help please : Habicht SL 10x40 black (1 Viewer)

buck mulligan

TCMits

• Mar 3, 2020

• #1

Hello

someone has just offered me a pair of Habicht SL 10x40 black "rubber " finish
they say they dont know how old they are but claim they are in "good condition"
they sent me some photos and I saw a sn



they are asking 400€
no case

any thoughts ?
cheers

V

 

B

Binastro

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2020

• #2

V.

I think the serial number will give the date of manufacture.

B.

 

buck mulligan

TCMits

• Mar 3, 2020

• #3

Thanks for the rapid reply

i have tried on https://www.swarovskioptik.com/ ( and the .us and .fr sites


in the search I used the the model


"Habitch 8X4O SL" and the 5 digit SN

but I only get the the two "current " models

what I am doing wrong ?

Cheers
BM

 

J

jan van daalen

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2020

• #4

buck mulligan said:

Thanks for the rapid reply

i have tried on https://www.swarovskioptik.com/ ( and the .us and .fr sites


in the search I used the the model


"Habitch 8X4O SL" and the 5 digit SN

but I only get the the two "current " models

what I am doing wrong ?

Cheers
BM

Click to expand...

Hi Buck,

I think you offended Swarovski by calling them Ha bitchB

What is the sr number?

Jan

 

buck mulligan

TCMits

• Mar 3, 2020

• #5

Hi Jan

I just sent them a mail via their website

SN 84438


I washed my hands before I wrote the mail o

 

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J

jring

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2020

• #6

Hi,

the SL series is not one of Swaros greatest. It will have the old coatings called "Blaubelag" which tend to result into a quite yellow image. Also the focus drive tends to be quite stiff and stray light resistance is so-so...

It also cost new less than 1000 DM (or 500€) so 400€ is a bit steep.

Joachim, who would either try to get a classic Habicht 10x40 with later coatings than "Blaubelag" or maybe save up and try to get some SLC... or some other brand

 

Last edited: Mar 3, 2020

G

Gijs van Ginkel

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2020

• #7

To my knowledge, the 10x40 SL was made between 1980 and 1984.The sample I investigated had a fairly low light transmission of a bit over 50%, see a copy of my powerpoint presentation about the history of Swaroski optik on the WEB-site of House of Outdoor, topic "Verrekijkers testen en vergelijken". They are very nice colectors items.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

H

henry link

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2020

• #8

I owned most of the SL models between about 1985 and 1992. They used the 3-layer Swarotop multi-coating of the time. A new one was quite bright and much less yellow biased than the 2-layer "Transmax" coated Habicht Porros of the same period.

I bought a 10x40 around 1991 or 92. I didn't keep it very long because of the very slow ratchety focusing common to the whole series, but the optics were essentially identical to the much praised, still available Habicht 10x40 Porro, except the SL coatings were better then and it had 2 fewer glass to air surfaces in the cemented prism.

 

Last edited: Mar 3, 2020

tenex

reality-based

• Mar 3, 2020

• #9

You can find some information on the Habicht SL series in this thread where I asked about them:

https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=382302

 

buck mulligan

TCMits

• Mar 3, 2020

• #10

Thank you all so much

I love the historic aspects but I'm not ready to start a collection
I'm looking for a backup pair of binoculars ...

Thanks again

 

John A Roberts

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2020

• #11

The 10x40 was introduced in 1982 and made until at least late 1991. 10x40 numbering started from #80,000
Since #84,438 is within the first 5,000 10x40 units, it’s an early model from within the first couple of years

For those interested in a model to use, as the efficiency of the coatings improved significantly over the SL's life span, I'd be strongly inclined to a more recent model
see the middle 3 graphs from Gijs showing the improvement in performance at: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=371675&page=2

10x40 numerical numbering goes to at least #631,519, with higher numbering generally being better (see the link below)
and Alpha-Numeric numbering is on the most recent production


John


p.s. for more information about SL numbering and dating see here: https://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=3965225&postcount=22

 

Last edited: Mar 4, 2020

buck mulligan

TCMits

• Mar 4, 2020

• #12

Hi John

well that's the definitive answer thanks
I going for a pair of ....
Cheers BM