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Swarovski DF 8x30W O GA STP (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter whezka
- Start date
mfunnell
Registered Confuser
But problem is.. even the standard black Habicht 8x30W has so stiff focuser that it's not very useful for birds.. maybe the $167 Sightrons 8x32 is better or the 8.5x42 EL SV. The Habicht are used for hunting so I guess it's useful to view terrains where you can find birds.. then use the Brightons or EL when you are near the birds.
Exactly. It is pretty cool as a collector's item but not as a birding binocular with IF focus. Send it back and get an 8x30 W Habicht. Best birding binoculars. Those big rubber jobs are for wartime. There ain't going to be any birds shooting at you and you ain't going to be crawling around in any ditches avoiding gunfire.
The 7x42 GA and 10x40 GA are for wartime. They know the 8x30 W is the model the birders are going to buy and use because it is lighter and has a bigger FOV. Craps you don't need all that rubber for looking at some birds! Those GA's would survive a nuclear attack. If you lose your gun you could beat your enemy over the head with the GA and kill them. I am surprised they don't have a bayonet attachment.:-O
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james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
I think it's pretty cool as a reference bino for comparison. It has maximum contrast transfer. Do you know the best way to describe it. I think looking thru a Habicht is like looking thru a refractor without any erect 45 degrees diagonal prism! When you put an erector in a refractor. The image degrades. So the Habicht is exactly like a refractor without erector and other binos are those with diagonal erector prism with less image quality.
I never thought it's possible to have the same refractor quality when using a binocular until I see thru the 8x30W DF. Therefore if it is confirm to be slightly sharper than the standard black Habicht 8x30W. Then yes I'll keep it as reference binocular where others are judged.
binomaniac
Well-known member
whezka : i am glad if you decide to keep the habicht i am anxious to grab one for me and do some comparison with my zeiss dialyt 8x30 BGA TP . I think the habicht would be my new reference standard for resolution and contrast
binomaniac
Well-known member
I have an 10x56 victory fl , i had an 8x32 swarovision, 8x30 habicht leather model, so i know what extreme resolution means, and if this habicht GA IF is better in terms of resolution and contrast : WOW !! Probably will be my binoculars for the rest of my life
jan van daalen
Well-known member
typo
Mine has# B7929.... and I got it delivered about 5 years ago straight from Austria. It has a reticle in the right tube and came without a bag in the normal box that only included a small green canvas belt with no brand name on it. No manual or guarantee card.
It is my "comparison bin" and so far it beat the sh.... out of any other bin/brand.
It will never leave! He feels a little bit alone. A little sister would be nice, so.......
Could you provide me/us with a little bit more details about 115/D against 240/D resolving power?
Maybe Dale Forbes could step in and provide some info.
Jan
Mine has# B7929.... and I got it delivered about 5 years ago straight from Austria. It has a reticle in the right tube and came without a bag in the normal box that only included a small green canvas belt with no brand name on it. No manual or guarantee card.
It is my "comparison bin" and so far it beat the sh.... out of any other bin/brand.
It will never leave! He feels a little bit alone. A little sister would be nice, so.......
Could you provide me/us with a little bit more details about 115/D against 240/D resolving power?
Maybe Dale Forbes could step in and provide some info.
Jan
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115/D is the resolving power of telescope lens. It has higher spec compared to binocular which is 240/D. So with your 10x40mm and assuming 115/D would result in 3.83 arcsecond resolving power.. while mainstream binos would have 8 arcsecond resolving power. So if your 10x40mm is twice better in resolving power to normal binos. Then it should resolve more. Have you only tested it in resolving double stars? Were you saying the standard 10x40mm can't resolve some stars??
About my Df 8x30mm with serial number #B82.. it is made in 2012. At 6pm almost nighttime, it can still resolve and show good contrast viewing the wall textures of the neighbors.. whereas other binos would no longer show any contrast. If I exchange it to the standard black should Binostore allows. I don't want the standard one to show less detail than this.
Hope you can get ideas from the IWA you will attend if these were indeed military Habichts or Saudi civilian hunters Habicht and whether the civilian version is also Milspec optical tolerant. Thank you.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Read this question just now.
