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Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Audubon 828 HHS

Swift Audubon 828 Roof
Manufacturer
Swift

Reviews summary

4
 
36%
5
 
45%
0
 
0%
0
 
0%
2
 
18%
Overall rating
3.82 star(s) 11 ratings
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
  • Bright and sharp (sweetspot), good build quality and nice feel
Cons
  • A little slow focus, not so good edge sharpness, some C A
I like it!
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
  • Feel, build quality,resolution/sharpness,eye relief,"ease of view"
Cons
  • Slow focus, not as bright as expected
I got mine off ebay about 4yrs ago and it must be one of the very earliest examples (sn is 47726). Apparently there have been running changes to diopter adj, eyecup style and maybe coatings. I've seen several reviews (2 by BVD, about 3 yrs apart, by different authors) and they variously describe dipoter adj as being click stop on the ep and also as a pop-up on the center knob (ala FL & others). Also, one reviewer wrote of the ep diopter as being click-stop.

The one I have has regular friction-twist adj on the ep (ala 820) and it has straight pull-up eyecups, not twist-up as mentioned in some reviews. (Actually, I prefer this type adj, as you can bring both to focus more quickly, and get it exact. My 7x42 FL has the locking popup on the wheel and I'm not taken with it.)

My real concern it the brightness, or lack of it. The objective coatings seem to have almost a blue-green cast, where all my other binos and scopes are more of a grass-green. Compared to my 820 (non-ED), 8x32 SE, 8x32 DCF-SP, et al, there is a noticable difference, almost as if the 828 wasn't phase-coated....or maybe in early production the application of the FMC was too thick (?). I'd like to try a late model, but haven't as yet.

In spite of that, I still consider it a favorite because of sharpness, ease of view (like it's porro sibling) and nice handling. And it's a bargain.
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
  • Sharpness, contrast, colour quality, eye relief, build quality.
Cons
  • None at this price.
I have had a pair of these for about 2 years and I would never sell them, they are just great and have given me the best birding views I've had in thirty years.

No doubt the top German brands would be better optically, but at the price I don't think these Swifts can be beat!
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
  • build, eyerelief, ergonomics
Cons
  • None, in use,
I would essentially say the same as Scryeball\'s fine description. Have been using these off and on (with other binos) for about 2 months. I will add that color correction is good also.
They are not quite as sharp as the porroprism Swift Audubon models, but in actually field use, that does not seem to matter. Would be nice to have a bit more field (these are 6.4 degs. I think), but given the whole package, and price, that is also, at least for me not a factor.
They do have that \"feel\", to the eye, like the porro model, and the Zeiss 7x42 & 8x30 classics, if that makes any sense.
If you are a user of the porro model, but would like more eye relief, you might want to try these out.
Recommended
Yes
Price
299$
Pros
  • Very good to excellent optics, balance, size, quality
Cons
  • Included soft case is on the snug side, weight.
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.
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
  • Cheap, great size, bright and sharp
Cons
  • Unsharp edges and chromatic aberration
Great overall binoculars
Recommended
Yes
Price
289$
Pros
  • Weight, image quality, waterproofness, brightness, everything!
Cons
  • slow focus
Recently got these and I am very happy with the purchase. Great handling and features. Only thing is the focus seems a little too slow but I guess you don\'t want it too fast. I have to get use to that. Beware a lot of retailers and online store don\'t know the correct features on these. They have been twist up eyes cups for over a year according to Swift but most places think they are pop up.
Recommended
Yes
Price
475$
Pros
  • Good eye-relief for eye glass wearers
Cons
  • Barely fits into supplied case with large neck strap
As someone who wears eyeglasses I often had problems with eye-relief. Thus, finding a pair of binoculars I could use without removing my glasses every time an interesting bird came along became a challenge. Then I purchased a pair of Swift Audubon 8.5 x 44 HCF Roof Prism binoculars and found my eye-relief problem went away! It\'s a pleasure using these when birdwatching. The wide field of view and contrast, along with waterproofing makes these binoculars exceptional value for the money! Birdwatching is now fun!
Recommended
No
Price
0$
Pros
Cons
The 6/10 was subjective. If I draw an imaginary horizontal diameter across the lens, the upper part was sharp within 90% of the radius. The lower part was sharp to about 75%. Overall I would therefore estimate 80% of what is seen is sharp with 80% referring to the radius.
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
Cons
  • blurry edges -- how bad?
rka,

Thanks for the review. I guess when you compare any 8X40-44mm birding bin to a spotting scope, especially an 80mm premium model, it is not going to compare more favorably except perhaps for FOV and portability. I would like to see the HHS compared to comparably priced phase-coated roof bin (e.g., Pentax DCF 8X42).

The one con you listed was the blurry edges, and you gave the edge performance a rating of 6/10. Does that mean that the views are sharp to about 60% from the center or is that just a subjective value? I read another review (excelsis.com) that put the edge sharpness to 15% from the edge (i.e., fall off at 85% from center), which is quite good for a birding bin. Please elaborate more on the edge performance of the HHS. Thanks!

Brock
Recommended
Yes
Price
280$
Pros
  • Waterproof, Good Resolution in Centre, Precise Focus, Good Eye Relief
Cons
  • Blurring at edges
I am certainly not an expert here. Hope my 2c will be useful.

The only optics I can compare the 828 to is my Swarovski AT80HD spotting scope. Ratings are relative to experience with the scope. 1st rating is binoculars, 2nd rating is scope

Resolution - 7/10 vs 9/10
Portability - 9/10 vs 7/10
Durability - 8/10 vs 9/10
Eye Relief - Tie
Focusing - 6/10 vs 9/10
Sharpness to Edge - 6/10 vs 9.5/10
Lens Covers - 6/10 vs 9/10
Digiscoping Capability - 7/10 vs 9/10

Overall, the 828 is a very capable portable device that appears to be quite rugged. However, as expected, it does not comes close to matching the optical performace of my spotting scope. For a price of US$280, this is a very good value.
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