NL Pure 8x32 and NL Pure 10x32! (3 Viewers)

[TALON TARGET]

Yes, me too. In the middle of a Pandemic with unemployment in the stratosphere. I bought some of those donuts recently. . They are very tasty indeed.

Quite a few birders I know have been lucky enough to still keep working, but with a lot of travel off the table at the moment it gets tempting to throw part of your disposable income at new optics. I know I was tempted and yielded.

 

[GrampaTom]

You must have very good eyes to be at a respected personal distance and determine if the glass on those viewers was a 10X42 or 8.5X42.
Eagle eye?

Ha! Got it. Nah. From 6' away its pretty easy to spot an EL 42. Confirming the 10, took some careful conversation, as birding was the subject of mutual interest, (I can walk and chew gum, though its taken years of practice...). The discovery of the 12x50, described elsewhere was a bit of sleuthing I was particularly proud of. I did say surreptitious - I was so proud to be able to use that word in a written sentence...

 

[Maljunulo]

Post 258, too late to edit.

It just occurred to me that if you ask the ladies "Are those 8.5s or 10s?" be sure they know that you are asking about their binoculars.

 

[tenex]

It blows my mind that $3,000 binoculars are selling like day-old donuts.

The theory that strikes me as plausible is that people who've been unable to do many things during the pandemic now have their savings to spend (potential buyers of alpha optics being unlikely to have suffered much economically). Of course, they seem to be taking their chances with dodgy quality just now. I do wonder why similar reports aren't also surfacing about other products like cameras and lenses.

 

[GrampaTom]

Of course, they seem to be taking their chances with dodgy quality just now

Curious, where's that impression coming from?

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

tenex, post 264,
The answer to your question is probably quite simple: people are convinced by the excellent handling and optical quality of the NP Pures or any other top quality binocular. Looking at the pictures of professionals in different nature programmes on TV many are spotted with NL Pures.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Hugh Wood]

At the same time, the 10x32 has an identical FOV to the 10x42. Which makes it the more attractive of the two x32 models, in my opinion.

Totally agree - I sold my 42 and bought the 32 - weight and bulk saving a bonus

 

[dalat]

people are convinced by the excellent handling and optical quality of the NP Pures or any other top quality binocular. Looking at the pictures of professionals in different nature programmes on TV many are spotted with NL Pures.
Gijs van Ginkel

Well, those people on TV are certainly outfitted by Swarovski. That proves that Swaro s marking is good, if anything...

 

[pm42]

Well, those people on TV are certainly outfitted by Swarovski. That proves that Swaro s marking is good, if anything...

Can you prove that or is this a binocular user's conspiracy theory?

 

[dalat]

Not much conspiracy but standard marketing practice... Not just TV personalities, but also for example bird tour guides are regularely outfitted by Swaro and other brands.

 

[Maljunulo]

Deleted ............. Posted in wrong thread.

 

[ZDHart]

Not much conspiracy but standard marketing practice... Not just TV personalities, but also for example bird tour guides are regularely outfitted by Swaro and other brands.

The smart marketing department will freely place their products into the hands of those who are "influencers". Happens all the time. Of course, the product needs to be a pretty competitive one for the influencers to use them for any lengthy period of time.

 

[pm42]

The smart marketing department will freely place their products into the hands of those who are "influencers". Happens all the time. Of course, the product needs to be a pretty competitive one for the influencers to use them for any lengthy period of time.

Sure but the question is to know if this is the reason why one see so many NL Pure? Saying so without proof and without taking into account the success of said binoculars and their qualities hardly seems fair.

 

[ZDHart]

Sure but the question is to know if this is the reason why one see so many NL Pure? Saying so without proof and without taking into account the success of said binoculars and their qualities hardly seems fair.

I quite agree... there is no data that most of us have access to, to prove anything with regard to the reason why any particular influencer has choosen any particular product.

For all we know, every pair of bins used by influencers may have been purchased with their own hard earned cash. Beyond that, I'd say if any influencer continues to use a particular product, ongoing, that they are likely quite happy with that product!

