Question regarding 8x30 SLC Mk. II (1 Viewer)

Hi guys! I am new here (I will properly introduce myself asap) and got a question regarding a SLC 8x30 Mk. II that is for sale.

It originated as a Mk. II but at a recent service at Swarovski it received a complete new body with twist-out eye cups (which makes it a Mk. IV iirc).

From what I read the Mk II doesn’t have the Swarobright. The hue on the lenses really looks like mine 8x25 which has the Swarobright lenses. Although it isn’t stated on the repair slip, can somebody tell if it has Swarobright lenses?

Thanks for the help!

Tomk85, post 1,
On the WEB-site of House of Outdoor you can find under the chapter "Verrekijkers testen en vergelijken"a powerpoint with the history of Swarovski binoculars. It contains among others a description of the 8x30 SLC's and the effect of the different coatings used. If I remember well the years the different coatings were applied were also listed.
Gijs van Ginkel

Swarobright is a dielectric mirror coating applied to one prism surface. The repair slip doesn't appear to show a prism replacement, so unless the binocular was previously serviced the prisms would still be the originals with silver mirror coating.

TomK85, post 1,
Your SLC binocular is, according to the repair slip, from 1991 and in that year Swarobright was not used. Swarovski started using Swarobright from 1998.. As Henri already wrote: you will have no Swarobright unless Swarowski inserted new prisms and according to your repair slip that did not occur.
Gijs van Ginkel

Thanks for your reactions! Find the price of EUR 599 a bit steep so I am gonna let this one pass.

A little late, but for general information . . .

Swarobright was progressively introduced on the SLC line from 1998 to 2003, with the 8x30 among the last to receive it
The units were not marked but only the box label
By observation it was introduced on 8x30 units sometime between early 2002 and early 2003 - not on #D7204 xxxxx, but present on #D7312

Swarobright was never applied to 7x30 units as production ceased in 2001. The last unit I’ve observed is #D7118
However, at least at one stage Swarovski offered the option of upgrading a pre-Swarobright 7x30 to make it a Swarobright 8x30!
This essentially involved replacing all the glass and associated parts, see post #11 onward: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=227063

John

TomK85 said:

Hi guys! I am new here (I will properly introduce myself asap) and got a question regarding a SLC 8x30 Mk. II that is for sale.

It originated as a Mk. II but at a recent service at Swarovski it received a complete new body with twist-out eye cups (which makes it a Mk. IV iirc).

From what I read the Mk II doesn’t have the Swarobright. The hue on the lenses really looks like mine 8x25 which has the Swarobright lenses. Although it isn’t stated on the repair slip, can somebody tell if it has Swarobright lenses?

Thanks for the help!

Click to expand...

Hello Tom,

Welcome to BirdForum.

I had exactly the same service done on my original 8x30 MkII, produced in 1991, and the new instrument they returned was an 8x30 MkIV, s/n 81xxx, assembled in 2011. I called SONA at the time and was informed that all the original glass had been replaced and that the prisms were Swarobright coated. None of this showed on the warranty invoice, — but it did make me a Swaro customer for life.

Based on this experience I would think that if the servicing was done "recently," as you say, the new instrument has new glass and the most recent coatings as of that date. But the only way to confirm this would be to call SONA and ask. If you do let us know what they say.

Ed

The SLC is a very nice 8X30, light weight with great optical clarity and detail, a great glass for travel, or just looking out into the back yard.

Andy W.

Having looked through what I’ve previously downloaded about:
- comments on this forum where x30 SLC’s have been serviced, and
- units offered for sale that include the service documents

It seems that if you send a unit in for servicing/repair, SONA will make a judgment as to what parts are out of acceptable tolerance,
and will then replace the parts on that basis - which of course makes perfect sense
i.e. they don’t automatically upgrade all the glass to the most recent specification as a matter of routine

In contrast, the upgrading from 7x30 to 8x30 referred to in my previous post was clearly an option that required payment
And I imagine if you inquired as to upgrading an early production 8x30 to the highest possible optical specification, again you could have it done by paying for the parts that did not meet the routine replacement criteria

In relation to indicating when Swarobright coated prisms have been fitted, there are two items in the repair listings that may singularly or in unison refer to this, there is:
- ‘Replacement of prism/housing’ (though I think this means replacing the housing rather than the prism and housing), and
- ‘Core-part Left Rep. Sona’, and ‘Core-part Right Rep. Sona’
e.g. see the description here: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=225580 in conjunction with the link in my previous post

Alternatively, a call to SONA may address all these issues!

John

Tx! Gonna call Swarovski tomorrow