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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Swarovision 8.5x rugged? (1 Viewer)

B

BrightonBirder

Well-known member
I have been told that these binos are somewhat fragile. Any thoughts, comparisons.

I need a rugged pair of binos as I travel often, use them for work as well as pleasure and they will not be treated with kid-gloves.

M
 
BrightonBirder said:
I have been told that these binos are somewhat fragile. Any thoughts, comparisons.

I need a rugged pair of binos as I travel often, use them for work as well as pleasure and they will not be treated with kid-gloves.

M
Click to expand...

Hello BrightonBirder

I wouldn't say they are fragile, not much good for banging nails in with either!.
The older SLC's are bombproof and the Trinovid range are built like tanks.

If i was you i would look at getting a good used pair, which ever that might be . :t:
 
I can´t imagine doing any damage to my Swarovision 8.5x42 without taking Betsy to them. (Betsy is my 2lb lump-hammer).
 
I too have heard they are somewhat fragile. I think you would be better going for the armoured Swaro's; not as pretty but better for the job.

John.
 
squidge said:
Thats mad I had a hammer called Betsy aswell but it was named after my Mother inlaw.
Click to expand...

Strange how M-in-L´s can remind one of one´s favourite hammer. I wonder where the opinions about SV´s being "fragile" originate? They seem rock-solid to me. (I won´t tell you what I call my M-in-L).
 
Sancho said:
Strange how M-in-L´s can remind one of one´s favourite hammer. I wonder where the opinions about SV´s being "fragile" originate? They seem rock-solid to me. (I won´t tell you what I call my M-in-L).
Click to expand...

Dont know how, they seemed fairly solid too me and could take a fair few knocks. Nice rubber armouring and good strong hinges definitely not fragile.Ger.
 
Any notion that the EL is fragile is hogwash. I own EL, SLC, and Ultravid, and they are all rugged. The only bins that I can imagine might be more rugged are individual-focus 8x30 Zeiss and Nikon, or similar military bins, and even then I'm not sure that any of those would actually take more of a beating.
 
I would like to see a "Dunne Crash Test" face-off btwn the new EL and the EDG (including the EDG II, which no longer has a double bridge).

Here are the Dunne Crash Test Events (link below to full article):

Thunk, Crash and Yee Haw in Real Time Test

The EDG I did a one and a half gainer from three and a half feet from the top of his desk.

Result? Shake, shake, shake...no, nothing loose.

Alignment? Looks smack on!

The 100-foot "Javelin" Test

Actually, just under 100 feet. The EDG was hurled and landed on baked, dry soil on the elevated leach field, with a sparse cover of weeds–which the glass neatly avoided. Judging by the deposition of dirt on the lenses, the EDG appeared to have landed ocular first then tumbled onto its belly.

Results? No problem. Alignment fine. Mechanical function fine.

Let's see the SV EL match that! (Let's see the EDG II match that!)

http://featheredgeoptics.com/productreviews_nikonedg.htm
 
The body of my EL is certainly pretty strong, although I have to say that the rubber armouring did become detached in a small area around the badge (re-skinnned under warranty btw). I am not so sure about the strength of the focuser. No problem as such with mine but I am not sure how tough it would be if it bore the force of a drop.

As nobody has mentioned it yet I reckon Zeiss FLs are a lot tougher than they look/feel - belied by their relative light weight perhaps?
 
jgraider said:
No open bridge bino is as tough as, say, a Trinovid, SLC, SLCneu, or Leupold Gold Ring HD.
Click to expand...

Based on what test or experience? More Birdforum mythology.

The EL has TWO bridges rather than one, so why is it more fragile than a bin with one hinge? I have yet to see any report of an EL breaking.

A good friend was in a terrible car wreck and his 8x42 Ultravid was broken in half by the impact or crushing. Leica replaced it under warranty. That doesn't mean that Ultravid is fragile, but every binocular has its limits.
 
Based on the fact that we have wrecked 2 pair of EL's on our hunting excursions over the past 4 years, while every pair of SLC's, Trinovids, and Leupold GR HD's (all mine) have been through hell and high water for the past 11 years with no issues at all. I'll grant you that one pair was an in abusive situation, as all of these have been, but they were the ones to go tits up, while the others didn't. Real world, not myth my friend. Swaro's world renowned customer service fixed them free of charge as we have come to expect from them, even when they had no right to. In your words, the EL's "limits" were shorter than the others.
 
jgraider said:
Based on the fact that we have wrecked 2 pair of EL's on our hunting excursions over the past 4 years, while every pair of SLC's, Trinovids, and Leupold GR HD's (all mine) have been through hell and high water for the past 11 years with no issues at all. I'll grant you that one pair was an in abusive situation, as all of these have been, but they were the ones to go tits up, while the others didn't. Real world, not myth my friend. Swaro's world renowned customer service fixed them free of charge as we have come to expect from them, even when they had no right to. In your words, the EL's "limits" were shorter than the others.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Just out of curiosity, can you describe the actual failure/breakage?
 
On one occasion my buddy and I were glassing from the back of a pickup in a high rack that stood about 10 feet from the ground. He dropped his EL and it hit the ground, but the terrain was very sandy and the fall wasn't that big of a deal. Upon picking them up his focuser was ruined as the knob would't work. It would just spin. There was hardly a mark to be found anywhere on the binocular so I know it didn't hit hard ground. The other time we were climbing down a steep rocky slope and my buddy had his EL's in his pack. The pack took the usual bumps and slight bounces as we climbed down. Upon arriving at our quarry, he began to unload some stuff from his daypack, i.e knives, rope, etc, and his EL's. They had been knocked out of collimation and the barrels were noticably out of line. Once again, we didn't think any of the bumps should have caused anything like that. As I said, we have years of beating the heck out of trinovids, slc, and a recent gold ring hd.
 
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