Swift 828HHS Audubon 8.5x44 (Swift product code for this is 828 HCF)
This is Swift\'s first (and so far only) roof prism binocular to carry the Audubon name and size of 8.5x44. Typical retail is $349 as of December 2005 though can be found online several places for just under $300 delivered (incuding shipping). These are fully multicoated Bak4 prisms and phase coated, which is a basic requirement for any roof prism i would consider. Swift\'s web page for this is: http://www.swift-optics.com/products/birding/eight_power/828
Upon taking it out of the box, the quality of manufacture is clearly high. Well fitted. Smooth moving. Nice feel to focus. Comes with a well fitting dustcap for ocular lenses that attaches to neckstrap. Objective lenses have the standard plastic lens caps. Are nice and compact. Much smaller than Nikon Monarch ATB roofs for example, and even year 2000 Pentax DCF SPs by a touch. The neck strap is comfortable and of generous length.
These are not featherweight binoculars. They feel solid, as made with real metal bodies and hinges and substantial glass. Feel like old-school durable quality. They do not feel too heavy around the neck though I did start to notice the weight in hand while glassing for an extended period while testing focal distances and setting diopter. But no more than I do with the Pentax DCF SPs for that matter. The interpupillary distance on these is as large as any other binocular and as usual for me, I was bringing the barrels quite close together (almost all of the adjustment) to fit my eyes. These would not fit very small faces or children well. The twist up eyecups are fair. Only has click stop at full \"out\" position or full \"in\" but twist is firm so will stay where you leave them if you wish a middling spot. For me, the eye relief was perfect at full extension. The eyecup is hard plastic and I found that even pushing against my face I could not \'meld\' these to my eyesockets to keep side light out of eye. This is not really an issue for me as i am used to holding binoculars with varying gaps...
Optically, these are very good. Collimation is excellent and center image is clear, bright and clean. Testing alignment by focusing on distant cross, pulling head back and looking eye to eye showed steady same image which did not move one iota! At outside distances, the edge of the Field Of View was well defined and appears as one properly overlapped image. Interestingly, indoors (i.e. looking at the wall about 15\' away) the FOV clearly appears as two slightly overlapping cirlces. I feel some slight eye strain inside with artificial lighting and at the indoor distances. Outside, I did not notice any eye strain.
I can confirm what is reported elsewhere that the outside edge of the viewing image is degraded. Doing the math, i estimated that 85-90% of the FOV is excellent with only a thin (but discernable if you look for it) band uniformly around the edge which was both darker and slightly blurred. The image quality was excellent right to this edge band where it dropped off. This contrasts to the Pentax DCF SPs which are to my eyes perfectly clear to the crisp sharp edge of the FOV. (But good luck finding the Pentax much under $600 today! ) However, my usage agrees with the idea that the middle is what is important as i tend to keep what i\'m focused on in the center. I only noticed the blurred edge when i looked at it. Outside the FOV, the void is perfectly dark as it should be.
It was flat grey stormy weather today so didn\'t get to experience/evaluate full color spectrum performance yet, but what color i did get a chance to see was satisfactory. Tomorrow morning will take these along on a duck hunt, so will get to experience some dark->dawn performance. I can\'t wait! ;-)
Other:
The included soft case is snug fitting and a bit tight when trying to put binocular in with attached neck strap. I would wish a touch more room for accommodating this standard \'accessory\' when fitting the case. The case also comes with a belt loop sewn on the back. If you intend to carry this upon a belt (it is small enough!) I would want to tuck the permanently attached carry case shoulder strap into the case as well. But then good luck closing the case if you have the neck strap attached, too. Just too tight. If I actually use the soft case on a belt, it will be easy enough to cut the strap off and add an additional friction buckle. But one wonders why was this designed so?
i\'ll need to get a different tripod adapter as my porro adapter will not fit between the barrels on these roof prism binoculars.