james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
And there’s always someone that will defend the practice for some reason. This goes back more than ten years, kinda past due to stop encouraging it.
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Forgot how good the Swarovski Habicht 7x42 GA are! (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Dennis Mau
- Start date
Isthatascratch?
Well-known member
I didn't sell the Swarovski Habicht 7x42 GA, and I don't see a bit of difference between it and a new one. I have a 30-year-old Swarovski Habicht 7x42 GA and I like it outside of the narrow 6.5 degree FOV, so I thought I would buy a Leica UVHD+ 7x42 to replace it because it has a wider 8.0 degree FOV. I was sure the Leica would be better in just about every way, but boy was I wrong. Everybody likes the Leica, and it is a beautifully made binocular, and I was so sure it would be superior I was going to sell the Habicht 7x42, but then I thought I should wait till I received the Leica and compare them.
To make a long story short, I returned the Leica and kept the Habicht! I kept comparing them back and forth and every time I went back to the Habicht I liked the view better even though it is tunnel like in comparison to the Leica. That narrow 6.5 degree FOV of the Habicht is just magical. I guess I am beginning to see where Dorubird is coming from in his love for the Habicht 7x42. The Habicht is just clearer, more transparent, sharper, has better contrast, handles glare better, has a more stereoscopic view and is brighter than the Leica. It is shocking, really.
The Habicht has a defined, sharp field stop that makes viewing a pleasure once you are used to it, whereas, the Leica is soft on the edges and you notice it. The Habicht 7x42 is like looking through an amazingly clear porthole that sometimes appears to not have any glass between you and the object you are looking at. On-axis the Habicht is sharper than the Leica and you can see it when you try to read print. The Habicht 7x42 GA has amazing center field resolution for a 7x. All the Habicht's are superb but the Habicht 7x42 GA is really special and if you haven't experienced one you should try one.
To make a long story short, I returned the Leica and kept the Habicht! I kept comparing them back and forth and every time I went back to the Habicht I liked the view better even though it is tunnel like in comparison to the Leica. That narrow 6.5 degree FOV of the Habicht is just magical. I guess I am beginning to see where Dorubird is coming from in his love for the Habicht 7x42. The Habicht is just clearer, more transparent, sharper, has better contrast, handles glare better, has a more stereoscopic view and is brighter than the Leica. It is shocking, really.
The Habicht has a defined, sharp field stop that makes viewing a pleasure once you are used to it, whereas, the Leica is soft on the edges and you notice it. The Habicht 7x42 is like looking through an amazingly clear porthole that sometimes appears to not have any glass between you and the object you are looking at. On-axis the Habicht is sharper than the Leica and you can see it when you try to read print. The Habicht 7x42 GA has amazing center field resolution for a 7x. All the Habicht's are superb but the Habicht 7x42 GA is really special and if you haven't experienced one you should try one.
Erik Baker from Cloudy Night's regarding the Swarovski Habicht 7x42 GA.
"They are the sharpest and brightest hand held tunnel you will ever look through!"
"They are the sharpest and brightest hand held tunnel you will ever look through!"
From an Allbinos review on the Habicht 7x42.
" I sat and thought, what do I like so much about this new Habicht 7x42? ... Precisely these poor quality specifications and the simplicity of the mechanical and optical construction seem to reduce these binoculars to a kind of essence. These essences paradoxically attract me because, by antithesis, this seems to emphasize even more the clarity and fantastic transmission of these beautiful binoculars.
Summary: As I use this Habicht 7x42, I definitely realize the following aspect even better: I like its apparent visual field of view exactly as it is, small and narrow! It is a purely aesthetic pleasure! It\'s the binoculars with the biggest personality I\'ve met by far! Furthermore, it is a binocular that requires a lot of understanding beginning with, and it is very easy to abandon it because of the weak specifications.
But after you use it without prejudgment related to AFOV, it turns into magic with time. This narrow AFOV, which everyone spits out (including me), is illuminated by an extraordinarily clear image that floats in a totally black space, creating a unique and powerful aesthetic impression. This aesthetic impression paradoxically, if the AFOV had been increased, would disappear!
Seemingly this paradoxically experience clearly confirmed to me, once again, that a pair of binoculars cannot be characterized only by some numbers (even carefully and objective placed in tables), but also through strongly subjective impressions, but honest! The complexity of reality, even of a simple pair of binoculars, cannot be reduced only to numbers, it also has other values that escape the measuring devices, but not to our perception!"
" I sat and thought, what do I like so much about this new Habicht 7x42? ... Precisely these poor quality specifications and the simplicity of the mechanical and optical construction seem to reduce these binoculars to a kind of essence. These essences paradoxically attract me because, by antithesis, this seems to emphasize even more the clarity and fantastic transmission of these beautiful binoculars.
Summary: As I use this Habicht 7x42, I definitely realize the following aspect even better: I like its apparent visual field of view exactly as it is, small and narrow! It is a purely aesthetic pleasure! It\'s the binoculars with the biggest personality I\'ve met by far! Furthermore, it is a binocular that requires a lot of understanding beginning with, and it is very easy to abandon it because of the weak specifications.
