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SLC HD focus? (1 Viewer)

A

awhitehead2011

Well-known member
After trying all the alphas recently and I'm severely tempted to get an 8x42 but I've heard mixed reviews on the focus wheel? The pair I tried were "stiffer" but still smooth, in one direction than the other. Any owners comments would be appreciated :t:

I'll be keeping my 8x32 Trinnies though
 
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awhitehead2011 said:
After trying all the alphas recently and I'm severely tempted to get an 8x42 but I've heard mixed reviews on the focus wheel? The pair I tried were "stiffer" but still smooth, in one direction than the other. Any owners comments would be appreciated :t:

I'll be keeping my 8x32 Trinnies though
Click to expand...

All alphas are nice optically. Of my alphas Nikon has the smoothest focus followed by zeiss Leica and swaro. As you know the ultravid is stiffer, but smooth none the less.

My Wb el focus is pretty good, a tiny bit of play. My SV is now real smooth after it was sent back to swaro for service.

Rarely do people complain about 32 el focusers. The problem seemed to be with the 42s. The problem is usually not that bad anyhow- remember BF members are picky. I only sent mine in because it had another issue.

Poor swaro takes a beating for their focusers, but don't forget the view, it is one of the best.

You are referring to the slc hd? I've looked through 3 or 4 slc hds and I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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I am aware of several birders, just here in North Norfolk, that have gone over to the new SLC HDs in the last couple of months, one of them a dedicated Nikon HG/HGL user. Having sneaked a peak and noticed how bright and sharp the image is I am not aware of any that have a stiff or problematical focusing system.
 
Many, many thanks to you both. I hadn't even considered them until they were suggested by an optics outlet owner.
I must admit I personally find them stunning optically. Giving the WOW factor...not easy these days. Very easy on the eye, bright and sharp, very well balanced for 810g. A panoramic view.
I did notice distortion with both of the SV's...rolling ball? Plus the 42's are quite bulky.
To me the SLC HD 8x42 was brighter yet retaining great contrast (which I have found some bright images don't). Like being there.
I have tried them all including Nikon porros and these I feel will suit me the best as an all year round bin.
Retirement present from teaching. I deserve it!

Again, I will be keeping my old Trinnies though. Probably/certainly a sentimental gesture, but they still give a very easy, pleasing view, obviously not as bright but rich, clear and sharp.

Just a personal view! See what I did there...

Good Birding
 
awhitehead2011 said:
Many, many thanks to you both. I hadn't even considered them until they were suggested by an optics outlet owner.
I must admit I personally find them stunning optically. Giving the WOW factor...not easy these days. Very easy on the eye, bright and sharp, very well balanced for 810g. A panoramic view.
I did notice distortion with both of the SV's...rolling ball? Plus the 42's are quite bulky.
To me the SLC HD 8x42 was brighter yet retaining great contrast (which I have found some bright images don't). Like being there.
I have tried them all including Nikon porros and these I feel will suit me the best as an all year round bin.
Retirement present from teaching. I deserve it!

Again, I will be keeping my old Trinnies though. Probably/certainly a sentimental gesture, but they still give a very easy, pleasing view, obviously not as bright but rich, clear and sharp.

Just a personal view! See what I did there...

Good Birding
Click to expand...

If you buy them , post a review. Happy glass hunting.
 
I tried the SV and HD at last years's British Birdfair and with both I noticed the focusser was stiffer in one direction than the other and also not very smooth. Personally, I would find that very distracting. Optically, I actually preferred the HD's. It can't be right if people are having to send them back to get the focussing smoothed out. Why can't they be smooth in the first place?
 
Right, here’s my story, I’ll make it brief. I went down to Cley Spy today and spread all the Alphas (cards) out on a table! Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss and Nikon. The young lad was great. They had all models in stock, very impressive.

I tried 32’s and 42’s. Oh, I'm an 8/8.5 man. No pressure and the shop was empty…brilliant. I realize this doesn’t take into account all conditions but it’s a pretty good way for direct comparison.
ALL gave excellent views as expected. No technical stuff as I'm not qualified, just an honest assessment.

