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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Swarovski NL 8x42 - First Impressions (1 Viewer)

PeterPS said:
I found the comments on the following review of the NL 8x42 to be much more interesting (and critical) than the review itself:
https://www.birdguides.com/reviews/binoculars/swarovski-nl-pure-8x42-w-b-binocular/
Click to expand...

My goodness, what a bunch of crap talk over there.....
Seems that a lot of people have their opinion ready without having used them.
If I read between the lines, they are looking for excuses to be happy with what they already have, and not having to buy the latest greatest.
It's pretty obvious that the price is the initial problem.

I can't take people seriously who are saying they are not going to buy a NL because of the strap system, and go looking for a SF32mm instead.... Apples vs pears. Just my 2cts.
 
Uhu74 said:
My goodness, what a bunch of crap talk over there.....
Seems that a lot of people have their opinion ready without having used them.
If I read between the lines, they are looking for excuses to be happy with what they already have, and not having to buy the latest greatest.
It's pretty obvious that the price is the initial problem.

I can't take people seriously who are saying they are not going to buy a NL because of the strap system, and go looking for a SF32mm instead.... Apples vs pears. Just my 2cts.
Click to expand...


It goes both ways: sour grape syndrome, and confirmation bias......
 
As I own no 'Alpha' binoculars, I was humbled to have been loaned a pair of the 10x NL for a stint around the Scottish coast and up into Lairg and surrounds.

Blown away. Just absolutely blown away by the entire 'WOWSER!' factor when looking out across the vista at hand. For 4 days it was like looking at a 4K screen image, not a binocular. The world just melts away and you are just 'there' in the moment - And after the first few hours the focuser location and the pinched waistline? Become a thing you crave in your own binocular as soon as you go back to them - BUT it does take a few hours to get used to the feel of them.

But after that? They are the first every binocular I've handed back and said to the owner 'I want a set of those' - And thats after travellign far and wide for a long stint.

10x NL just has to be experienced to be believed. Phenomenal.


* And I still use my Sightron Blue Sky ll as my main bin, and will until I get the Swaro. Yup, first time I ever found something I'd upgrade to.
 
Ratal said:
As I own no 'Alpha' binoculars, I was humbled to have been loaned a pair of the 10x NL for a stint around the Scottish coast and up into Lairg and surrounds.

Blown away. Just absolutely blown away by the entire 'WOWSER!' factor when looking out across the vista at hand. For 4 days it was like looking at a 4K screen image, not a binocular. The world just melts away and you are just 'there' in the moment - And after the first few hours the focuser location and the pinched waistline? Become a thing you crave in your own binocular as soon as you go back to them - BUT it does take a few hours to get used to the feel of them.

But after that? They are the first every binocular I've handed back and said to the owner 'I want a set of those' - And thats after travellign far and wide for a long stint.

10x NL just has to be experienced to be believed. Phenomenal.


* And I still use my Sightron Blue Sky ll as my main bin, and will until I get the Swaro. Yup, first time I ever found something I'd upgrade to.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the post, it was useful to hear someone’s experiences who doesn’t use alpha binoculars.

Last weekend briefly tried a pair of 8x42’s while my wife sat in the car (hence the brief 30 minute test). I agree with what you say, the clarity was just amazing, I use a pair of RSPB 8x42’s. I did also try a pair of EL 8x42’s, as they are about £800 cheaper but the NL’s felt more comfortable to hold.

I am looking at upgrading my binoculars But I wasn’t planning on jumping to the to top level. These NL’s might prompt an awkward conversation.
 
Uhu74 said:
My goodness, what a bunch of crap talk over there.....
Seems that a lot of people have their opinion ready without having used them.
If I read between the lines, they are looking for excuses to be happy with what they already have, and not having to buy the latest greatest.
It's pretty obvious that the price is the initial problem.

I can't take people seriously who are saying they are not going to buy a NL because of the strap system, and go looking for a SF32mm instead.... Apples vs pears. Just my 2cts.
Click to expand...

I have plans to try and most likely buy an NL. Whether I buy will depend on my perception of the bins advantages vs the price. This is natural.

However, I will continue to think that the FP strap system is over-engineered, unnecessarily proprietary, and inferior to old fashioned lugs.

I will continue to wish Swarovskis (and others) had better glare handling.

Criticism of the armor is also warranted given the number of problems (though I seem to have been lucky so far with my 2012 ELSV).

Not purchasing because of the FP system if the binocular is otherwise excellent is stupid, I agree. But so is dismissing many valid criticisms because it is a great bin.
 
Wow -- So That ! nearly happened .......

pbjosh said:
.... However, I will continue to think that the FP strap system is over-engineered, unnecessarily proprietary, and inferior to old fashioned lugs.....

Not purchasing because of the FP system if the binocular is otherwise excellent is stupid, I agree. But so is dismissing many valid criticisms because it is a great bin.
Click to expand...

I was out for a short stroll today with my PREMIUM, standard lug and strap attachment bins. It was a little windy so I probably heard as many birds as I saw. After half an hour or so of mostly standing around looking up and down, or dawdling along, I was just about to emerge from the rough tracks back to my car, and I noticed my right hand brush against the strap - which felt oddly different .....

I looked down to see that it had zero contact with the binoculars !!! :eek!:
YIKES !!!

Luckily it was a bit warm, so I was a little bit clamy and my irreplaceable Classic bins were fully suspended by one strap and the chequered texture inner rubber surface of the curved neck strap stuck to/resting on the back of my neck.
PHEW !

