[Justin]

After lots of shopping, I've finally narrowed my next binocular purchase down to two. It is between the Leica 8x42bn and the Swarovski 7x42slc. I love them both and believe I would be more than happy with either choice. Can anyone give me any positive or negative comments on either pair. Any input involving your experience with either one would be much appreciated. Observing wildlife from about 100-200 yds. is one of my main hobbies. I am looking for the best all around binocular to make this experience even more pleasurable. Thanks for your input.

[Jonathan B.]

Originally Posted by Justin

After lots of shopping, I've finally narrowed my next binocular purchase down to two. It is between the Leica 8x42bn and the Swarovski 7x42slc. I love them both and believe I would be more than happy with either choice. Can anyone give me any positive or negative comments on either pair. Any input involving your experience with either one would be much appreciated. Observing wildlife from about 100-200 yds. is one of my main hobbies. I am looking for the best all around binocular to make this experience even more pleasurable. Thanks for your input.

I think everybody already commented to the best of their ability, but if I had to choose between these two based solely on performance--and I have used them both--I would take the Swarovski 7x42. I think it is both optically and ergonomically superior, and I prefer the greater field of view and greater brightness. I almost bought the SLC 7x42 about a year ago because I, too, was very impressed with it.

However, if you are accident-prone, then buy the Leica BN, because I am certain that it is more rugged. For starters, I can't imagine why Swarovski put plastic strap lugs on a $1,000 binocular. I know a seasoned birder in Arizona who until recently used an SLC 10x42 with one of the lugs knocked off. He had made a contraption out of duct tape and a metal loop to replace it. I'm sure Swarovski would have happily repaired it under its warranty service, but that is something that should not have happened in the first place.

In the final analysis, you really couldn't go wrong with either of them. Although binocular design has advanced some in the past few years, both of these designs are still outstanding.

[Justin]

Thanks for the reply.

[gorank]

Since you doesn't seem to worry to much about weigth or magnification, try the Leica 7x42 BN also, they have a very good field of view (140m) and are very comfortable to look into.
(for me they are a bit to heavy and bulky though)

I think they are very much the equal to the classic Zeiss 7x42 Dialyt BGAT concerning eye comfort.