At the risk of asking you to suck eggs here are my humble views.
Nikon – smooth focus and excellent image but shape and feel didn’t appeal
Zeiss – Excellent image but I find the depth of field shallow…hence too much re-focussing.
Leica – always been a favourite of mine. 32’s just too small for my hands. 42’s nice. Feel great in the hands and an excellent rich view. Tempted!
Swarovski – SV’s a “no no” for me as I can detect distortion when panning…rolling ball?

So, Leica’s looking good…until I again tried the SLC HD. The best for me BUT once again the focus wheel was sticky in a clockwise direction. VERY frustrating!!
As others have commented this shouldn’t happen but does.
I thanked the lad and left the shop still undecided. It’s a big decision, right. About a mile up the road I had a thought. I wondered if they might have another pair? I returned and tried them. Perfect focus wheel and incredible view. It’s a deal! Interestingly he did mention that the demonstration pair I initially tried were over a year old. The pair I bought had just arrived?

For me it's best to visit and try them until you find the pair that you’re happy with. Yes its cost me some petrel money but I’m happy now and that’s what counts.

Interestingly he said that quite a few experienced Norfolk birders had switched to the SLC HD’s in the last few months and like the other optics retailer he told me that they would be his choice out of all the models.

I hope you find or have already found what YOU are looking for…I have.
 
Alan,

Many thanks for your very helpful post, I'm also going to be changing my bins soon & will be looking at the same line up. I'm probably going for Swaros due to the fantastic customer service which is very important given how much they cost!
I like the sound of the 8x SLC HD's, how did they compare with the SV 8.5's in terms of brightness, DOF, feel in the hand etc?

Cheers,

John.
 
awhitehead2011 said:
Right, here’s my story, I’ll make it brief. I went down to Cley Spy today and spread all the Alphas (cards) out on a table! Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss and Nikon. The young lad was great. They had all models in stock, very impressive.

I tried 32’s and 42’s. Oh, I'm an 8/8.5 man. No pressure and the shop was empty…brilliant. I realize this doesn’t take into account all conditions but it’s a pretty good way for direct comparison.
ALL gave excellent views as expected. No technical stuff as I'm not qualified, just an honest assessment.

At the risk of asking you to suck eggs here are my humble views.
Nikon – smooth focus and excellent image but shape and feel didn’t appeal
Zeiss – Excellent image but I find the depth of field shallow…hence too much re-focussing.
Leica – always been a favourite of mine. 32’s just too small for my hands. 42’s nice. Feel great in the hands and an excellent rich view. Tempted!
Swarovski – SV’s a “no no” for me as I can detect distortion when panning…rolling ball?

So, Leica’s looking good…until I again tried the SLC HD. The best for me BUT once again the focus wheel was sticky in a clockwise direction. VERY frustrating!!
As others have commented this shouldn’t happen but does.
I thanked the lad and left the shop still undecided. It’s a big decision, right. About a mile up the road I had a thought. I wondered if they might have another pair? I returned and tried them. Perfect focus wheel and incredible view. It’s a deal! Interestingly he did mention that the demonstration pair I initially tried were over a year old. The pair I bought had just arrived?

For me it's best to visit and try them until you find the pair that you’re happy with. Yes its cost me some petrel money but I’m happy now and that’s what counts.

Interestingly he said that quite a few experienced Norfolk birders had switched to the SLC HD’s in the last few months and like the other optics retailer he told me that they would be his choice out of all the models.

I hope you find or have already found what YOU are looking for…I have.
Click to expand...

Excellent. Write a more detailed review when you get a chance.
 
awhitehead2011 said:
After trying all the alphas recently and I'm severely tempted to get an 8x42 but I've heard mixed reviews on the focus wheel? The pair I tried were "stiffer" but still smooth, in one direction than the other. Any owners comments would be appreciated :t:

I'll be keeping my 8x32 Trinnies though
Click to expand...

I own a 8x42HD and it has an excellent focus wheel, perfectly weighted, precise and smooth in both directions.
My favourite bino at present though the SV12x50 has an even better one, its as good if not better than the 8x32FL i sold to Sancho and what a gem of a focusser that had!, i do have to add though that my SV12 was replaced early doors by Swarovski, but on an unrelated fault, as it happened the focusser on that was excellent also.

