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EL 8.5x42 initial impressions (1 Viewer)

After looking at other posts in the BF Equipment Review section, it seems more appropriate to post this here.

I just received my new EL 8.5x42 binocs purchased from BH Photo. Here are my initial impressions:
  • They are smaller than I was expecting, 6.3"L, a bit shorter than my old Leitz 7x42 BA.
  • They not as heavy as I was expecting. They do weigh in at 30 oz, but in the hand, feel lighter. For reference, it weighs exactly the same as my 24 oz plastic bottle of water.
  • The eye relief is wonderful, like nothing I've experienced before. I have several mm of play in the eyecup extension before starting to lose FOV.
  • I've only tried them in broad daylight, but the view is fine. I haven't done any critical comparison with my old Leitz binocs, and have nothing modern to compare them to. But my initial reaction is delight and satisfaction.
  • For the first time, I understand what people are talking about when they mention "kidney beaning". Adjusting the eye relief seems to minimize them. Also, holding my head more erect with the binoculars perpendicular seems to help. This will take some practice, and improve my posture!
  • I only notice glare when looking at objects directly toward bright sun, and this can be easily controlled. Wearing my glasses, I get a small arc of glare at the bottom of the view. I think it comes from light reflecting off my cheeks and/or glasses into the viewfinder. Without glasses, adjusting the eye cups, and holding the binoculars perpendicular to my face, any glare is eliminated.
  • I haven’t tried to attach the neck strap yet, but I did see that there are YT videos about this if needed. I also saw that you can buy adapters for a regular strap if desired. I like the neoprene ones like Op/Tech.
On a related note, yesterday I emailed Swarovski NA customer support with questions about the armor degradation. Today, I received a comprehensive and informative reply. They acknowledged the problem, and said that a new armor material is being used on NL Pures, although the transition SNs are not being tracked. The new armor is not yet being produced for EL 42 or SLC 56 models.

They said the degradation is caused by sweat, not DEET. If not cleaned off, the combination of accumulated sweat and heat can degrade the material. The problem can be prevented by regularly washing the binocs with soap and water. Since the binocs are fully waterproof and submersible, this is normally easy to do. But, for a variety of reasons, some users do not or cannot. They said that if I do encounter problems in a few years, the new armoring will be available and fully incorporated into their repair system.

One thing I was not aware of at first was how rebuildable these binoculars are. It seems they can rebuild/ replace just about anything, in or out of warranty. For US customers like me, this can be done at their facility in Rhode Island - no need to ship back to Europe. This is reassuring to me.

I also support that Swarovski Optic is trying to be environmentally responsible and use sustainable materials, even if it results in more frequent maintenance needs. We already have too much "forever plastic" in our water and landfill.

While reading the posts in this forum, I had a few panic attacks that I had made a bad and costly choice, and had thoughts of immediately returning them in exchange for something like the Zeuss SF 8x32, which I could get for a few hundred dollars more. But in the end, I am very happy with my choice, and feel confident that Swarovski Optic NA will take good care of me if I have any problems.
Re kidney beaning, i’m using NL eyecups on my 8.5 x 42 which gives more intermediate positions that helps to find a better eye relief setting to avoid kidney beaning
 
I went today with my ELs and WOW!!!!!!!!!!!. Had them since 2021 and still ... WHAT A JOY.
Clear day after yesterday raining ...............
Today 9:30am. 4 degrees Celsius. Top of the mountain not too far from BILBAO. ...... I did really enjoy
Great bino EL 10x42. Did have a great morning, did see plenty of birds.
 

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