I'm a trader so it in my Whole Sale Price and you pay RRP Reccomended Retail Price.
Has your Swedish friend replied to you? Does he got them from Swarovski or the Swedish army who need cash who sold him some unused binos? Anyway hope you can get one soon so if you tested the 8x30w DF GA O STP as just similar to the standard black in quality. Then I'll ask Binostore to replace the wrong sent. I emailed them.. they told me they would ask the supplier what happened. So critical period would be next week.
By the way. Where did you exactly hear the military Habicht has better optics.. is it from Jan or other people outside of birdforum? What exactly do they say?
binomaniac
Well-known member
Birding just today, I noticed that the very late model Swedish military IF 8x30 Habicht to be slightly sharper and brighter than my equivalent standard 8x30 Habicht.
Is this a coincidence...just an on the day thing....or is there superiority in the IF design?
Rathaus. from what i remember i think it's exactly this post from rathaus where i read for the first time about the superiority of the military version versus the civilian model
Is this a coincidence...just an on the day thing....or is there superiority in the IF design?
Rathaus. from what i remember i think it's exactly this post from rathaus where i read for the first time about the superiority of the military version versus the civilian model
binomaniac
Well-known member
i send a message to my friend in sweden ,expect an answers but i dont ask him if the bino it's from the swedish army stock. i will ask him , i also send a message to swarovski , i want to know if there is the last treatment on the lenses in this military version and what STP means, but i think is strichplatte : reticle
If you will read all the reviews of the standard Habicht 8x30W here in the forum. You will hear almost all are so stunningly impressed by it.. like they never saw such sights before. So let's say the Habicht already transfer 95% of the contrast in the scene. How can it be better?
Unless the black one only transfer 85% of the contrast and we would only notice it if the military Habicht transfers 90% of the contrast?
Have you seen thru a 8.5x42 EL SV? It is said to have even better contrast than the Habicht. Is it true? But how can the EL show even greater contrast when the Habicht already reached 95%-98%?
Anyway I was looking for this thread the author wrote something like...
"the Swarovision EL shows better contrast than the Habicht.. but the IF 8x30W version is sharper and I wonder if they can change eyepiece design in a production run to take advantage of individual focus"
Have you read the above before here? I can't find where I read this? I need more reports by others to decide if the military Habicht has even better contrast (and my DF worth keeping as reference model). But how can it be when the standard black Habicht already has almost maximum contrast perhaps almost equal to the EL SV??
binomaniac
Well-known member
unfortunately i never see an 8,5x42 SV which i hear its even better den an 8x32 SV in terms of resolutions and contrast. But i do some extensive comparison between SV 8x32 and habicht leather model , and i feal the habicht have a little better resolution and SV better contrast. But the overall feeling about the image was better in habicht i think because the colour was more lifelike in habicht.I am glad to hear the habicht GA version its even better than an 8,5x42 in terms of resolution,because 8,5x42 and zeiss HT have the best resolution posible from what i read on this forum. Now i am more anxious to grab an GA version maybe a real holy grail for the people who want the best resolution possible in a very compact and solid design, almost taskable. I must to go at work , i let you know monday the answers from swarovski customers.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
AFAIK (but I'll ask) the military version of the Habicht serie is not for sale via any dealer, only by Governments. Saoudi and/or Chinese channels are nice talks, but I don't buy that.
Jan
In 2012, I visited the Beijing store that had previously sold 8x30 green rubber-armoured habichts. Basically an office in the corridor of a regular office-building, kitted out inside with display cases. (Anyone who's been to Beijing and searched out the more unusual stores that aren't aimed at foreigners will know the kind of place I'm referring to). He had a bewildering array of optics, mostly alphas but a very unusual selection of models. He showed me IF green 7x42 habichts, but had no 8x30 in stock. He said he could get them. He made a phone call and I heard his end of the conversation. It would take three days to get me a pair. Unfortunately I was leaving next day. I don't know who he was speaking to, but put it this way...the conversation was in Chinese, not German, so it wasn't Absam...
