I currently own a first generation Swarovski EL 8x32, my choice for travel, and a Canon 10x42L IS, for ‘local birding’. The Canon is amazing, but it is becoming too heavy for me. Now I’m looking for a new lighter 10x alpha. Being spoiled with the vibration-free views of the Canon, I’m looking for the lightest and most ergonomic 10x, so I can hold it as steady as possible without image stabilization. So obviously that would point me in the direction of the 32’s. Still, I wanted to try some of the 42’s, especially the Zeiss SF 10x42 because of many praise on this forum on its ergonomics. Recently I had a chance to compare a few binoculars I had in mind, I wanted to share my first impressions here. The candidates are:
Zeis SF 10x42
Leica Noctivid 10x42
Swarovski EL SV 10x42
Swarovski EL SV 10x32
Zeiss SF 10x42. After reading so much praise I really wanted to like this one and expected to be my final choice. It is mentioned a few times here, and indeed although it is the largest bino, when I picked it up I was surprised how light it felt. The grip felt really good, the focus was very smooth. But then I was a bit disappointed in the image. While it has an amazing fov and the sharpness is very good, I found the image too greenish for my liking, and this bothered me enough to dismiss it from my list.
Leica Noctivid 10x42. Most compact, but heaviest...Not as comfortable in my hands as the Zeiss. Image quality is superb, the colors stand out really well, very high contrast, giving almost a surreal ‘pop’ image...No colorcast, just neutral. Smaller FOV compared to the Zeiss.
Swaro EL 10x42. Nice feel; size, weight and ergonomics somewhere between Zeiss and Leica. Image quality again top notch, slightly cooler/bluish image, but it did not bother me as much as the greener image in the Zeiss. Same FOV as the Leica.
Swaro EL 10x32. Amazing little gem. Obvious winner on size and weight. Felt really nice too, easy to hold still. Although it is smaller and lighter, the much bigger Zeiss SF is surprisingly not far off in handling! It really has a great balance. Image quality of 32 is superb and almost similar to the EL42, very sharp right to the edge. At the time I could not see a big difference in brightness due to the smaller lenses of the 32. I expect that would be more noticeable in dim light. Also surprisingly the FOV is bigger than the EL42...the same as the Zeiss! I find that very pleasing, it gives you a nice immersive feeling.
So for me the clear winner is the Swarovski EL 10x32. This one has the greatest wow-factor for me. Maybe it is not as good in low light, but usually for me those situations are scarce so that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make in favour of portability, stability and FOV.
For my purposes, I would rate them as follow:
1. Swarovski EL SV 10x32
2. Swarovski EL SV 10x42
3. Leica Noctivid 10x42
4. Zeiss Victory SF 10x42 (the greenish image killed it for me, otherwise it would be on 2.)
Zeis SF 10x42
Leica Noctivid 10x42
Swarovski EL SV 10x42
Swarovski EL SV 10x32
Zeiss SF 10x42. After reading so much praise I really wanted to like this one and expected to be my final choice. It is mentioned a few times here, and indeed although it is the largest bino, when I picked it up I was surprised how light it felt. The grip felt really good, the focus was very smooth. But then I was a bit disappointed in the image. While it has an amazing fov and the sharpness is very good, I found the image too greenish for my liking, and this bothered me enough to dismiss it from my list.
Leica Noctivid 10x42. Most compact, but heaviest...Not as comfortable in my hands as the Zeiss. Image quality is superb, the colors stand out really well, very high contrast, giving almost a surreal ‘pop’ image...No colorcast, just neutral. Smaller FOV compared to the Zeiss.
Swaro EL 10x42. Nice feel; size, weight and ergonomics somewhere between Zeiss and Leica. Image quality again top notch, slightly cooler/bluish image, but it did not bother me as much as the greener image in the Zeiss. Same FOV as the Leica.
Swaro EL 10x32. Amazing little gem. Obvious winner on size and weight. Felt really nice too, easy to hold still. Although it is smaller and lighter, the much bigger Zeiss SF is surprisingly not far off in handling! It really has a great balance. Image quality of 32 is superb and almost similar to the EL42, very sharp right to the edge. At the time I could not see a big difference in brightness due to the smaller lenses of the 32. I expect that would be more noticeable in dim light. Also surprisingly the FOV is bigger than the EL42...the same as the Zeiss! I find that very pleasing, it gives you a nice immersive feeling.
So for me the clear winner is the Swarovski EL 10x32. This one has the greatest wow-factor for me. Maybe it is not as good in low light, but usually for me those situations are scarce so that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make in favour of portability, stability and FOV.
For my purposes, I would rate them as follow:
1. Swarovski EL SV 10x32
2. Swarovski EL SV 10x42
3. Leica Noctivid 10x42
4. Zeiss Victory SF 10x42 (the greenish image killed it for me, otherwise it would be on 2.)