I could not agree with you more...when I got my pair I literally went to buy another model/another brand (about 1/3 of the price), and to benchmark my chosen pair with the best I comprared it vs the Swarovision 8.5x42 and the Zeiss SF 8x42.
I liked the Swarovision but didnt think it worth 3 times the price...and when I tried the Zeiss I was blown away, not only by its clarity but for the FOV. I went back to the drawing board and back to the shop a few times with different light conditions to perform additional testing, eventually I bought it and I havent regretted. What a binocs, it is such an amazing piece of kit!
I liked the Swarovision but didnt think it worth 3 times the price...and when I tried the Zeiss I was blown away, not only by its clarity but for the FOV. I went back to the drawing board and back to the shop a few times with different light conditions to perform additional testing, eventually I bought it and I havent regretted. What a binocs, it is such an amazing piece of kit!
I recently looked through the 8x42 SF and it was hands down the most comfortable view I ever had through a binocular.
I was looking for a new binocular after having used a 7x42 T*FL for the last 10 years. I went out to try a 8x42 HT after all the rave and could see just the slightest improvement compared to my trusty old 7x42: It was a bit closer, a tiny tiny bit sharper maybe (but most was due to the 8x compared to 7x) and the FOV didn't feel that much smaller. The 7x42 T*FL had a bit of a yellow hue when looking at a pure white object that the 8x42 HT didn't have.
But then I tried a 8x42 SF and the FOV was nothing short but amazing. Everything felt as wide as my 7x42 but closer. I thought I had a winner with the HT but am seriously considering the 8x42 SF as my next bin. The touted shifted in balance, because of more weight in the eyepiece, was just like everybody said: perfect.
Besides the fact that it's a bit big, the SF really feels like the better birder binocular.
Comparing to an 8.5 SV, I like the view in both but I am a sucker for fast, fluid, precise focusing bins and wide field of views that makes one get a bird in the bins quicker. Swarovski focusers often have backlash and even if not, they always feel a bit more grainy and slow in their focus. This in combination with a smaller FOV doesn't really help getting birds into view quickly.
[sidenote: Since I am a birder, I reckon a fast focus has resulted in many times the difference between seeing a fast moving bird and not seeing. I would dare to say I have seen 50-odd species more in my life due to the focus of my 7x42 T*FL (also combined with the great debt of field, of course)]
So the Swarovision remains a no-go... I must admit I like the ergonomics and the compactness of the 8x42 SLC a lot (and not to forget the view), and the focus is in a better position on that one compared to Swarovision.
But to stick with the SF: it strucks me that the (in my view) very very best birding binocular gets nothing but a topic that drifts off constantly and doesn't really show enough praise for a binocular I consider a better version of the Swarovision for birding. The only reservation I have to make is I didn't use it for longer than some minutes in a shop. So I hope to read a review any time soon Planetmaker so I have some more food for thought on whether to buy this one soon or not
