xmeecosmic
Guest
How would the long-range magnification of the Swift Audobon 8.5x44 820 Porro non-ED compare to a 10x42 or 10x50 Porro?
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Magnification of Swift Audobon 8.5x44 non-ED 820 vs. 10x (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter xmeecosmic
- Start date
Hi
Basically a high quality 10 x 42/10 x 50 could display a slightly more detailed image at long range but we are talking about a very few binoculars from my own experience
Added to this is the shake factor at 10 x which could easily lose any extra detail visibility
Many 10 x binoculars will have a smaller field of view than the Swift Audubon
An example i can give is this
My Swift Audubon 8.5 x 44 (late model 804) just about equals the central resoloution of my Nikon SE 10 x 42 and i can hold both fairly well without shake
However the Swift magnification and field of view gives a little more relaxation
I can barely see a difference in centre image between the two as regards magnification unless i carry out a specific measure
Best thing is to try some 8 8.5 and 10 mags if possible but try to keep the quality of model at the same level so as to give an accurate comparison
Regards
RichT
Basically a high quality 10 x 42/10 x 50 could display a slightly more detailed image at long range but we are talking about a very few binoculars from my own experience
Added to this is the shake factor at 10 x which could easily lose any extra detail visibility
Many 10 x binoculars will have a smaller field of view than the Swift Audubon
An example i can give is this
My Swift Audubon 8.5 x 44 (late model 804) just about equals the central resoloution of my Nikon SE 10 x 42 and i can hold both fairly well without shake
However the Swift magnification and field of view gives a little more relaxation
I can barely see a difference in centre image between the two as regards magnification unless i carry out a specific measure
Best thing is to try some 8 8.5 and 10 mags if possible but try to keep the quality of model at the same level so as to give an accurate comparison
Regards
RichT
xmeecosmic
Guest
Thanks Rich
What you wrote was extremely helpful.
I had been planning on purchasing either a Bushnell Legend 10x50 Porro or perhaps a Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 to complement, for special birding viewing situations and light Astronomy, a Zen Ed 8x43. Now I am leaning towards buying the Swift Audobon as long as I am convinced that it would not be redundant to the Zen ED in terms of magnification/resolution. Where I live in Mexico there is no opportunity for me to test different models so I have to make my decision without any first hand experience.
What you wrote was extremely helpful.
I had been planning on purchasing either a Bushnell Legend 10x50 Porro or perhaps a Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 to complement, for special birding viewing situations and light Astronomy, a Zen Ed 8x43. Now I am leaning towards buying the Swift Audobon as long as I am convinced that it would not be redundant to the Zen ED in terms of magnification/resolution. Where I live in Mexico there is no opportunity for me to test different models so I have to make my decision without any first hand experience.
mayoayo
Well-known member
Well....I think the 8.5 is a little redundant to the Zen...The Zen is extremely sharp,and matches about the resolution of the Audubon,..Field of view is large too,so not a big difference between them...I have heard very good things about the ZEN ZRS 10X,and its not expensive..I tried it VERY briefly ,and it seemed a really sharp ,bright binocular..
Of course if you can push the budget a little,and find a good used Nikon SE 10X 42 ,that might be the binocular you are looking for...OR, the 12X......
xmeecosmic
Guest
Thanks Mayoayo,
I just was trying to see if I could justify buying the 8.5x44's in light of the fact that I was already getting the Zen EDs. As I suspected, guess not! The ZRS' or the Atlas Sky Kings were my back-up plan for my back-up (really special situation binoculars) if I did not commit to the Audobons or any other Porro be they 10x42 or 10x50. In the end the ZRS' just made more sense to me than any of the Porros. So,I just ordered a pair of the ZRS 10x42's.
I just was trying to see if I could justify buying the 8.5x44's in light of the fact that I was already getting the Zen EDs. As I suspected, guess not! The ZRS' or the Atlas Sky Kings were my back-up plan for my back-up (really special situation binoculars) if I did not commit to the Audobons or any other Porro be they 10x42 or 10x50. In the end the ZRS' just made more sense to me than any of the Porros. So,I just ordered a pair of the ZRS 10x42's.
