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New Swarovski binoculars soon (1 Viewer)

Swissboy

Sempach, Switzerland
Supporter
Switzerland
Simple.. The word du jour is cost-cutting and outsourcing.

There is a global economic crisis. The news in US is filled with one bank failure after another. Investors are standing in line on the streets like in 1930's. Scary times. Premium binos are the last thing you are going to think about it in times like that. If Leica/Swaro/etc. are not profitable, they will cut costs.

.....

The economic problems are rather recent, whereas the complaints Tannin is referring to have a long standing "tradition".
 

PYRTLE

Old Berkshire Boy
Fortunately was able to try these today, overall first impression, very very good and surprisingly for me ( a dedicated x 7 or x 8 user) the 10 magnification was the first I've really enjoyed looking through in terms of sharpness/depth of field - comfortable to use throughout the distance range. More glass internally I'm told, less material and tapered barrels....redesigned binocular not revamped EL imo.

Still keeping my Zeiss 8 x 32 FLs though Mr Hackett!
 
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ThoLa

Registered User
Has anyone done a side-by-side comparison of "Old" EL's v. New EL's yet?

Hi Sancho!

You're not "going soft", are you?!

officially they have not been released - how can there be a comparison ;)

tickled, but not excited (as long as the 32s are not around ...)
Trooper Tom
 

Sancho

Registered User
Supporter
Hi Sancho!

You're not "going soft", are you?!

officially they have not been released - how can there be a comparison ;)

tickled, but not excited (as long as the 32s are not around ...)
Trooper Tom
I suppose the virus is active again. But if the 32's aren't due for release for a year, I could give up laughing-gargle and foie gras, and wear sackloth and ashes for a year, in the hope of saving the requisite moolah.
 

ThoLa

Registered User
I suppose the virus is active again. But if the 32's aren't due for release for a year, I could give up laughing-gargle and foie gras, and wear sackloth and ashes for a year, in the hope of saving the requisite moolah.

Sancho!
That sounds like a severe case. We are really in need of a vaccine, aren't we?
But I'm probably in the boat. If they are really as spectacular as the hype is suggesting!
And who says it will be another year? It's hearsay. I have not seen a single solid, trustworthy, OFFICIAL line on this matter. Maybe they are already polishing the lenses and they'll be in the shops for X-mas (now guess what that would mean!).

The big question to me seems to be: Will it be worth to wait for The Ultimate or should I rather look for a bargain offer of yesterday's "pinnacle of high tech (r)evolution" ?

Polishing my own crystal ball,
The Man who can tell the past
 

ThoLa

Registered User
How am I going to explain to the Missus that I need USD 3,500 bins???

Best by written confirmatory report of a specialist physician (i.e. psychiatrist), head of University medical school, if possible. It must say explicitly that it is part of the onging therapy, and hint at the fact that treatments for all chronic diseases is expensive.
Perhaps it should also point out that your disease is incurable but not fatal. ;)

The Doctor who knows what you need
 

karmantra

Well-known member
Do you have a brochure showing the internal construction of the new binocular?

Henry: Just received my Swarovski August newsletter online & they introduce the new ELs--shows a diagram of the internal workings on the new ELs--I don't quite understand how the 'field flattener' works, but they do show its placement in the binos.
 

henry link

Well-known member
The cutview is very interesting. My hat's off to Swarovski for providing such revealing and detailed information. Even with all this, however, some things are not completely clear.

Starting with the objective, the "paper thin" element is clearly a neutral flat designed to protect the first objective element, which for reasons I don't understand, appears to have been placed outside the rubber o-ring seal. It's not completely clear whether the next two elements are cemented or have a narrow air space.

The focusing element appears to be a conventional singlet.

The field flattener doublet comes before the objective focal plane, making it optically part of the objective, which all adds up to six elements, not including the flat. It's not completely clear whether the flattener is cemented or air-spaced, but I suspect air spaced. The front element looks like it could be cemented to the back of the prism cluster.

The eyepiece looks basically like a 4 element Koenig; singlet field and eye lenses with a cemented doublet in between. This is different from the current 4-element EL eyepiece which is a 2-1-1 arrangement.

Altogether a very interesting and very complex design; a big departure from the current EL, not just a refinement. There are certainly at least 18 glass to air surfaces, but more likely 20 or 22, possibly even 24. The current EL has 14. Hard to see how light transmission can reach 90% in such a design, even with improved coatings. Most odd to me is the placement of the first objective element. Why was it placed outside the o-ring?
 
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Patriot222

Well-known member
It looks like 22 glass to air surfaces to me and I'm completely boggled by that first thin objective element. I don't get it. I hope they didn't do that solely to make damaged lens replacement less expensive.
 

kabsetz

Well-known member
Henry,

I may be completely off the mark here, but concerning the objective element that looks like it is outside of an o-ring, could it be that that the o-ring is a method for having simple and "infinitely" adjustable spacing between that element and the doublet after it? It is conceivable that the design requires very precise spacing that could not be obtained by a reasonable set of machined spacers.

Please do set me right if you think this makes no sense.

As for other general impressions, I quite like what I see and read here. I have been rather fond of the original EL, especially in the 8.5x version, and the few gripes I have had with it have nearly all been addressed. Aside the obvious - the fluoride glass elements and promise of reduced CA - the increase in focus past infinity and diopter correction range will be welcome, as will be flatter field and better sharpness throughout the field. Also, the new thumb recesses look a lot like those on the 32mm EL's, which I find much more comfortable than the original design. Likewise, rubber armoring inside the barrels will add comfort in cold weather. The only shortcomings I see in the specs and images (without having ever seen or handled the binocular) are the omission of a tripod adapter thread for us who almost always use finnsticks, and, of course, the lack of image stabilization.

Kimmo
 

stabor

Well-known member

An emailed notification from Swarovski says that the new EL's will not arrive in North America until February.

 

Swissboy

Sempach, Switzerland
Supporter
Switzerland
OK, so we finally have the full advert release for the new EL.

http://el.swarovskioptik.com/index.php?l=en

It shows cut-aways etc. What's up with that apparently paper-thin front element??????

--AP

As the water-proofing is one element further in, one would expect the potential for fogging between the front element and that first true lens. Also, that thin front element does not look like it could withstand any mechanical impact, possibly not even a somewhat rough touch with the fingers. Very strange indeed.
 

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