But after you use it without prejudgment related to AFOV, it turns into magic with time. This narrow AFOV, which everyone spits out (including me), is illuminated by an extraordinarily clear image that floats in a totally black space, creating a unique and powerful aesthetic impression. This aesthetic impression paradoxically, if the AFOV had been increased, would disappear!
Seemingly this paradoxically experience clearly confirmed to me, once again, that a pair of binoculars cannot be characterized only by some numbers (even carefully and objective placed in tables), but also through strongly subjective impressions, but honest! The complexity of reality, even of a simple pair of binoculars, cannot be reduced only to numbers, it also has other values that escape the measuring devices, but not to our perception!"
dorubird
The unskilled mechanic blames his tools!
All these are my words from my "Habicht 7x42 dissection", they are NOT from Allbinos who speak more in numbers and tables! Can you put a link where you got these?! ...or you messed up the quotes!
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I just bought the leatherette Habicht 7x42 from the well-known member Viraj. I will receive it the end of the week I think. I am looking forward for it! I like the Habicht 8x30 so far. So hopefully I will like the 7x42 as well!
I also have the Habicht 10x40 GA at the moment. Somehow I do not like it that much. I prefer the looks and the ergonomics of the leatherette versions. (except for the eyecups maybe). I think I will sell it.
I also have the Habicht 10x40 GA at the moment. Somehow I do not like it that much. I prefer the looks and the ergonomics of the leatherette versions. (except for the eyecups maybe). I think I will sell it.
CharleyBird
Well-known member
Who was it 😉 wrote this summary only 5 years ago:
"they have a very narrow tunnel like FOV, a VERY stiff focuser and small uncomfortable eye cups that aren't long enough for the eye relief "
So for a little balance, here's my opinion.
With a puny, paltry FOV of 114 the Habicht GA are surely the runt of the 7x42 litter and undoubtedly the very worst for birding.
Imagine how many birds you may miss compared to 140m Leica ultravid FOV or 150m Zeiss FL FOV.
Imagine how much more difficult following a bird in flight may be looking through a porthole, clear and bright though the glass may be.
And the Habicht GA focuser, designed in the reign of Queen Victoria, and made worse by the waterproofing process; made so annoyingly stiff that operators say you may need to use two digits to move it.
Compare the antique GA design to the wonderfully smooth, large, tactile new leica 7x42 uvhd+ focusser; with diopter adjuster built in, a truly great modern improvement enabling focus with a variety of fingers depending on your hand size.
As for the eye cups on the Habicht GA, try them and see if the haptics work for you (make sure you can return your GA purchase to the dealer)
And don't drop the GA as there have been reports they may easily go out of collimation.
Just my opinion.
Don't own a pair.
Not used one for many a year.
Just my opinion formed from old memories and stuff read on the internet
😉
"they have a very narrow tunnel like FOV, a VERY stiff focuser and small uncomfortable eye cups that aren't long enough for the eye relief "
So for a little balance, here's my opinion.
With a puny, paltry FOV of 114 the Habicht GA are surely the runt of the 7x42 litter and undoubtedly the very worst for birding.
Imagine how many birds you may miss compared to 140m Leica ultravid FOV or 150m Zeiss FL FOV.
Imagine how much more difficult following a bird in flight may be looking through a porthole, clear and bright though the glass may be.
And the Habicht GA focuser, designed in the reign of Queen Victoria, and made worse by the waterproofing process; made so annoyingly stiff that operators say you may need to use two digits to move it.
Compare the antique GA design to the wonderfully smooth, large, tactile new leica 7x42 uvhd+ focusser; with diopter adjuster built in, a truly great modern improvement enabling focus with a variety of fingers depending on your hand size.
As for the eye cups on the Habicht GA, try them and see if the haptics work for you (make sure you can return your GA purchase to the dealer)
And don't drop the GA as there have been reports they may easily go out of collimation.
Just my opinion.
Don't own a pair.
Not used one for many a year.
Just my opinion formed from old memories and stuff read on the internet
😉
dorubird
The unskilled mechanic blames his tools!
Habicht's 7x42 very small AFOV is for "Spartans" only! 
Everything else is superlative:
the fantastic resolution,
the best transmission in the world of binoculars,
the very natural color tonality,
the ease of viewing entire AFOV at a glance,
the three-dimensionality of the image,
the classic and robust/bony construction,
All these together (bad and good) make Habicht's 7x42 strong personality!
Everything else is superlative:the fantastic resolution,
the best transmission in the world of binoculars,
the very natural color tonality,
the ease of viewing entire AFOV at a glance,
the three-dimensionality of the image,
the classic and robust/bony construction,
All these together (bad and good) make Habicht's 7x42 strong personality!
Isthatascratch?
Well-known member
Also, if you follow a special sequence with the focuser and dioptre it fires 9mm rounds!!! 🙃
