Had a chance to try the 10x30 for half an hour or so yesterday. I expected to hate it, given that so far I never looked through a 10x30/10x32 I liked because of the small exit pupil. However, the 10x30 works quite nicely for me. I don't know how they did it but I didn't have the problems I usually have with binoculars with small exit pupils. OK, I still prefer binoculars with larger exit pupils (>4mm, ideally 6mm), but I found I didn't have any problems with the small exit pupil at all.
The ergonomics are just fine, and despite of the low weight for a 10x binocular, I found I can hold it very steady. About on a par with my Nikon 10x42 SE, the 10x binocular I can hold better than any other 10x I've used. The CL is one of the very few binoculars with thumb grooves that work with my hands. The optics are very nice indeed, I found I prefer them over those of the SV 10x32. I'm not really a flat field sort of guy it seems. Veiling glare was there but a lot lower than in the SV 10x32 (or, indeed, the SV 8x32). Not as good as the Noctivid in that respect, but not bad at all. Resolution, contrast and CA were all more than acceptable. Bright image for a 10x30 on a very gloomy day. It was *much* better than the Swaro 8x25 in every respect. No comparison really.
Very, very well made. Nice focuser, the best I've seen in a Swaro roof so far. Not too fast, I like that. The only thing I didn't like at all was the diopter adjustment. I guess the designers must have had a brain fart or something. Even just a couple of bright colour dots on the scale would have made the diopter adjustment quite a lot better. The Field Pro attachement for the strap ... Well, I don't like it much, I prefer the old, traditional system by far.
Given that neither Leica nor Zeiss seem to be in a hurry to make a Notivid 8x32/ SF 8x32 at the moment, I may well end up getting a CL at some stage. And, and that surprised me a lot, I'll probably go for the 10x30. I'm planning on doing quite a bit of hiking in the next few years, and on those trips I'll have my scope in the backpack and only use it if really necessary. 10x gives me some more detail on the bird compared to an 8x and can in my experience make the difference between getting an ID and not getting it. The low weight and the small size of the CL seem ideal for that. They're also small and light enough to put in the pack on days when I don't expect to do a lot of birding, say on family get-togethers.
Hermann
