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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mark Linf" data-source="post: 3219958" data-attributes="member: 132522">Zeiss SF vs Swaro SVsHi there, interestingly I had a pair of Swarovski 8x32 EL SVs for a few days and just changed them (with extra cash of course!) for the Zeiss 8 x 42 SFs.  I'm a fan of the SFs and I agree with you that FOV, weight and balance are key advantages - they are just lovely to hold. They feel very natural and steady in the hand.  I would add low-light performance to that list of key benefits. In addition to brightness I find the contrast slightly lower on the SFs than the SVs - so while the SF images are still very sharp I find the shadows are rendered in a more open fashion and I can see more detail in the depths of undergrowth and other deep shadow.  Two things from your comparison I don't recognise though are the cooler colour balance and the increased chromatic aberration of the SFs compared to SVs. From memory my SFs are fractionally warmer than my SVs were.  And the SFs most certainly have noticeably less chromatic aberration on high contrast edges than the SVs - the SFs are the best bins I have ever looked through for CA and by some margin - indeed this is the main reason I bought them as CA is my 'pet peeve'. Yes, there is some CA at the extreme edges of the SFs but these are in areas of the image that the SVs do not even have because their FOV does not extend that wide.  I do not consider the areas that fall within the SFs 'extended FOV zone' to be for detailed viewing, they are at the edge of ones peripheral vision and are for detecting movement or some other point of interest before you instinctively move your bins to centre the object of interest.  If you look at the part of the SF FOV that overlaps with the SV 8 x 32 or SV 8.5 x 42 you will see less chromatic aberration than the SVs (basically, you won't see any!). At least that's my experience with my pair of SFs.  I can't comment on product consistency because I've never been able to have two or three SVs side by side!  Best, Mark</blockquote>

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