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The reasonably priced, but optically very good binocular. (1 Viewer)

jaymoynihan

Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
This thread is about the Swift Audubon 8.5x44 ED.

I should state that I have not tried any of the binoculars in the recent Chinese-ED invasion, ;) so whether or not any of those may be a better choice, etc.
And of course there are the porro/roof, big/small distinctions, etc.

Guess I am just talking about, "the view".

When i got mine several years ago, the focus was very stiff, and it was not really easy to get exact focus. Having several pair of binoculars, i never got around to sending them away to have this corrected.

A few weeks ago I finally did, and recently got them back. The focus improved, smooth and accurate.

With this improvement, i have now been able not only to observe their color correction, but also there resolution/sharpness.

It is hard to describe the difference between these (excepting the superior color correction), and my alpha bins (Zeiss 7x42 BGATP, Zeiss 8x30 BGATP, Leica 10x42 BA) and a pair of Swarovski 8.5 x 42 EL's I tried recently and fallen seriously into lust with :eek!:

There is a certain ease of view, ease of focus, and comfort to the eye muscles with these alphas, that I have yet to see for less money in any bino's, other than the Nikon 8x32 SE. Granted, i do not have easy eyes to please. I am rather nearsighted, and have pronounced astigmatism, and have to wear eye glasses when i use binos.

Given all that, If I am now asked which binocular for general use birding, and;

If you cannot afford an alpha bino;
or
If you prefer not to pay the cost of an alpha bino;
or
You cannot find a pair of Nikno 8x32 SE's to buy, or suffer from the "blackout" problem with them;

I might simply say:

If you do not have to wear eyeglasses with binoculars, buy the Swift Audubon 8.5x44 ED.

If you have to wear eyeglasses, try them first, then buy them.
 
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Porros. Made in Japan. Uses BaF11/FK01 for the objective lenses. Sells for about US$450 now.

cheers,
Rick
 
These are a very nice binocular for the price.

The set I tried had eye cups which didn't lock and weren't very comfortable on the sockets. The design of the eye cups were definitely the weakest part of the package.

The view was great. I didn't find an equal until over $1,000.

These are a great bin if they fit you.
 
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