Swarovski habicht 7x42 (1 Viewer)

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Forgive me for a personal observation. Why a rubber 8 x 30 Habicht.… why would you take a perfectly elegant, beautifully crafted fully waterproof binocular then add a bunch of weight and a whole bunch ugly to it. Why?

It makes it tougher and more durable for the hunters with the rubber armour and the one big advantage is the GA version has bigger diameter eye cups than the W version, so they don't sink into your eye sockets as bad causing black-outs. You can get the bigger diameter green eye cups for the GA from Swarovski and put them on the W version, but then you have green eye cups on a black binocular, which really doesn't look right. You have to remember the Habichts especially the GA version were designed to be a lightweight, bright very tough hunting binocular for the mountains in Austria. The Habichts with their tight focusers were really not designed for birding where you have to focus a lot. A hunter usually leaves the focus at infinity and glasses large areas looking for game, and they don't want the focus to change. The older model Habichts had a yellowish tint that might have improved contrast. The NL and EL are really Swarovski's top birding binoculars.

 

[henry link]

Forgive me for a personal observation. Why a rubber 8 x 30 Habicht.… why would you take a perfectly elegant, beautifully crafted fully waterproof binocular then add a bunch of weight and a whole bunch ugly to it. Why?

I guess there's no accounting for taste. I prefer the eyecup, handling and, believe it or not, even the looks of the rubber armored Habichts, but I much prefer the looks of old specimens of either version, before the brand bling was splashed across the front.

 

[Paultricounty]

I guess there's no accounting for taste. I prefer the eyecup, handling and, believe it or not, even the looks of the rubber armored Habichts, but I much prefer the looks of old specimens of either version, before the brand bling was splashed across the front.

I was being a bit facetious and opinionated. I think the are all beautiful. They look very elegant with the leather wrap and more military in the rubber armor. And the older ones from 20 years ago even look more elegant.
Thank you

 

[SWANNY999]

I bought a new Swarovski 7x42 in black back in August. My main bino is a NL 8x42. It is a big difference in Focus Smoothness and field of view. 😀
But! With the 7x42 you have not focus so much. 7 time magnification has much more sharpness in depth. And I find the focusser is not really stiff. In cold temperatures it is possible that it’s stiffer.
The field of view with 46 degrees is very small and Tunnel like special compared to the NL with 69 degrees.
The Habicht 7x42 is not a Wow Bino. It’s a compact bino with excellent handling and for size and weight it is extreme bright. The big 6mm ep is for such a small bino a luxurious feeling. The handling is excellent with this Porro design.
The transmission of 96% is the best you can get. And you will see it also compared to the new and very expansive NL. The color and contrast is the pinnacle for me! My main glass for watching is my NL 8x42. There are so much parameters who are outstanding with the NL. But for hiking when I need a compact and light bino (and I don’t like pocket binos because they have to little light and ep) the Habicht 7x42 is my best bino. I like it very much. With time your brain getting used to the small FOV, and I can switch between the NL and the Habicht with no problems. Yes, the Habicht has a tunnel view, but this is the only negative thing! When you can live with that buy it! I think you can. It’s not a wow Bino, use it more weeks, and you will see.
Sorry for my bad English. I‘am from Austria. Really near where the Habicht

 

[SWANNY999]

Hello. I currently use a pair of leica trinovid HD 10x42's that I bought as I hoped to be able to go birding without a scope. I kept finding I couldn't be bothered with the additional faff of having a tripod strapped to my back so it stayed at home more often than not so was looking for a bin with a bit of range, decent optics and durability.

I've since gone back to using a scope (swaro ctc 75 with a monopod, review to come) so am looking to change the leicas for something to compliment it, I only tend to have one set of bins at a time so am looking for an all rounder and don't need magnification as much any more as I always have the scope due to its portability.

I've previously used some old opticron 8x40 porros for about 15 years followed by some opticron srga 8x32's. The srga's I found to be an almost perfect set of bins if it weren't for the slightly less than great low light performance and lack of waterproofing.

I'm looking at selling the leicas and replacing them with some swarovski 7x42 habichts but have a couple of questions that I haven't seen answered elsewhere, I've had a good browse through reviews and posts as you'd expect! I have good vision and don't wear glasses.

