• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Shame on Swarovski: no 7x roof! (1 Viewer)

I have not looked through the Nikon unfortunately, only through the EDG 8x32 at a show, it was IMO second to none, I read bad things about an excess of CA for the 7x42 but cannot confirm if it's true or not.

Personally, I didn't rate the EDG 8x32 as highly as the Swarovski SV 8x32.
I previously spent two whole days comparing the EDG 7x42 and 8x42 and they are very similar (other than the lesser magnification, greater field of view and greater depth of field of the 7x42). I have found the CA to be minimal and Allbinos considered the 8x42 to have "great correction of CA"

I have no brand loyalty; I currently own bins from Zeiss, Nikon and Pentax (and previously owned two different Swarovski models). I use the bins that best suit my purpose for that day's activities. My scope is Swarovski. I think it is a shame if folk want a certain specification (eg 7x42) and then ignore a particular make (eg Nikon EDG); they don't know what they may be missing!
 
if we ALL (every Birdforum member)went out today and bought a 7x,
cleaned out the shelves and supply houses,
continued to demand 7x and got all every time one appeared,
I am sure the alpha folks would respond with new models

we vote with our money

edj
 
Last edited:
Shame on Swarovski:no 7x roof!

The sales staff in most stores, big and small, simply do not promote 7X binoculars, most will start a person with a 10X or even greater, tell them how cool it is that the image looks so much larger than a 8X and that is what they really want.
Don't pay any attention to your friends or the experts, you want a 10X.
Most of the sales staff have no idea how to use a binocular and what happens when a average person tries to keep a bino with more than 8X steady for long periods of time.
So the customer gets a 10X glass, whether they wear glasses or not their eyes have trouble focusing and they can't hold them steady so they give them away or simply stop using them.
Hunters are a cheaper group than birders on the whole and most, not all, will look at all the great bino's at Bass Pro, Cabella's, Dick's or Sportsman's Warehouse and then buy a pair of bubble pack from Wallmart or KMart.
People who I have convinced to purchase the little 6X30 Leupolds have found them easy to use and found they can hold them steady for quite a while.
When they decide to upgrade they want a 7X or 8X with the greater depth of field and a magnification range that allows them to hold steady for an extended period of time.
I have used 7X50 and 7X42 binoculars on the job because I spent quite a bit of time on surveillance duties and observing for long periods of time was a necessity
Back in the day many of the perps used 10X Zeiss but it seem I always spotted them first with 7X50's or 7X42's.
Off course my glass was Leica, Nikon (porro) or Zeiss.
Art
 
Swarovski product buyers behavioural research study

Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen from the Information Management students in Vilnius University. We are currently in the midst of doing our "Swarovski product buyers behavioural research study" and we would like to ask you to fill out a short survey, which in turn would greatly help us to successfully complete our research. Confidentiality is guaranteed. Thank you for your time and we wish you a festive season!

http://manoapklausa.lt/apklausa/631169582/11/
 
Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen from the Information Management students in Vilnius University. We are currently in the midst of doing our "Swarovski product buyers behavioural research study" and we would like to ask you to fill out a short survey, which in turn would greatly help us to successfully complete our research. Confidentiality is guaranteed. Thank you for your time and we wish you a festive season!

http://manoapklausa.lt/apklausa/631169582/11/

I started to do your survey but quite frankly some of the questions are ridiculous. Also, some of the questions on a page aren't applicable to me yet it's not possible to move on to the next page until one of the questions is answered.

You should include a "None of the above" option in your survey.
 
I agree, looks suspicious. The user has totally two posts, in different threads, with the same text and link.

I'll probably regret commenting, but I did try to respond and gave up after running into questions for which an answer had to be made up out of whole cloth, as there was no option to skip or enter none of the above.
My hope/guess is it reflects inexperience with creating polls rather than malice.
 
Shame on Swarovski:no 7x roof!

The January issue of "Rifle" magazine has an article entitled "A case for 7x binoculars" by Lee J. Hoots.
He praises the Swaro 7x roofs, naturally.
However I am afraid his is a lone voice crying in the wind.
As I said, most people are discouraged from buying 7x bino's, actively discouraged by sales staff in most shops.
There are just two high end 7X42's available at this time, Leica and Nikon bino's.
The Meopta is a high midline glass, very good buy for the money.
It appears that the 7x has been hounded into oblivion by the "more must be better" crowd.
The 7X36 glass I have looked at are heavy and as large (IMHO) as a pair of 7X42's and don't quite have the "walk in feeling".
I feel like Don Quote some times, jousting with the windmills.
Art
 
The January issue of "Rifle" magazine has an article entitled "A case for 7x binoculars" by Lee J. Hoots.
He praises the Swaro 7x roofs, naturally.
However I am afraid his is a lone voice crying in the wind.
As I said, most people are discouraged from buying 7x bino's, actively discouraged by sales staff in most shops.
There are just two high end 7X42's available at this time, Leica and Nikon bino's.
The Meopta is a high midline glass, very good buy for the money.
It appears that the 7x has been hounded into oblivion by the "more must be better" crowd.
The 7X36 glass I have looked at are heavy and as large (IMHO) as a pair of 7X42's and don't quite have the "walk in feeling".
I feel like Don Quote some times, jousting with the windmills.
Art



Art

Back in the Feb/Mar 2006 issue of Gray's Sporting Journal Terry Wieland, the magazine's Shooting Editor, made a very good argument in a detailed 4 page article that all anyone needed in a hunting binocular was a high quality 8x30/32. He specifically mentioned Leica's 8x32 Trinovid and 8x32 Ultravid; Zeiss's Victory 8x32 FL, 8x30 B T* and 8x30 Classic; Swarovski 8x30 SLC and 8x32 EL and the 8x32 Kahles. Remember---this was written in 2006.

