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New released Swaro CL Companion 8x30 B (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter sbb
- Start date
Hya CG
Yes there is another difference but it is one that some might call trivial. Conquest's armour is very smooth, you could call it silky or super-luxurious, and yet it is not slippy. The Kowa feels very different in the hand because there is a very fine granular texture to the armour that feels just as high class but totally different. In a dark room and wearing a blindfold you would just need to touch these two with a fingertip to recognise which was which.
This is not an 'operational' difference like optics or focus speed but it does give both of them a distinct 'character'. For example after using FL 8x32 which has armour with distinct bars of rubber over its surface that hark back to the armour on the old Dialyts, the smooth Conquest was a shocking change.
The other thing that springs to mind is that the feel of the focus wheel is quite different since the Kowa's is knurled metal and feels to me just like the tone and volume knobs on my Fender Telecaster, totally different from the bars on the Conquest's wheel. No other bino I have tried has a a focus wheel like this, so this is another detail, that together with its armour texture gives the Kowa an individuality.
These kinds of differences don't influence the performance of Conquest and Genesis, as such, but they are like those little quirks of character that make one friend different from another, and in a subtle but nice way means that a day out with either of them is different from a day out with the other.
One last point. Conquest and Kowa both have cylindrical optical tubes which is perhaps a modern trend driven by increasing eyepiece diameters to achieve more eye relief and field of view. Zeiss's FL 8x32 and indeed Meopta's delightful B1 MeoStar 8x32 both have optical tubes that flare out a good deal down to the objectives giving a quite different shape and feel in addition to differences in feel caused by the armour.
Is this too whimsical or philosophical a way to think about binos? I don't think so. Going back to the analogy of human friends, when you meet you shake hands briefly and this might be the only time during the day that you touch your buddy. When you are using binos, there they are in your hands for hour after hour, you are kind of 'shaking hands' with your binos all day. What they feel like matters.
Well CG, I bet you got more than you bargained for there, but if you had something more specific in mind then get back to me.
Lee
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Thanks Lee!
Don't fence me in, being outside the lines, and off the canvas are all aok with me...
One of these days I'm going to get my hands on (eeehhmm around) the Kowa!
Till then I subsist on your reviews :egghead:
CG
You are most welcome. If you fancy a challenge try the Kowa alongside the Meopta and the Zeiss Conquest and let us know which you go for.
Lee
Hermann
Well-known member
He's been at it again: http://www.tvwg.nl/testrapporten/kijkers/swarovski-CL-Companion-8x30_10x30.shtml
Worth reading.
Hermann
Worth reading.
Hermann
Nice review. I have the new Swarovski 8x30 CL's and I had the Swarovision 8x32 SV and I agree with everything in the review. I forgot that the old CL was plastic and the new one is magnesium. He is correct in that the focuser is better on the new CL than the SV and also there is not any globe effect like the SV and internal reflections are better controlled on the new CL than the SV. One error I noticed is he said the color edges are better on the new CL than the old CL but he has the new CL scored lower on the chart. It probably should be reversed.
NDhunter
Experienced observer
Hermann:
Thanks for posting that review. I have trouble with translating that one
into English.
Could someone post it in English ?
Thanks in advance.
Jerry
Google translate is amazing!
14Goudvink
Well-known member
In Dutch it says the new CL shows more colour fringes than the old one, so the scores in the chart are correct.
Gijs van Ginkel
Well-known member
Two minutes ago I compared the old and the new CL companion 8x30 and there is hardly any difference in color fringes ate the very border of the FOV between both, striking is the much brighter image quality of the new CL Companion 8x30.
When I speak about color fringes I mean that at the very edge of the FOV tiny ,very tiny color lines can be seen for example along a straight white window shelf, nothing to worry about, since one hardly finds any binocular which does not show that.
Gijs van Ginkel
When I speak about color fringes I mean that at the very edge of the FOV tiny ,very tiny color lines can be seen for example along a straight white window shelf, nothing to worry about, since one hardly finds any binocular which does not show that.
Gijs van Ginkel
The translation also states that the eye relief of the new 8x30 is 13mm.
Swarovski says it is 16mm on its website:
https://www.swarovskioptik.com/nature/cl-companion-c21010504/cl-companion-8x30-green-p5418295
Does anybody know which one is correct? Allbinos says the earlier version had 15mm ER. The new version should be better than that. Allbinos also gives 16mm for the new version.
https://www.allbinos.com/1310-Swarovski_CL_Companion_8x30-binoculars_specifications.html
Bob
Swarovski says it is 16mm on its website:
https://www.swarovskioptik.com/nature/cl-companion-c21010504/cl-companion-8x30-green-p5418295
Does anybody know which one is correct? Allbinos says the earlier version had 15mm ER. The new version should be better than that. Allbinos also gives 16mm for the new version.
https://www.allbinos.com/1310-Swarovski_CL_Companion_8x30-binoculars_specifications.html
Bob
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Gijs van Ginkel
Well-known member
Bob, post 253,
I have measured it and it is as I have listed it in my test report (see the WEB-site of House of Outdoor) 16 mm for the new Companion.
Gijs van Ginkel
I have measured it and it is as I have listed it in my test report (see the WEB-site of House of Outdoor) 16 mm for the new Companion.
Gijs van Ginkel
LastStarfighter
Member
Is that for the 8x or 10x?
I'm considering the 10x as a glasses wearer. Not sure if anyone has a confirmed figure for eye relief on the 10x
Gijs van Ginkel
Well-known member
LastStarfighter, post 255,
Eyerelief of the new 10x30 Companion is also 16 mm (I measured it and it is as written on the Swarovski WEB-site).
Gijs van Ginkel
Eyerelief of the new 10x30 Companion is also 16 mm (I measured it and it is as written on the Swarovski WEB-site).
Gijs van Ginkel
LastStarfighter
Member
Thanks for confirming!
So Google Translate must have made an error in the translation to English.
Kammerdiner
Well-known member
The difference of course is "eye relief" v. "effective eye relief." since ALL eyecups chew up some eye relief (to varying degrees) it probably makes more sense just to publish "eye relief" and let users come to their own conclusions about how "effective" that will be for them as individuals. The photo in the review suggests that, yes, the CL eyecups chew up a little more eye relief than the 8x32SV. But then there's all this talk of an "eye box." Who knows??
I would guess only eyeglass wearers would even need to consider this, but again just try it and see for yourself. There is no universal prescription here. I'll try them when they get here. No biggie.
I would guess only eyeglass wearers would even need to consider this, but again just try it and see for yourself. There is no universal prescription here. I'll try them when they get here. No biggie.
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