Firstly, focusing, (I know the focus wheel is stiff to begin with). When using the leicas one of my biggest frustrations that sometimes makes me miss birds is the ammount of turning required to go from close focus to a usable distance, basically more then half of the focus wheels travel is taken up going from closest to about 7 meters out. How do the habicht do in this regard? I liked the very short ammount of focus wheel travel of the srga's, im not expecting anything quite like that and am aware the close focus if nowhere near as good as the leicas but would like to know if it takes a lot of turning to go from close focus to a usable range, say 15 meters?

Secondly field of view. I've not had too many issues with the leicas field of view of 113m, the swaros are 114m at admitadly 3x lower magnification but can't see that in itself being a problem. I'm assuming this is also mitigated by the larger exit pupil of the swarovski, the 3d view of porros helping find my way through a tree to a bird and the lower magnification aiding stability. The thing
I don't like is the tunnel vision effect you can get with some bins with a small field of view, cheap zoom binoculars are particularly terrible for this. Is this something that any 7x42 owners have experience or does the view fill the whole of the eye as such as the exit pupil dimensions would suggest?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Thank you

Will

Im actually selling my pair of swavorski 7x42 if your still looking

 

[William Lewis]

Im actually selling my pair of swavorski 7x42 if your still looking

I got hold of a pair a few months back now but thank you.

 

[Rg548]

I got hold of a pair a few months back now but thank you.

Hi, are you still pleased with these Habichts. What's your opinion now you've owned them for a while.
Thanks.

 

[William Lewis]

Hi, are you still pleased with these Habichts. What's your opinion now you've owned them for a while.
Thanks.

Hi Rg548

Yes I'm still very happy with them.

Optically as good as it gets within the small field of view. Its nice not to have to move the focus wheel at all once somethings more than 50 meters away as well which is a bit of an added bonus I'm still getting used to!

 

[Loud Green Man]

Optically as good as it gets within the small field of view.

A nice honest assessment.

LGM

 

[Quak]

A little late but I also have the Habichts and while yes the focus wheel is pretty stiff...its important to note that you won't be using it nearly as much as you do with a roof prism. Very nice glasses...second best ive ever looked through and absolute keepers.

 

[Rg548]

A little late but I also have the Habichts and while yes the focus wheel is pretty stiff...its important to note that you won't be using it nearly as much as you do with a roof prism. Very nice glasses...second best ive ever looked through and absolute keepers.

What was the best ones then..........

 

[Quak]

I like my Nikon Eii slightly more but it’s just personal preference. Both are top shelf and beautifully made.

 

[Swedpat]

An hour ago I came home after a while comparison between Conquest HD 8x42 and NL Pure 8x42. I looked at houses, streetlights and the stars. Both are great binoculars. Conquest HD are stated to have 90% light transmission and NL Pure 91%. Such a tiny difference should not be detecteable for the eye. But it is. It may be mainly because the cooler and more contrasty image of NL Pure?
The wider FOV is a pleasure. NL Pure is really a killer glass with the wide brilliant flat field.
I compared them on parts in shadows. And NL Pure has an edge there. But there are some situations when the wider field of NL makes light sources get into the view while not with Conquest. Resulting in worsening the ability to see details in the shadowed parts. And about this I have wrote earlier: a smaller FOV can be an advantage when you want to see details in dim places surrounded by for example streetlights.

Here Habicht 7x42 comes to my mind. Despite lower power it has even narrower TFOV than Conquest HD 8x42. Add to that 6mm exit pupil and 96% light transmission. I am SO curious about how Habicht 7x42 had performed in comparison!

 

[Paultricounty]

An hour ago I came home after a while comparison between Conquest HD 8x42 and NL Pure 8x42. I looked at houses, streetlights and the stars. Both are great binoculars. Conquest HD are stated to have 90% light transmission and NL Pure 91%. Such a tiny difference should not be detecteable for the eye. But it is. It may be mainly because the cooler and more contrasty image of NL Pure?
The wider FOV is a pleasure. NL Pure is really a killer glass with the wide brilliant flat field.
I compared them on parts in shadows. And NL Pure has an edge there. But there are some situations when the wider field of NL makes light sources get into the view while not with Conquest. Resulting in worsening the ability to see details in the shadowed parts. And about this I have wrote earlier: a smaller FOV can be an advantage when you want to see details in dim places surrounded by for example streetlights.