I haven't used my 8x42HD for quite a while but i can tell you one thing what makes it stand out is the way it just totally relaxes your eyes, honestly you can have it stuck to your eyeballs all day and feel no strain whatsoever, remarkable, in my view its better than its SV8.5 sibling. :cat:
 
All swaros have a great view- the only one that lags a bit is the cl. To say which one is best is somewhat of a personal opinion.

HD is made for people who don't mind pincushion, the Sv is for those who like a flat, sharp to the edge view. That is why they make both.

I recommend to try both and see which fits better. They are very different in feel and view.

Oddly enough I compared the 8 HD to the 8x32 Wb el and walked away with the el. Better feel in the hand and I liked the view better. At the time it was only about $100 difference in price. That being said the HD is nice all the same.

And yes 50 SV is very nice as well.
 
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ingle1970 said:
I own a 8x42HD and it has an excellent focus wheel, perfectly weighted, precise and smooth in both directions.
My favourite bino at present though the SV12x50 has an even better one, its as good if not better than the 8x32FL i sold to Sancho and what a gem of a focusser that had!, i do have to add though that my SV12 was replaced early doors by Swarovski, but on an unrelated fault, as it happened the focusser on that was excellent also.

I haven't used my 8x42HD for quite a while but i can tell you one thing what makes it stand out is the way it just totally relaxes your eyes, honestly you can have it stuck to your eyeballs all day and feel no strain whatsoever, remarkable, in my view its better than its SV8.5 sibling. :cat:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments. I've decided on the 8x42 SLC HD. I'm sure the 12x50 is also great but it would be too heavy for me and I'd find the 12 mag too narrow a field of view. Also it must surely be hard to hold still?

Good Birding
 
JohnnyH said:
Alan,

Many thanks for your very helpful post, I'm also going to be changing my bins soon & will be looking at the same line up. I'm probably going for Swaros due to the fantastic customer service which is very important given how much they cost!
I like the sound of the 8x SLC HD's, how did they compare with the SV 8.5's in terms of brightness, DOF, feel in the hand etc?

Cheers,

John.
Click to expand...

John,
I personally thought the HD's were brighter! DOF is excellent (a key factor for me). They feel great in the hand, very solid yet well-balanced.
Again just a personal view.
 
newfie ghost said:
Excellent. Write a more detailed review when you get a chance.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I'm not really qualified to get too technical here. All I can say is that I've been birding 26 years and these are the best binoculars I've looked through...I've tried them all! Coupled with the ergonomics and the focus wheel of my unit...I'm happy! :t:

Good Birding
 
Just bought a pair of the 8x42 SLC HD's at Cley Spy, everything Alan said about them was true. Tried them alongside the SV 8.5's & 8x32's, all were fantastic, could'nt see the dreaded rolling ball in the SV's. The SLC's just felt better in the the hand than the 8.5's being more compact, & to my eyes were brighter than both of the SV's. No probs with the focus either, slightly more restistance focusing clockwise, but still smooth. To me the focus feels like the Leica Trinovids I used to own, not over greased & giving the impression that they work consistantly in all weathers.
Overall, very pleased & nice people to deal with at Cley Spy.

John.
 
I've just invested in a pair of SLC HD 8 x 42 and they are really sharp and as yet I haven't had any trouble with the focus wheel.
 
Dear all,
I have already explained the differene in turning resistance of the focussing wheel of the Swarovsion 42 somewhere else on this forum. It is because there is a spring attached to the focussing mechanism and when one turns the focussing wheel in the direction where the spring is becoming longer (relaxes) it results in a slightly lower turning resistance, while turning the focussing wheel in the other direction results in a slightly higher turning resistance because one now has to compress the spring. The spring mechanism can be seen in a real cut-away of the Swarovsion (present in a Dutch binocular store, but probably also in other stores on this globe). The difference in turning resistance is present in the SLC-HD, the Swarovision 42's and the Swarovision 32, although the extent may differ. I had no opportunity yet to check the 50 mm Swarovsions, but I assume that they are similar in this respect. So, it is not a problem, but a matter of construction.
 
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