He opens the article writing about a hunter who showed up for a $12,000.00 bear hunt with two custom rifles and the cheapest binocular he could find because he "knew it would take a beating." It gave up the ghost early and he spent the the next 18 rain soaked days depending on his guides Zeiss binocular.

Not many people paid attention to that article either but it is still worth reading.

He signed off on the article this way: Terry Wieland is Shooting Editor of Gray's and a believer that cheap optics wear out good boots. Italics are his.

Here in the boreal forests of the North East 7x42 is probably a very good choice for a hunting binocular with its large exit pupil and deep depth of field but hunters as a group have really not been educated about optics like birders have been and so most of them live with what the clerks at Dick's Sporting Goods put in front of them.

I have a friend at my local Legion Post who is a good deer hunter. He showed up one day with a 7/12 x 25 Bushnell Zoom binocular and asked me how it would work out for hunting. I was nice and told him if he stayed at 7x it probably would be OK. As fate would have it, within a week the zoom stopped working but fortunately it still worked at 7x so he stayed happy and AFAIK is still using it.

Bob
 
Last edited:
very Interesting with safari guests with high end binoculars. I am a tour leader doing wildlife/nature tours... Out of the 1000 guests (rough estimate) that I have brought with me on trips, maybe 5-10 have been carrying alphas... The binoculars all sat around the neck of someone who was also hunting, birding, and then couple of biologists...

Those who bought binos for travel always gotten rather cheap Chinese ones...
 
very Interesting with safari guests with high end binoculars. I am a tour leader doing wildlife/nature tours... Out of the 1000 guests (rough estimate) that I have brought with me on trips, maybe 5-10 have been carrying alphas... The binoculars all sat around the neck of someone who was also hunting, birding, and then couple of biologists...

Those who bought binos for travel always gotten rather cheap Chinese ones...

Kurakura,

Interesting!
May I ask what the regular budget was for such a trip? Did they flew with let's say Namibian Airways, KLM or Ryan Air? Was the safari done by touringcar/truck or one guide on four people in a Landcruiser?

Jan
 
Kurakura,

Interesting!
May I ask what the regular budget was for such a trip? Did they flew with let's say Namibian Airways, KLM or Ryan Air? Was the safari done by touringcar/truck or one guide on four people in a Landcruiser?

Jan



If I went to the time, effort, cost, for a major trip like this,
a one time in a lifetime experience,
I would want the best optics I could afford
probably 10x

edj
 
Last edited:
If I went to the time, effort, cost, for a major trip like this,
a one time in a lifetime experience,
I would want the best optics I could afford
probably 10x

edj

Same for me, but then I know something about binoculars and they are kind of a hobby for me.

I have a friend who leads birding trips in local state parks and wildlife areas. He has been using an old Pentax 8x36 Porro for years and is very satisfied with it. When I run into him again I will ask him if he would take it on a safari.

Bob
 
The interesting point is, that he is probably right.
The high end segment of Safari use for 90% A-brand material, but the rest does not.
This has a reason.
Outdoor shops are the suppliers for safari trippers and over there is no knowledge about optics.
For example; the biggest outdoor chain down here is owned by an investment group called Lions and they have (among other interests) Bever in Holland, AS Adventure in Belgium and Cotswold in Brittain. A while back they opened a new shop near where I live and I paid them a visit. In the store were next to some pocket binoculars, also a 10x42 Chinbin of 190,00 euro and a 10x42 Zeiss FL. I told the local salesman that I needed a binocular for a safari and asked him what the best choice for that purpose would be. He looked at the bins and shortly after that he told me that both were 10x42 but the price difference was 1.700,00 euro so he adviced me to go for the cheapest one because both performed the same and for 1.700,00 euro I could buy a lot of outdoor gear for Africa.
This is the common knowledge of the salesmen in these outdoor chains. There is to much staff changes and therefor no knowledge about optics. Still they accommodate most safari customers.
This is where the potential growth lies for the A-brands.
Investments in education by these brands of those dealers is the Key word to that!!!

Jan
 
Kurakura,

Interesting!
May I ask what the regular budget was for such a trip? Did they flew with let's say Namibian Airways, KLM or Ryan Air? Was the safari done by touringcar/truck or one guide on four people in a Landcruiser?

Jan


Usually these people will go on 2week trips costing 3-4000€, many will go on several trips a year. Both africa and rest of the world... many have done India, Nepal, Borneo, Vietnam, 2-5countries in africa, inka trail, galapagos, aso

Groups are usually 12-20people in landrovers... I work in Southeast Asia, but most guests have allready been on 2 or more Africa trips
 
Warning! This thread is more than 9 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top