Here Habicht 7x42 comes to my mind. Despite lower power it has even narrower AFOV than Conquest HD 8x42. Add to that 6mm exit pupil and 96% light transmission. I am SO curious about how Habicht 7x42 had performed in comparison!

NL on another level than Conquest, better , newer glass and coatings. Should be brighter and sharper than the Zeiss. Swarovski kind of known for a little more glare in some situations (never really effected my viewing much) than others. The 742 Habicht’s are my my best nighttime binoculars, superior to almost anything out there. Maybe 856 SLC or some of the zeisss 54/56 binos could be better but my exit pupils don’t open that wide anymore anyway.

Paul.

 

[Swedpat]

Paul,

The only thing making me hesitate is the short eye relief. Many years ago I decided to only have have eyeglass friendly binoculars. Habicht 7x42 would become an exception. But maybe it's worth it?...

By the way, I wrote:
"Despite lower power it has even narrower AFOV".
Of course I meant TFOV. I edited it.

 

[Paultricounty]

Paul,

The only thing making me hesitate is the short eye relief. Many years ago I decided to only have have eyeglass friendly binoculars. Habicht 7x42 would become an exception. But maybe it's worth it?...

By the way, I wrote:
"Despite lower power it has even narrower AFOV".
Of course I meant TFOV. I edited it.

Absolutely no doubt, all the Habicht’s have short eye relief and not really suitable for eye glass wearers. It’s not a bad idea to only buy binoculars with good aye releif , certainly easier to sell. These Habicht’s are kind of a specialty optic (imo). They are not the best all around optical tool, that’s for sure. Very tight focuser , short eye relief , small sweet spot and not the best edge correction to say the least, and the 7x is a horrendously small FOV. Other than that there fabulous 😏.

I find the Habicht’s with all those issues to be a marvelous optical device and a throwback in design that’s unique and enjoyable. And given the center on axis image quality is second to none, as sharp if not sharper than all binos and as bright as they get. Only reasons I would ever sell or give them away would be if I need glasses at some time in the future , or needed the money to buy the SFLs, 😛 (Never).

Paul

 

[Binocollector]

Sorry for reviving this older thread but I came across a Habicht 7x42 on German ebay. According to the writing on the prism plate it should be made between '90 and '94 with the "Swarowski Optik" on the left side and "Habicht" on the right side. It seems to be in decent shape -- some signs of wear on the prism plates where the paint comes off. Seller has +1,000 positive feedback.
Asking price is 500€. Does that seem like too much? I am constantly looking for older optics on ebay -- just missed a deal today on an NVA 7x40 EDF because I was too slow. So I thought, "why not go for the Habicht?" Since I was looking for something in the 7x40 or 7x42 format. But if somebody says, "no, price is way too high", I'll probably keep hunting for another ebay-bino.

 

[Paultricounty]

Sorry for reviving this older thread but I came across a Habicht 7x42 on German ebay. According to the writing on the prism plate it should be made between '90 and '94 with the "Swarowski Optik" on the left side and "Habicht" on the right side. It seems to be in decent shape -- some signs of wear on the prism plates where the paint comes off. Seller has +1,000 positive feedback.
Asking price is 500€. Does that seem like too much? I am constantly looking for older optics on ebay -- just missed a deal today on an NVA 7x40 EDF because I was too slow. So I thought, "why not go for the Habicht?" Since I was looking for something in the 7x40 or 7x42 format. But if somebody says, "no, price is way too high", I'll probably keep hunting for another ebay-bino.

Hi Phillp,

The only thing I can ad is that Swaro constantly improves the glass forming and coatings. To know if this is a good deal we need to know a few things, 1. Do the 90-94's have the water proof upgrade, not sure when that started. 2. Some of the older ones because of the older coatings have a very yellow image. Maybe someone here will chime in. John Robersts seems to be the man of the hour when it comes to details and data.

Paul

 

[kimmik]

Brand new latest version is only twice that in germany physical store… 500 sounds a bit much.

 

[Binocollector]

Thanks guys, appreciate it! It seems a bit much to me, too.
It is the waterproof version but I am not sure about the coatings used at that time and if they already reach the high light transmission of the later models.