EDG's.

The great majority of binos we saw were not alpha level at all. We saw everything from cheap Bushnell compacts that you can get at Walmart, to porros that are obviously decades-old hand-me-downs from grandpa, to current-production models from Nikon, Bushnell, Vanguard, Vortex, and Eagle-Optics. The brand I noticed most frequently was probably Nikon, but there were a lot of Bushnells of all ages seen as well. It was great to see so many older porros still being put to very good use.

There was also a "trade show" there too. The only optics retailer that bothered to come was Eagle Optics. The gentleman at the table was extremely friendly, and let us try anything we wanted. He even let us take a few $2k binos outside to try. Because of their efforts, my wife now knows what bino she wants to upgrade to. Many thanks to this company.

There were two optics manufacturers represented - Swarovski and Opticron. Opticron set up next to the Eagle Optics table, and they were essentially working together. Makes sense, since EO is an Opticron dealer. I was a bit disappointed to see that Nikon, Zeiss, and Leica did not appear. Perhaps that is why Swarovski was seen around so many necks compared to these. The Swaro people had just about their entire line represented. I got to try out the 15x SLC, which I have a feeling is going to turn out to be an expensive mistake on my part. When they asked if I had any Swarovski binos, I mentioned my 8x Habicht W GA that I was carrying in my backpack at the time. Neither of the two Swaro reps had ever seen one (they are not marketed in the US), and they seemed to enjoy examining mine. Many thanks to this company for making an appearance - I now like them even more...... :t:

Sounds about the same as major birding spots in Canada. I have yet to see another HT or SF in the field. Among alphas, it's 90% Swaro and has been for the last 10 years.

Zeiss seems to want to grab some of that market share but not representing at these festivals is a fail, esp. when their competition is there with a full line up. Also, upper-tier Zeiss are very hard to find in any sort of retail situation while Swaro are often to be found at the bigger sporting goods outlets.

Swaro have clearly outmaneuvered the competition on visibility and accessibility, not to mention their great marketing to the birding crowd in general. The rest could learn a lot from their models.

This thread is interesting to me, since I don't participate in organized birding, so I have no clue what people use.

Phil,

Great post. You did a nice job of representing your experience. Nice enough that I can say it pretty much mirrors my own. I hit a few organized birding expos/festivals every year and my experience pretty much matches yours. There are definitely more Swaros around people's necks in comparison to other "alphas". Out of any of the other "big 3" models the Conquest HDs probably comes in second. The smattering of other models from a variety of other companies in a wide range of price points (and in a wide variety of physical condition) also is spot on.

Now the interesting question. Does the fact that there are more folks toting Swaros at these shows truly represent the fact that more Swaros are used/bought by birders in general (in comparison to Zeiss or Leica) or are people that buy Swaros more likely to attend these shows?

Count me in the old Porro crowd. And I've been liking Nikon lately, even though I didn't care for their camera gear. Have older 7x35 and 7x20, tried Aculon in a store a year or two ago, got a good deal, should get here today or tomorrow.

A lot of the older porros are really good. Like my swift Skippers.

I've been kind of surprised at what people used sometimes as well. Sometimes would have thought they'd have higher quality. But I guess some people get something, and go look.

I can usually get mine conditionallyaligned, better than most/all of the few roofs I've looked through at a birding function. And I don't have to send them in, plus I can take back ups (which i needed in Utahlast year) since I have several pairs. They aren't really expensive.

I've seen Leica at a much smaller local function (don't know which model.) My uncle has Swarovski, I think he got them around 2000, replaced Audobons Really nice view

to quote, or paraphrase, an old saying

"the best binocular is the one you use the most"

edj

james holdsworth said:

Swaro have clearly outmaneuvered the competition on visibility and accessibility, not to mention their great marketing to the birding crowd in general. The rest could learn a lot from their models.

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Agree entirely with your assessment of these underpinnings of Swaros success.
They clearly learned from their experiences in the crystal jewelry business that profile matters. Here in NYC they score with the Met Opera chandeliers and the Swarovski star on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
That they successfully meld mass market crystal with superb quality optics and customer service is something their management should be deservedly proud of.

edwincjones said:

to quote, or paraphrase, an old saying

"the best binocular is the one you use the most"

edj

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I worked that backwards. I figured out the type of binocular I would use most frequently (in actual usage, not "in theory" - which were far from the same thing). Then I went and bought the best one I could that fit my real-world usage.

...Mike

edwincjones said:

to quote, or paraphrase, an old saying

"the best binocular is the one you use the most"

edj

Click to expand...

+1

james holdsworth said:

Sounds about the same as major birding spots in Canada. I have yet to see another HT or SF in the field. Among alphas, it's 90% Swaro and has been for the last 10 years.

Zeiss seems to want to grab some of that market share but not representing at these festivals is a fail, esp. when their competition is there with a full line up. Also, upper-tier Zeiss are very hard to find in any sort of retail situation while Swaro are often to be found at the bigger sporting goods outlets.

Swaro have clearly outmaneuvered the competition on visibility and accessibility, not to mention their great marketing to the birding crowd in general. The rest could learn a lot from their models.

Click to expand...

In my line of work a lot of that stuff like attenting shows is driven by the sales people, it's a shame they werent covering it, because they surely lost some publicity.

I feel the Swaro EL series, Nikon Monarch series, and Vortex Viper series make up 90%+ of the >$100 binoculars I've seen during my time as a field biologist and naturalist. Weird stuff, until you consider that those are the most common "higher quality" binoculars found in major retail stores (e.g. Cabela's).