Swarvoski bins focus wheel (1 Viewer)

Rich N said:

Thanks guys. My 8.5x42 EL is SN L70502xxxx, the 10x42 EL is L72084xxxx. Maybe I should have waited until the product was more mature.

Rich

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Hello everyone,

Ok, Swaro has changed the focus speed on the EL. Now, can anyone quantify this change by giving us a comparison to say the Leicas, Nikon HG's and FL's? I've held "new" EL's in stores, but I have no idea if they had the newer focus or not.

For the record, I find the Nikon and Zeiss to be pretty coarse, the Leicas noticeably finer and the EL's finer still. The speed of the SE's focus is sometimes slower than I'd like, but I find that it never fails me when I want that extra fine focus. Last weekend, across a marsh, my wife and I saw a vague spot on an overhanging branch near the absolute limit of our resolution capability with the SE 8X32. The SE's fine focus ultimately allowed me to identify the bird as an osprey. It was also a situation where a wide field meant nothing, since I was totally absorbed with observing a tiny object in the very centerfield. Those of you with scopes are probably laughing!

John

Revised Focus

Bill A said:

Hi Rich,

No discernable backlash. I bought the binocs last spring; they are serial #7406xxxxx, made (I guess) not long before they coarsened (you can see where my bias lies) the focus.

Best,
Bill

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Hi,

Just to reiterate a posting on another thread:

The 8.5x42 ELs had their focusing modified from serial number L741995971 (as confirmed by Swarovski HQ).

Chris

zurtfox said:

Hi,

Just to reiterate a posting on another thread:

The 8.5x42 ELs had their focusing modified from serial number L741995971 (as confirmed by Swarovski HQ).

Chris

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Right--my point being that my pair is one of those made before they messed up the focus.

Best,
Bill

How many turns does the new focus require from nearest to furthest?

I tried a newer version of the 42mm ELs recently and it represents an improvement but still not up there with the current trend for rapid focus... a trend which was inspired by popular demand!
Focus speed has never been a huge concern of mine, as even on my old EL's mostl typical birding ranges could be covered in a quarter of a turn. Going from min focus distance to the moon isn't fun but that's not exactly a regular situation. Tracking moving birds is less of a struggle with the newer gearing though.

Regards,
Andy

Curtis Croulet said:

How many turns does the new focus require from nearest to furthest?

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Curtis,

Please see my first post on this in the thread on the ELs focus change in the Swaro bino forum.

8.5x EL - Focusing Turns

Curtis Croulet said:

How many turns does the new focus require from nearest to furthest?

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Hi Curtis,

I owned a pair of 8.5x ELs at the beginning of this year and eventually gave up; the optics were perfect for me (I like a sharp view across as much of the field as possible) but 2.5 turns from close focus to infinity was just too slow (bearing in mind that my other binos are a pair of 8x32 HGs which take just half a turn).

However, I took delivery of a new pair of ELs yesterday and all my troubles seem so far away! Optically identical (superb), the focusing now takes 1.25 turns c.f. to infinity. Using BVDs description of the EL's focussing (finger turns):

15' - 50'...... originally 3 turns, now 1.25
15' - 100'.... originally 4 turns, now 2
100' - 200'... a touch of fingertip in both.

I find the focus much smoother than the Leica Ultravid and it has NO kickback at all when changing the direction of focus (which the Ultravid has).

BTW: Leica tech advise that this is normal in a dry focus system (!). It can be reduced but will become tighter to focus. Incidentally, it seems Leica are currently researching into the use of a lubricant where the viscosity remains constant at all temperatures. "Check with them in 6 months time"!).

Chris

I checked my one year old EL and there is indeed some backlash i.e. after reversing direction it needs a slight turn before the focus starts meshing. I have to admit I had not noticed this so for me anyway it is not an issue though obviously it does bother some people.

Leif said:

I checked my one year old EL and there is indeed some backlash i.e. after reversing direction it needs a slight turn before the focus starts meshing. I have to admit I had not noticed this so for me anyway it is not an issue though obviously it does bother some people.

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My four year old EL's behave the same way. I checked a friend's 6 month old pair a few days ago. I was a bit relieved to find hers were identical to mine, so four years of use doesn't seem to have made it any worse.

zurtfox said:

Hi,

Just to reiterate a posting on another thread:

The 8.5x42 ELs had their focusing modified from serial number L741995971 (as confirmed by Swarovski HQ).

Chris

Click to expand...

A phone call today to Swarovski here in the US elicited the response that upgrades for the EL 8.5x42 to modify the focusing to the latest version may be available in the near future. I was told to phone again in a month, but there was no certainty that if available it will be available then. In short, the phone call made me feel that the upgrade will eventually be available. I did not discuss what the cost will be.

A question as to which is considered better got no response, only that some like the old focus system, others the new one. I told them I will try the new version at my dealer and then possibly wait for some reactions from others.

When shopping for (much less expensive) bins a little less than 18 months ago, the fellow at the store handed me a pair of Swaro ELs and said: "I probably shouldn't be letting you look through these - they're so good that you may become hooked and feel you MUST have them". In fact I found a huge amount of play in the focussing mechanism and this ruined for me any great optical qualities they might have had. In short I hated them. I felt the store would have trouble selling this model with that demo pair. I didn't say anything to the fellow as I wanted to concentrate on the task at hand - get bins at about ¼ the price!

Paul