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Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 3268846" data-attributes="member: 665">There are MANY, MANY more than three complaints about Swaro focusers on BF. Heck, Uhu47 had four wonky focuser complaints from four different samples in one post, and that was just recently, if you go back in the archives, you'll find dozens upon dozens of wonky focuser complaints, or like Lee, you can cherry pick the sites that confirm what you want to hear. When I was keeping the count and the amount, I had over 40 posts bookmarked of owners/testers who complained about Swaro focusers in just nine months of that year before my computer crashed, and many of those were multiple instances, one an entire suitcase full used as demos at an optics event. Another three 8x32 ELs out of three. Pier and his two samples, another member who returned his for repairs, got it back improved but still too "wonky," and sold it to buy an FL. And the list goes on and on... but what they all had in common was that they felt the focusers on their Swaros weren't suitable for their needs, which more often than not, was birding. The complaints are chronic but seem to come in bursts, when the new SV EL was introduced, for example, or when there was a big sale on Swaros and many bought them, or when the new SLC-HD came out, or when new SV ELs models were introduced. Basically when new units got into buyers' hands. Then there were also reports just as Uhu47s about older Swaros that had the same issues. I don't know what percentage of those customers from that "major retailer" are birders, though knowing the name of that "major retailer" might give us a clue, but I do know that the majority of those who frequent these forums are birders, and that makes a difference. Peter recently wrote that a Swaro rep told him that Swaro focsuers were purposely designed to turn harder one way than the other for distance viewing (IOW, for hunters). That alone is something that many birders would not like, at least if it were pronounced. A little difference could be ignored even by me, such as the slight difference in tension with the 10x42 SLC-HD I tried, but a bigger difference or some other issue - gritty is a common one, stiff another, is not as likely to be ignored unless it gets better over time. But as we have seen including Lee's experience, and my experience with a 2001 EL, sometimes the focuser problems get worse with time rather than improve. So just telling someone that the stiffness or grittiness or rachetiness or whatever will work itself out in time, is misleading. It might or it might not, or it might even get worse. So either try another sample or be prepared to send your sample in for repairs, and then hope that you get it back fixed. Not all return fixed, at least to the owner's satisfaction. All this is well documented on these forums, which is why the persistence in denying Swaro focuser issues mystifies me, even stranger that it has become such a "hot button" issue that some members feel inhibited to report such issues on the forums. I think it comes back to Arthur's statement about some people too closely identifying with their binoculars, so a mark on their binoculars is seen as a mark on them. Poor Uhu47 was so afraid of being jumped on or told he was OCD that he even mentioned in his post that he was reluctant to share his complaints, and he was right, he got jumped on in the post right after his. Not exactly the free minded forums these should be, thanks to a few members whose acerbic replies to those complaints have inhibited a free exchange of ideas. I don't think that way. I'm a Nikon fan, but when I tried the EDG I and the focuser spun freely and then came loose and hit me between the eyes when I looked up at a bird in a tree, I didn't try to deny that there was a problem simply because it was a binocular made by my favorite brand, just the opposite, I pointed out the problem, quoted some reviewers who had pre-production samples with the same issue, and called on Nikon to fix the problem. I wanted to buy an 8x32 EDG I at the time since the price had come down substantially, but the reports of defective focusers and drifting diopters was a turn off. Now I'm kicking myself, because I didn't know about the Swaro litigation threat and that Nikon had already redesigned the EDG and fixed the focuser, and that those who bought the $999 8x32 EDG Is, who did have an issue with the focuser or diopter received a brand new EDG II. Swarovski is my second favorite brand, but they do not make focusers that consistently turn smoothly, that's from my own experience as well as others, so like with the EDG I, as a Swaro fan, rather than hide my head in the sand, I pointed that out. I never thought I would have to point it out again and again to counteract the denials, or that some members would be seeking out anecdotal evidence on OTHER sites so as to avoid the real life experiences right here under their nose!  All right, my last word on this since I don't have the time nor energy nor desire to pursue it further. If you want to know if a focuser is acceptable to birders, ask birders, not hunters or hunting supply shops or "big store" sales managers. The evidence is here in recent threads and in the BF archives, and the "body of evidence" keeps growing each time the subject is broached. Brock</blockquote>

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