Swarovski must have fixed the glare issues in the SV 8x32. (2 Viewers)

Hi Henry

To me, in my experience, the sun near the field edge is the factor that produces the worst veiling glare I know. I am not talking about those internal reflections of parts Torview showed in post #85. I mean that "milky" veil, very conspicuous and unmistakable, in not well baffled binoculars or scopes, with the sun near the field edge.

Taken towards bright sky today, (rain finally cleared).

My guess is Dennis simply "adapted" to the new model based on prior experience with the "older" model. Once we learn how to overcome a limitation we often develop a belief that it no longer exists. Perception is often an individual's reality, in spite of facts to the contrary.

My Nikon 8X32 SE has a very challenging eyepiece design that I managed to overcome. In more than 10 years of use, my wife never had a problem with her Nikon SE. Others walk away (or run) from the model.

The 8X32 SV has an inherent glare problem. I saw it within a few minutes of use. My wife, however, claims she has no problems whatsoever with her SV.

It's purely anecdotal but when I see problems in both the 8X32 SE and the 8X32 SV and my wife doesn't I simply conclude it's nothing more than a difference in perception.

Dennis' perception changed and I, for one, find no fault in it. His conclusion that Swarovski must have changed something was both reasonable and most likely incorrect. C'est la vie.

I took my 32mm SV with me today on my walk with my Lab Ben, definitely had some VG when looking directly under the Sun, however it reduced markedly when moving the binocular +/- 15deg either side, so now we have moved to Autumn maybe the lower angle of the Sun will make VG more noticeable, I`m not really bothered as I have the 42mm to use.

So in answer to Dennis` original question, despite my previous assumption that the FP is improved it seems the VG problem is still there under certain conditions.

This time however the little SV is a keeper, in every other respect it is an outstanding 32mm Birding optic and a joy to use, I did have a hankering for a Zeiss SF, but even that ergonomic masterpiece can`t compete with the smaller SV ergonomically IMHO, besides I can`t think of a pairing that betters the 8.5x42 and 8x32 SVFP`s.

Torview said:

Taken towards bright sky today, (rain finally cleared).

Click to expand...

That photo proves beyond doubt that Swarovski did NOT do anything about the glare problem. Lots of reflections, all VERY close to the exit pupil ...

Hermann

[email protected] said:

Swarovski may have tweaked the baffle design or done a million other small things to the internals or the eyepiece and it would be difficult to see in a photo like that. It could very well be that they made some changes in the SV 8x32 and not the SV 10x32 because they considered the SV 8x32 to be more problematic as far as glare. There are quite a few experienced members here saying they are improved including me so I think some improvements were made that are maybe not so detectable by simply looking down the tubes. I don't know I trust my eyes more than theories.

Click to expand...

An alternative hypothesis: perhaps you are comparing a unit with a clean objective to one that had a subtle film of oil residue or emulsion. Something like veiling glare can be generated when direct sunlight falls on the objective and "lights up" a dirty front element. A new binocular is more likely to be clean. Use ROR during cleaning, and remove it thoroughly to eliminate this problem.

--AP

Alexis Powell said:

An alternative hypothesis: perhaps you are comparing a unit with a clean objective to one that had a subtle film of oil residue or emulsion. Something like veiling glare can be generated when direct sunlight falls on the objective and "lights up" a dirty front element. A new binocular is more likely to be clean. Use ROR during cleaning, and remove it thoroughly to eliminate this problem.

--AP

Click to expand...

I agree. It's surprising to me how little it takes in the way of dust, haze or smudges to create a substantial glare effect when a very strong glancing light source like direct sunlight falls right on the objective lens. The lens may look perfectly clean from the front unless carefully examined with strong side lighting. This stuff is much more likely to be seen under very bright conditions than internal reflections are since it can be right in the middle of the exit pupil.

Henry