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xmeecosmic
Guest
CL
I live about 50 minutes north of Zamora and around 45 minutes south of La Piedad. Zamora is one of my favorite cities in Mexico despite the fact that I have only seen one pair of binoculars (non-birding at that) for sale there. Lake Camecuaro is kind of charming and my regret is that I was not into birding the one time that I was there. The name of my sleepy but not dusty, crumblingly quaint, ruggedly picturesque, and provincial to the nth degree pueblo is Churintzio "the land of the long night." Not bad birding there if you like to hike a lot. The obsidian and artifacts in nearby Zinaparo are amazing in quantity and quality.
I live about 50 minutes north of Zamora and around 45 minutes south of La Piedad. Zamora is one of my favorite cities in Mexico despite the fact that I have only seen one pair of binoculars (non-birding at that) for sale there. Lake Camecuaro is kind of charming and my regret is that I was not into birding the one time that I was there. The name of my sleepy but not dusty, crumblingly quaint, ruggedly picturesque, and provincial to the nth degree pueblo is Churintzio "the land of the long night." Not bad birding there if you like to hike a lot. The obsidian and artifacts in nearby Zinaparo are amazing in quantity and quality.
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mayoayo
Well-known member
Makes sense...Now..You might want to let the customer service in ZEN RAY that you just bought a zen 8x43 not long ago,and see if they would honor the 50% OFF in a pair of ZRS when you get a ZEN ED..that might make even more sense!!!!!!!!!!!.
xmeecosmic
Guest
Mayoayo, that would have been fantastic advice and thank you very much but...
speaking of "sense" or make that ethical business de-sense-y, when I emailed Zen-Ray about ordering the ZRS' and inquired about the price, Charles emailed back within the hour and voluntarily said that since the Zen ED's had just been recently shipped I would only be charged for both pairs of binoculars the ZR promotional price of $446.50.
So, if what the majority of people on Bird Forum have said about those two ZR products is true, I will be receiving two high performing binoculars (with no stated pretense of being Alphas) whose optical qualities are well beyond their respective price ranges and for both of them with shipping had paid $63.01 less than if I had purchased from Eagle Optics only one of their Vortex Viper 10x42's- leaving me enough money to additionally purchase, if I want, a harness and two or so birding-related books.
I am glad to see that the "blogging war" has apparently subsided. Nonetheless, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have no affiliation with ZR other than as a so far very impressed client. Oh yes, also, BF members, I do not feel brainwashed or manipulated by you in the least-I only feel binocularly enlightened and very relieved that my binomaniacal pursuit of the "perfect" optics that suit my needs is finally, finally, finally over for the next decade or so (or at least that is what I told my skeptical wife).
Thanks,
Les
speaking of "sense" or make that ethical business de-sense-y, when I emailed Zen-Ray about ordering the ZRS' and inquired about the price, Charles emailed back within the hour and voluntarily said that since the Zen ED's had just been recently shipped I would only be charged for both pairs of binoculars the ZR promotional price of $446.50.
So, if what the majority of people on Bird Forum have said about those two ZR products is true, I will be receiving two high performing binoculars (with no stated pretense of being Alphas) whose optical qualities are well beyond their respective price ranges and for both of them with shipping had paid $63.01 less than if I had purchased from Eagle Optics only one of their Vortex Viper 10x42's- leaving me enough money to additionally purchase, if I want, a harness and two or so birding-related books.
I am glad to see that the "blogging war" has apparently subsided. Nonetheless, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have no affiliation with ZR other than as a so far very impressed client. Oh yes, also, BF members, I do not feel brainwashed or manipulated by you in the least-I only feel binocularly enlightened and very relieved that my binomaniacal pursuit of the "perfect" optics that suit my needs is finally, finally, finally over for the next decade or so (or at least that is what I told my skeptical wife).
Thanks,
Les
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mayoayo
Well-known member
Les...Thats really nice of ZEN RAY...Good customer service,and honorable way to make bussines...I agree ,enjoy your bins,Alphas or Not there is no reason in this world to make a war out of binoculars..The Zen ED 8X is a good ,good binocular,as good or better than the Swift audubon 820..The Audubon was compared in BWD to swaroski EL 8.5 and no one got offended..!!!
I want to know how Your ZRS work for You
Best Regards
Manuel