I nearly had the bins plummeting down for a high speed close up look at the earth. Luckily all's well that ends well. The frayed strap ends have now been melted flat (absolutely no guarantee of anything), and the lenses have received a complimentary clean :)

I've never really liked the Frankenstein-bolt-like look of the Field Pro attachments - but maybe the way they work is worth it ??!! :cat:







Chosun :gh:
 
I do not think "it is stupid":
-many people, myself included, dislike the new strap attachment system of the FP and NL (as well as the integrated objective caps, which most birders do not use anyway). I agree that this is a relatively minor aspect, but Swaro made it much tighter in the NL and several people had troubles even with mounting the strap on their new NLs.
-glare issues have been noticed by many users, myself included, and they're rather serious.
-the armor of the NLs is the same as that of the FPs and after some use it becomes softer and it cracks; we've seen several examples and it does not look nice.
-the focuser of my example of NL 10x42 has stiction issues when I reverse the direction from CW to CCW, and that happens every time when I want to do minute adjustments for precise focusing: it feels like I hit a bump when I change the focusing direction, not a pleasant feeling, especially when the expectation was that finally Swaro fixed the focuser problems.
 
Chosun Juan said:
I've never really liked the Frankenstein-bolt-like look of the Field Pro attachments - but maybe the way they work is worth it ??!!
Click to expand...
The EL/SV strap attachments are the safest I have seen, they will never come loose (at least I have never heard of any example) and they are also "pretty" and well engineered. I cannot say the same about the carbuncles....
 
I performed a star test with the 8x42 NL as well as with the SF 8x32. Both show at the very edge of the FOV a small deformation of the star, the SF a little stronger than the NL.
With regard to comments on the body armor of the Swarovskis: I have used Swarovski, Leitz-Leica and Zeiss binoculars now for many years and none of them ever had any problem with the body armor despite very harsh conditions in all kinds over atmospheric circumstances. Deet, however, destroys body armor quickly as I have seen from different users, but I have always avoided DEET.
The focussing wheeel of the NL 8x42 I now have operates very smooth, no problem whatsover. The diopter ring is very tight and does not move unwanted in my hands and it is easy accessible with the binocular in use.
There is a distinct but small difference in overall color balance: the NL makes whites perfectly white, the SF makes it a little more brown red, nothing to stay awake from, but it is there. I am waiting for access to the laboratory to find out how the transmision spectra will look like.
Although I am not a fan of objective covers, I can live with the NL ones, moreover they can easily be removed.
Close focus and FOV are almost identical for the 8x32 SF and the 8x42 NL.
Focussing of the NL is a tiny bit more smooth than that of the SF.
With regard to handing comfort is the 8x42 NL a clear winner over the 8x32 SF as far as I am concerned. Both are excellent binoculars.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
Hi Gijs,

Any comment on glare and rolling ball effect? I'd guess you were not bothered by either otherwise you would have said something.

Peter
 
Peter, post 793,
No glare no rolling ball in both binoculars. A striking difference was certainly, that the SF 8x32 showed a pronounced blue line along the very edge of the field and that was not there in the NL 8x42.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
Gijs van Ginkel said:
I performed a star test with the 8x42 NL as well as with the SF 8x32. Both show at the very edge of the FOV a small deformation of the star, the SF a little stronger than the NL.
With regard to comments on the body armor of the Swarovskis: I have used Swarovski, Leitz-Leica and Zeiss binoculars now for many years and none of them ever had any problem with the body armor despite very harsh conditions in all kinds over atmospheric circumstances. Deet, however, destroys body armor quickly as I have seen from different users, but I have always avoided DEET.
The focussing wheeel of the NL 8x42 I now have operates very smooth, no problem whatsover. The diopter ring is very tight and does not move unwanted in my hands and it is easy accessible with the binocular in use.
There is a distinct but small difference in overall color balance: the NL makes whites perfectly white, the SF makes it a little more brown red, nothing to stay awake from, but it is there. I am waiting for access to the laboratory to find out how the transmision spectra will look like.
Although I am not a fan of objective covers, I can live with the NL ones, moreover they can easily be removed.
Close focus and FOV are almost identical for the 8x32 SF and the 8x42 NL.
Focussing of the NL is a tiny bit more smooth than that of the SF.
With regard to handing comfort is the 8x42 NL a clear winner over the 8x32 SF as far as I am concerned. Both are excellent binoculars.
Gijs van Ginkel
Click to expand...
"FOV are almost identical for the 8x32 SF and the 8x42 NL."

Really? No discernible difference in the size of the FOV? What about the sharpness of the edges?
 
Dennis, post 796,
I measured a close focus of 1,86 m for the 8x42 NL pure and 1,84 m for the Zeiss Victory SF.
The FOV is 159m/1000m for the NL pure 8x42 and 155m/1000m for the SF 8x32.
The blue ring around the field edge of the SF 8x32 is very thin, but it is there and I also saw it in the 10x32 SF.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
Gijs van Ginkel said:
Dennis, post 796,
I measured a close focus of 1,86 m for the 8x42 NL pure and 1,84 m for the Zeiss Victory SF.
The FOV is 159m/1000m for the NL pure 8x42 and 155m/1000m for the SF 8x32.
The blue ring around the field edge of the SF 8x32 is very thin, but it is there and I also saw it in the 10x32 SF.
Gijs van Ginkel
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
Gijs van Ginkel said:
...With regard to comments on the body armor of the Swarovskis: I have used Swarovski, Leitz-Leica and Zeiss binoculars now for many years and none of them ever had any problem with the body armor despite very harsh conditions...
Click to expand...

Me too, but I'm not sure how our experience is relevant. What is being reported is a new problem, seen only in units of recent production.

--AP
 

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