Swaro EL & Zeiss Victory FL 8x32 (1 Viewer)

The FL's strong points are reduced chromatic aberration and marvelous colour quality. Try to look at something with a variety of shades of blue. I have never used the Swarovski but I am sure there are some users who can add some information.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:

There are differences between these two, but how are excellent bins. The FLs are a bit brighter, while the ELs have (if memory serves) a slightly wider FOV and a longer warranty. A couple of months back a friend and I both had the same dilemma, he went for the FLs and I got the ELs. Neither of us have regretted our choice at all, but we both agree we'd have been equally happy with the others bins.

Checking a vendor's site, both binoculars are specified at 420 feet at a thousand yards, 130 meters at one kilometer. However, specifications do not always match practica and individual use.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur

JamieG said:

for a number of years I have been using my budget £140 8x42 Opticron Imagic TGA Porro Waterproofs. Am I going to be blown away by the Swaros and Zeiss?

Click to expand...

I'd guess you won't be blown away by the optical differences if your Opticron is a good sample of that model, but the handling will be quite different (good or bad depending on your taste). I have both these binos and have commented on them in detail on other threads. In summary...

Zeiss: more compact, very low CA, eye placement super critical to avoid astigmatism, superb fast precise and close-focus for butterfly/birding use

Swarovski: better handling (for me) in all ways makes it more comfortable for me on the hands and eyes; hardly more compact than a Leica 8x42 Ultravid so not my first choice as a travel bino (which is a principal use of this format for me).

--AP