I would expect all of my binos, including those from Swarovski, Zeiss, Leica and Nikon, to externally fog up in certain conditions, and experience has taught me to counter the fogging risk with certain measures (breathing through my nose instead of my mouth, leaning the eyecup rim against my eyebrows instead of pressing them into my eye sockets, watching temperature difference between instrument and air and ventilate eye lenses frequently , etc.).
I haven’t noticed any „massively increased susceptibility to fogging“ in any of my NLs, nor any of my other Swaro binos (I do have a few). And even when one or the other bino did fog up e.g in cold and humid conditions, that didn‘t render them „unusable“.
Just my 2 ct.
Thank you for this, Christophe. I think NL owners reading this thread, wondering if their NL's are complete lemons in certain conditions, will be very reassured by what you have said, regarding your own experience with your NL's. Your reputation, as a collector and very experienced user, carries much weight on this forum. I myself am a frequent visitor to your website, looking for information about, or your opinion of, a particular binocular.
And I confess, caught up in the moment, I rarely take precautionary measures to avoid fogging these days, such as you recommend, partly because I have only quite recently started using binoculars without glasses again and also because I am not generally walking and using binoculars in conditions which might provoke fogging...or so I thought. But, I have experienced fogging on many occasions over many years of using binoculars, and do know how to mitigate the onset of fogging (I have spent many nights outdoors from dusk until dawn with binoculars in hand). I have, therefore, tried everything I know, as well as experimenting further with suggestions from friends, to find a setting and placement for the NL's, which will allow me to use them fog free, whilst enabling me to still follow a bird on the wing continuously (and comfortably!) for more than 30-45 seconds. I have been unable to find such a setting and placement. So, for me, the NL's do become unusable, and there is nothing in what you suggest which has allowed me to comfortably follow a bird in flight over an extended period, whilst maintaining a good view, without the NL's revealing their 'massively increased susceptibility to fogging", when compared to other binocular brands and models which I own (and like you, I have no shortage of binoculars to choose from).
So there it is, your own experiences of NL fogging differs from mine. You find that your NL's are no more susceptible to fogging than any other, in terms of how rapidly they fog up, and I maintain that in my experience, NL's are far more susceptible to fogging than equivalent binoculars from other manufacturers.
What is clear, is that the weight of reporting suggests that most NL users will say they share your own experience of NL's, whilst a far smaller proportion of NL owners share my own findings. I maintain my position regarding the NL's, for me there is definitely something 'not quite right', regarding their susceptibility to rapidly fogging up in certain conditions, and this based on what is now quite extensive experimentation alongside other binoculars from different brands and of a variety of vintages, as well as several pairs of pre 2020 Swaros.
Christophe, I thank you again for posting your 2 ct. 🥂
