Swaro CL Pocket 8x25 vs. 10x25 ??? (1 Viewer)

Nessus... after getting both the 8x25 and 10x25 CL Pockets, I spent a few days going back and forth between them, A-B-ing them, in an effort to decide which to keep and which to return. More often than not, whichever one I was using was great with perhaps a very slight nod to the 8x25 for crispness and a nod to the 10x25 for greater magnification/closer detail. The differences in sharpness is not noticeable unless very carefully going back and forth between the two and working hard to try to see a difference. And as I said earlier, that difference may be more attributable to larger exit pupil rather than sharpness itself.

Any time I'm using either the 8x25 or the 10x25 on its own, I'm quite content with the performance and not missing the other. These are great bins. I'm typically using these in bright sunlight conditions. Were I to use them a lot on dark, overcast days or late dusk conditions, or deep shade... perhaps I would give the nod to the 8x25, for the larger exit pupil.

Oh... I decided to keep both pair so, when traveling, my wife and I could leave the larger bins at home and each have a great pair of bins to use simultaneously. No regrets! :t:

I still don't know which I'd keep if I could only keep one or the other. :-O

Nessus said:

I'm about to buy one of the little CL's but can't decide on 8's or 10's. Normally the 8's would be a no brainer except I have a pair of 8x20 victory, 8X30 Conquests, 8x32 Fl's and some Chinese 8x42's. The hole that needs filling is another 10. I like the reach anyway and have no trouble steadying them but now I will be losing my advantage of a bigger exit pupil than every other alpha pocket 10.

I think I'm going to the store to test out the Swaro 8's and 10's and the Zeiss 10x25. What I'm really interested in knowing is, is Swaro 10x considerably better than the smaller but same spec Zeiss 10x. I always wanted an alpha 8x25 but I also always wanted a small pair of 10's.

I'm leaning towards the 10's because I can always buy the 8's later when I've ebayed my excellent condition conquest 8x30's and 12x45's both with lenses that look brand new out of the box. Does this forum have a section for selling?

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Nessus,

If the "hole" that needs filling in your collection is a 10x bin, filling it with a 10x compact is not the best strategy, IMO. With a 10x, you want to go UP in aperture, not down, to compensate for the smaller exit pupil size, get a larger FOV and bigger twilight factor.

In addition, compacts are harder to hold steady because of their small size and light weight, so using a 10x compact can require a very steady hand.

Since you're dumping the 8x30 and 12x45 Conquests, why not buy a 10x42 Conquest HD, which would hit the sweet spot between them?

Yes, BF has Classifieds forums:

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Brock

Brock makes a very good point. I would not want my only 10x to be a compact. The 10x42 Conquest HD is a fantastic pair of bins... absolutely my first choice in the desert back yard, when having small size and light weight aren't factors.

But when compact, light weight convenience is a factor, like traveling or just picking up a pair of bins for a quick look out the window..the 8x25 and 10x25 CL P's are my go-to bins.

I have a pair of 10x42 SE's, I just don't have a smaller 10 where as I have a Victory 8x20 and an FL 8x32 and I think some mini 10's would do the job where as on 8's I'm satisfied with what I have.

As far as a large 10 the only one that really has me excited is the upcoming Zeiss SF with a 360ft FOV. I did an A-B test with the 10xSE and the 10x Zeiss HT and was shocked that the HT's optically didn't feel to me any better than the Nikons. I'd love to have a pair for a weekend and see if my initial impressions on that still hold up.