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swarovision EL (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Ingle1970
- Start date
NDhunter
Experienced observer
January 2010, not too far away. That is for the USA.
Not sure about Great Britain. Check the website or one of your retailers.
There is some excitement building for the latest and greatest! o
Dale Forbes
Swarovski Optik, Austria
Shipping starts in the first week of January 2010.
Have you purchased new safes to hold the money as it rushes in? How about Armed Guards to transport it to Switzerland for you with the requisite Military Escorts? Have you considered how you will control the crowds clamoring at your gates as they fight each other to get their hands on one?
This could be as bad as the Tulip Mania in old Holland! Will you take responsibility for the carnage?!
Bob:eek!:
Ingle1970
Well-known member
Ceasar , you think we could have a shortage then ? :-O
maybe it will increase their value
edwincjones
Well-known member
then I guess we will have to pay over the retail price to get one,
what is the going price to bribe to the dealer?
edj
what is the going price to bribe to the dealer?
edj
John Finnan
Active member
Ingle1970
Well-known member
ianbuckley
Member
Mine arrived yesterday. Just opened them.
John Finnan
Active member
whats the verdict john ?
I got to try them outdoors today for about an hour. While they're a little shorter, narrower and lighter than the original ELs the differences in those categories are minor. Their thumb indents are a little smaller than those on the original ELs but they still work quite well. Their outer protective cover feels a little softer and more rubbery than that of the original ELs but I like how they feel in my hands a little better.
The new ELs come with a new case that's nicer than the one that came with the originals and this new case makes it easier to insert the binoculars into it or take them out of it. They have a new and somewhat less bulky neck strap but it is one that I still find it comfortable to wear around the neck. They also include a "snap shot" adapter that makes it easier to attach a small digital camera to one of the EL's eyepieces and then take pictures through it. I'm looking forward to trying that option. That adapter can be bought separately for the original ELs but it is nice to see it bundled in with this new model.
Their 4.9 foot close focusing capability does work and will enable some new viewing experiences that were not possible with the first generation ELs.
I did one test (between the original and the new ELs) to see if I could see any false color in the new ELs on a target where I could see some with the originals and I was pleased to see that no false color was visible with the new ELs. Although, I never thought that this was much of a problem with the original ELs.
From what little terrestrial testing I was able to do with them they do appear to be sharp all the way to the edge. I look forward to trying them next summer on the Milky Way star fields to see how well they perform there.
I took them on a short nature walk trail today where you can see many moss covered trees, ivy, rock walls, large and small waterfalls and a rushing river. The views that I got with the new ELs on that walk were incredibly clear and noticeably (but not significantly) better than what I'm accustomed to with the original ELs. Better in what ways? Even a little clearer, more contrasty, a perhaps a tad sharper (across the entire field) that the original 8.5x42 ELs.
It didn't take very long for me to warm up to these binoculars and get used their feel in my hands. At one point a thought/feeling popped into my mind and that was "wow, these are so good why would I ever want to use any other binoculars in the future". That could be a problem for me because I currently own 4 other pairs of superb binoculars. However, those are all larger and heavier porro-prism models that I mount when using them and I use them mostly for astronomy.
So are these new ELs worth their upgrading to? Now that I've experienced them, I'm glad that I did. But I still consider them to be a nice-to-have upgrade (for current EL users) rather than a must-have. Had they not come out I'd still be quite happy with the originals and I prefer to have those over any of the other 8x42 roof prism binoculars that they compete against.
I still have not had the opportunity to try them out yet on any astronomical targets and that's mostly what I use my binoculars for. However, the original ELs performed so well as astronomical night glasses that I'm fairly confident that this new pair will also excel in that category.
So overall (and so far) I'm delighted with them. Do I have any complaints? Yes, one -- I don't like the "Swarovision" label that they've attached to them. I think it sounds kind of hokey. I think EL HDs or EL 2s would have been better, but that's just my opinion. I'm sure that Swarovski put a lot of thought into what they should name this new second generation model of the EL. It's also evident that they put a lot of thought into everything else having to do with this improved version of the EL.
John Finnan
edwincjones
Well-known member
thanks John for a very good report
you have confirmed my thinking that they are better than the old ELs,
but not (at least for me) good enough to justify selling my old ones.
edj
you have confirmed my thinking that they are better than the old ELs,
but not (at least for me) good enough to justify selling my old ones.
edj
Dale Forbes
Swarovski Optik, Austria
Hi John, good to hear you are enjoying your new binoculars :t:
As for the snapshot adapter, this video might help you out:
Taking photos using the Snapshot Adapter - on the steppes of Kazakhstan
Ingle1970
Well-known member
I take it you like them John ! :-O
good report by the way .
did you notice the "rolling ball effect" as Manfred mentioned earlier ? .
I for one am very curious as to how this "rolling ball effect" is going to play out in the market. The optics are really quite exceptional and I think a lot of folks will give them a big thumbs up :t: For some however, they just might not be usable.:-C
I first heard about this effect from a co-worker who was really disturbed by it and yet I did everything I could to re-create the effect for myself and couldn't do it. I was looking outside of a vehicle window traveling at 60mph studying vertical and horizontal lines to see how I would fare. No problems.
Kudos to Swarovski for bringing something to the market that is, in my opinion, somewhat groundbreaking. It was a brave move on their part and those of us not sensitive to the rolling ball effect will certainly have something to look forward to. It still seems to be somewhat of an unknown as to how many people simply won't be able to adjust though.
Ben
Ben Lizdas
Sales Manager
Eagle Optics
www.eagleoptics.com
Ben,
Good for you if you don't notice it. This is not a desirable effect seen mostly when panning across large surfaces. For some to see it right out of the gate means it's there.
Seems Swarovski's correction to keep the field extra flat and sharp is the reason for this affect. No doubt Swarovski struggled with these two opposing effects (I don't think you can have it both ways) and in the end decided to place the emphasis on a sharp flat field and in return got some "rolling ball" effect.
Will be interesting to see who can't handle the RB effect. Personally, I can't handle it if its obvious. A lot of panning to follow birds goes on about the tree line so maybe it's not such a problem.
Cheers
Good for you if you don't notice it. This is not a desirable effect seen mostly when panning across large surfaces. For some to see it right out of the gate means it's there.
Seems Swarovski's correction to keep the field extra flat and sharp is the reason for this affect. No doubt Swarovski struggled with these two opposing effects (I don't think you can have it both ways) and in the end decided to place the emphasis on a sharp flat field and in return got some "rolling ball" effect.
Will be interesting to see who can't handle the RB effect. Personally, I can't handle it if its obvious. A lot of panning to follow birds goes on about the tree line so maybe it's not such a problem.
Cheers
do you have pictures of the Swarovision?
ClayTaylorTX
Well-known member
All -
The best explanation for the "rolling ball" that I can give is to imagine you are standing on a railroad track, with the rails extending out to your right and left. The cross-ties at your feet look to be evenly spaced, but as you look down the rails, the ties appear to be closer together. Sounds obvious, right?
In a binocular with no field-flattener, objects that are evenly spaced across the field of view, even if they are in fact getting closer together at the periphery of your vision, appear to be consistently spaced. In other words, the curved-field in fact distorts. This is what our eyes and brain are "used to seeing".
In the field-flattener binocular, the spacing actually appears to diminish at the edges of the field, creating the effect of a visual "compression", or the "rolling ball".
Personally, I notice something of that compression as I pan side-to-side, but it never is enough to distract me from the image at hand.
Clay Taylor
Swarovski Optik N.A.
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