During a recent day of good birding at Bosque del Apache NWR, I traded my 8x42 FL for my wife's 8.5x42 Swarovision for a little over an hour. What follows are purely subjective impressions, but from real field use looking at birds fast and hard, no time to fool around, hopefully sorting out what matters.
The SV is nice to wrap fingers around, but feels hard, sort of bricklike, and heavy compared to the polycarbonate Zeiss. The outward-bulging barrels of the FL provide more thumb room underneath than you'd expect, but it still requires a more deliberate grip than the SV which can be grabbed almost any old way.
The finely textured surface on the SV felt sticky in the heat, and aggressively grippy. The FL is softer and smooth, feeling nicer to me but easier to drop I suppose.
The eyecups on the SV adjust oddly, although the mechanism is mechanically very fine. With a steady clockwise rotation, they go down a ways, then up a little, then down some more, etc. I can't really tell what's going on, as the detents are not easily felt. The FL just goes down clockwise, up counterclockwise, simple.
The focus knob on the SV is a little harder to turn and less silky, and takes a lot of cranking to get to its minimum vs the FL's zippy 2 strokes to 6 feet.
Much discussion has appeared here about the Zeiss's off axis blur and the SV's excellent outfield correction. I noticed neither. Trying briefly to appreciate the edge of the SV, I experienced vignetting unless I repositioned my eyes.
Birds were zooming through the reeds, and there was much panning. The SV's rolling ball effect was annoying at first, but after a few minutes I began to get used to it and think I could live with that easily. I am used to pincushion too.
Without hurting my eyes trying to analyze why, there was something about the FLs view that I preferred. It may be brighter, although the two were close. The SV did give the impression of deeper colors. I just felt I could see things a little easier through the FL.
I was initially smitten with the SV, but have changed my opinion a little after this real-birding test. I don't think any less of it, but more highly of the FL than on that first comparison. I am not convinced that the aging FL isn't still right there with the newer models. (I have not used the EDG, nor the Leica HD, but have used the BR which most reviewers find identical.) In the field it performs as well as or better than anything else I have used. In particular, its centerfield view is hard to beat.
Ron
The SV is nice to wrap fingers around, but feels hard, sort of bricklike, and heavy compared to the polycarbonate Zeiss. The outward-bulging barrels of the FL provide more thumb room underneath than you'd expect, but it still requires a more deliberate grip than the SV which can be grabbed almost any old way.
The finely textured surface on the SV felt sticky in the heat, and aggressively grippy. The FL is softer and smooth, feeling nicer to me but easier to drop I suppose.
The eyecups on the SV adjust oddly, although the mechanism is mechanically very fine. With a steady clockwise rotation, they go down a ways, then up a little, then down some more, etc. I can't really tell what's going on, as the detents are not easily felt. The FL just goes down clockwise, up counterclockwise, simple.
The focus knob on the SV is a little harder to turn and less silky, and takes a lot of cranking to get to its minimum vs the FL's zippy 2 strokes to 6 feet.
Much discussion has appeared here about the Zeiss's off axis blur and the SV's excellent outfield correction. I noticed neither. Trying briefly to appreciate the edge of the SV, I experienced vignetting unless I repositioned my eyes.
Birds were zooming through the reeds, and there was much panning. The SV's rolling ball effect was annoying at first, but after a few minutes I began to get used to it and think I could live with that easily. I am used to pincushion too.
Without hurting my eyes trying to analyze why, there was something about the FLs view that I preferred. It may be brighter, although the two were close. The SV did give the impression of deeper colors. I just felt I could see things a little easier through the FL.
I was initially smitten with the SV, but have changed my opinion a little after this real-birding test. I don't think any less of it, but more highly of the FL than on that first comparison. I am not convinced that the aging FL isn't still right there with the newer models. (I have not used the EDG, nor the Leica HD, but have used the BR which most reviewers find identical.) In the field it performs as well as or better than anything else I have used. In particular, its centerfield view is hard to beat.
Ron