As for NLs, I had a pair of 10x32NLs for a couple of weeks and was very pleased with the optical performance, and the focuser worked fine. They are excellent quality bins, alpha... as you would expect for the price. It was the barrel size/shape and armor that were less pleasing, for my use. Certainly, I could get along with them just fine, but I preferred the barrel shape and armor "stiction" on the 10x32 SFs and the 10x32 UVHD+. The optical performance between the two was close enough to be a wash, in my view, so I went with the Zeiss and the Leica. All three are top shelf products, to be selected purely on one's own personal preferences.

If I were to guess, I say it's quite likely that many influencers are using products given to them by manufacturers. And, they continue to use those products simply because they like them.

 

[dalat]

My inital comment was because I was a bit amused by Gijs' apparent conclusion that NL's must be good because people in nature docus on TV have them. Of course I have no proof that all these TV-people are outfitted by Swaro's marketing department (not even knowing which people and TV shows Gijs refers to) but I think it's safe to say: cautious with such conclusions, there might be advertisement involved

Now don't get me wrong. Swaro has great products and the NL is certainly a great bin too. Zeiss, Leica and others have great products too. Where Swaro really stands out in my view is its marketing, and (again in my view), a good part of Swaros commercial success is due to its excellent marketing. This doesn't make their products any less good of course. But my humble advise would be to make your conclusions about whether a bin is good after comparing it with other products, rather than based on what people on TV are using....

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

dalat, post 275,
There must be some confusion, since I do not remember a statement that couple quality to appearance of certain brands on TV. Swarovski and Zeiss binoculars and occasionally Leica are seen on nature programs on our TV. Often around the neck of professional nature watchers and I know that some of these binoculars were presented to the "influencers" by Zeiss/Swarovski dealers in order to promote these binoculars. However I did not use that as a proof of quality, we only use our test data to formulate conclusions about quality. By the way I would not be surprised if a company like Kite sometimes als uses this approach to advertise their binoculars. Nothing wrong with it, it is probably cheaper than buying advertisement space either printed or on TV/ internet.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[lmans66]

I'm sure the view will be as wonderful as the x42. Disappointing that it's larger than the 7x42 UV though. Fingers crossed a new Noctovid will be more pocket size

Leica UV 7x42​	Leica UV 8x32​	Swaro NL 8x32​	​	Swaro NL 8x42​
141​	116​	144​	length​	158​
120​	116​	130​	width​	131​
68​	56​	65​	height​	71​
​	​	​	​	​
770​	535​	640​	weight​	840​

Don’t think a 8x32 Noctivid in the works. The next big step in Binos will be a shift into digital format of some sorts. As in cameras, there are now two camps… analog and digital. You don’t see too many new analog cameras with huge improvements for you can only improve upon them so much. The same with bins, until the digital ones come out, I think we have pretty much maxed out physics and tech and bins ‘as we know them now,’ Better for companies to use the RR$’s towards digital now.

 

[rpg51]

Don’t think a 8x32 Noctivid in the works. The next big step in Binos will be a shift into digital format of some sorts. As in cameras, there are now two camps… analog and digital. You don’t see too many new analog cameras with huge improvements for you can only improve upon them so much. The same with bins, until the digital ones come out, I think we have pretty much maxed out physics and tech and bins ‘as we know them now,’ Better for companies to use the RR$’s towards digital now.

I think this is right. I decided to get back into photography recently. I purchased a modern digital mirror-less camera with image stabilization in the camera and lenses. The tech is incredible. I can easily handhold a 500mm telephoto zoom lens with moderate shutter speeds. Amazing. Seems this is the direction our binos will go.

 

[Maljunulo]

I guess I'm just a hopeless troglodyte .......... the idea of a "digital binocular" gives me the shudders.

To each his own.

 

[tenex]

I guess I'm just a hopeless troglodyte .......... the idea of a "digital binocular" gives me the shudders.

I too fail to see the parallel here. A binocular has to provide an enjoyable natural view for extended periods of time; a camera is just a tool for producing images. It took many years to convince myself of that, but I finally ended up shooting mirrorless digital and am content with it despite the aesthetic sacrifice. A digital binocular would naturally have a camera built in also (silly not to!) and so would be just an unusually bulky digital camera with two eyepieces. I would never want one.