FWIW, I am thinking about upgrading from 2008 8.5x42 EL to the 2014 vintage SF. 8x42
You probably don't want to carry the 56mm's unless you have a harness but they sure are good from a stand or when you are not walking or hiking much. The Swarovski SLC HD 8x56 surprised me. Almost no veiling glare, no CA and amazingly sharp on axis and sharp to the edge and the low light performance and contrast has to be seen to be believed. Here is a good review of the Swarovski SLC HD 8x56 versus the Zeiss 8x56 FL.I really like the 8x42 format, not sure what I gain by 8.5x. If I want power, I will jump directly to the 10x
Zeiss 8x56 FL does seem like an interesting proposition.
Henry Links Review of his 8x56 FL explains the benefits of the bigger aperture well. It is not just brighter. It has a better quality image than smaller apertures.I understand the point that the bigger the objective, the more light it gathers, the brighter the image is.
Henry Links Review of his 8x56 FL explains the benefits of the bigger aperture well. It is not just brighter. It has a better quality image than smaller apertures.
https://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=840895&postcount=1
The HT is brighter as several tests reveal by a small amount. I owned a 10X42 HT and saw no really benefit. More importantly to me is the SF and SV tend to present a more neutral image IMO. I actually like an older FL 10X42 than I did the HT.
The SF/SV debate will continue. Currently I send to prefer the image and perfect mechanics of the Noctivid 10X42.
I will say a Swarovski product tends to beat everyone in the used binocular market as far as commanding a higher price.
I bought my Swarovski SLC 8x56's through Amazon.com with Eurooptics LTD as the seller and they are excellent. They also have the SLC 10x56's here.That is an interesting read.
I am trying to decide what to do, replace my 2008 Swaro EL with a Zeiss SF 8x42 or keep the 2008 EL and get an additional SLC 10x56 - are these available for sale in US now? I heard they weren't circa 2014.
I think there is only so much you can do with the 8x42 format, to get a step in a different dimension must have a 50 or 56mm objective. 10 power seems about right for that configuration.
I think there is only so much you can do with the 8x42 format