Whatever Happened To Swaro's Latest Bin? (1 Viewer)

[blizdas]

Ben, the FOV specs on EO website don't seem to be right. Swarovski EL website has them as 399ft and 336ft @1000 yards.

Ning

Ning,

Right you are. We had the pages ready to go live long before we got the specs from Swarovski. We initially used specs we found at various European sites that already had them up. I suspect something went wrong with the metric/yards conversion on our end. Thanks for the heads up :t: Should be fixed by the time you read this.

Ben

 

[Sancho]

you can buy from US retailer and have them ship to UK.

We get hit for import duties, though. I recently bought something from the US (can´t remember what, an eyepiece or something) for about 80 dollars, and a few weeks later got a letter from Irish customs looking for 35 euro. I reckon it would be even more expensive to import from the US, and at EL-neu euro-prices, I´ve finally found out at what pricing-point my own personal demand curve fizzles out.

 

[spacepilot]

Ning,

Right you are. We had the pages ready to go live long before we got the specs from Swarovski. We initially used specs we found at various European sites that already had them up. I suspect something went wrong with the metric/yards conversion on our end. Thanks for the heads up :t: Should be fixed by the time you read this.

Ben

Hehe, you got me exited. 387ft for a 10x and 436ft for a 8.5x would've been so sweet! I was all ready to go out and look for a second job so I can get one of those babies.

 

[falcondude]

You bet your sweet bippy it is a lot of monies! Considering you can get this true 4 inch APO telescope with all the listed accessories for about the same price!

https://www.highpointscientific.com/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=2574

But of course, with this binocular you are dealing with 2 tubes rather than one! I don't know if it required twice as much thinking to manufacture, but at the price quoted it might require thinking twice before buying! :eek!:

Bob

no kidding.

 

[Mac308]

I think most of these specs may already be out there on some of the European websites, but nonetheless, anyone interested in checking out the details on F.O.V., eye relief, etc..we've got it up on our website now:

http://www.eagleoptics.com/?query=swarovision

I've had them in my hands a few times but not really in a situation where I was able to do a comparative analysis with the competition. My initial impression was very favorable however, which it should be considering the price point we're talking about.

Ben

Ben Lizdas
Eagle Optics
www.eagleoptics.com

Ben, here's the specs I've copied from another site... NOTICE the focus is ONE TURN from infinity to ten feet! If true, that's VERY fast and a deal killer for me... too bad.

The New Swarovski EL SWAROVISION

FEATURES:
• SWAROVISION is the integration of 3 key features into one:
− Field Flattener Lenses: Allows for a razor sharp focus of an image to the extreme edges of the field of view. A completely distortion free view! Field Flattener Lenses are part of SWAROVSKI OPTIK’S SWAROVISION technology. These lenses eliminate all loss of sharpness and distortion at the edges of the binoculars field of view. Everything in the EL SWAROVISION binocular’s field of view will be razor sharp with no distortion to the extreme edges of the field of view.
− HD glass: Fluoride containing HD glass allows for the truest possible color to reach the eye. This feature enhances contrast and resolution as well as virtually eliminating color fringing.
− Long Eye Relief: The eye relief of the EL SWAROVISION is now 20 mm. This allows for eyeglass wearers to easily see the full field of view. The eyecups now have 3 position settings for maximum comfort for the user.

• SWAROTOP anti-reflective coatings, SWARODUR scratch resistant coatings, SWAROBRIGHT mirror prism coating, have all been enhanced to improve brightness and color reproduction, especially at dusk.

• SWAROCLEAN coatings are applied in a special process and affect the surface energy of the external objectives and ocular lenses so dirt, water marks, tree resin, etc. can be removed effortlessly.

• Wider Field of View on EL SWAROVISION:
− EL SWAROVISION 8.5x42: 399 ft @ 1000 yards
− EL SWAROVISION 10x42 EL: 336 ft @ 1000 yards

• The close focus to 4.9 feet

• Redesigned, smooth and tolerance free focus mechanism – 1 turn to go from infinity to 10 ft. Another full turn to go from 10 ft. to 4.9 ft. This new focusing mechanism allows a correction of vision of at least 6 diopters, in order to compensate for near or far sightedness.

• New larger ocular lenses improves resolution

• Improved objective cover design

• Rubber armoring on the inside portion of each barrel to enhance grip

• Rugged Magnesium Housing

 

[henry link]

Ben, here's the specs I've copied from another site... NOTICE the focus is ONE TURN from infinity to ten feet! If true, that's VERY fast and a deal killer for me... too bad.

I'm not trying to talk you in to anything, but that's not particularly fast for 10' to infinity. Try a few others over the same change in distance. The Nikon 8x32 SE, for instance, a binocular I don't recall anyone accusing of being too fast uses almost exactly the same one turn from 10' to infinity.

The price appears to be essentially the same as the Zeiss and Leica competition. Among the so called "alphas" only the Nikon EDG is significantly cheaper.

 

[Mac308]

I'm not trying to talk you in to anything, but that's not particularly fast for 10' to infinity. Try a few others over the same change in distance. The Nikon 8x32 SE, for instance, a binocular I don't recall anyone accusing of being too fast uses almost exactly the same one turn from 10' to infinity.

The price appears to be essentially the same as the Zeiss and Leica competition. Among the so called "alphas" only the Nikon EDG is significantly cheaper.

Funny, the Nikon is known as "fast." My Zeiss FL 8x32 had the same 1-turn close-focus to infinity... it's far too fast and I got rid of it.

 

[henry link]

"1-turn close-focus to infinity" is not the same thing as 10' to infinity. The close focus on the Zeiss 8x32 is 2m. It probably takes about 1/4-1/3 turn just to go from 2m to 3m, so 10' to infinity is probably more like 2/3-3/4 turn. I think most birders will find the Swarovski focus speed unexceptional.

 

[Mac308]

"1-turn close-focus to infinity" is not the same thing as 10' to infinity. The close focus on the Zeiss 8x32 is 2m. It probably takes about 1/4-1/3 turn just to go from 2m to 3m, so 10' to infinity is probably more like 2/3-3/4 turn. I think most birders will find the Swarovski focus speed unexceptional.

Most bins don't focus much closer than 10' and one-turn from that point to infinity is likely fast.

BUT I may absolutely be wrong and I HOPE you're right!!!!

 

[Mac308]

And if the new Swaro were made in 7x32 I could very well be tempted even at $2400!

 

[FrankD]

Truthfully that price is less than I expected. Initial estimates were over $3000 IIRC. $2300 isn't unreasonable considering previous EL pricing and the current pricing of the FL and Ultravid HD.

 

[Mac308]

Yeah, but the current EL, FL and HD pricing is ridiculous... I fear we're like the frog in the water in that we're acclimating to obscene European pricing...

 

[Pileatus]

Spending $2000+ for a state-of-the-art optic is a bargain, assuming you actually go outside and use it. An 18-hole round of golf at a local course runs $20 (senior rate, cart included). Play one round per week for five years and you'll spend $5200. Golfing is enjoyable; birding is enjoyable. Birding is much less expensive! Of course, if you all you observe is a chart and your navel, spending $2500 on a binocular sounds pretty stupid.

John

 

[Mac308]

John, I actually agree with you in that binocularas are one of my favorite material possessions. In our house they get used hard. However, you golf analogy falls down for me as I'm of the view golf is something that ruins a perfectly good walk

My comment is more directed at the very steep climb of Euro bin prices in the last four years...

 

[FrankD]

Yeah, but the current EL, FL and HD pricing is ridiculous... I fear we're like the frog in the water in that we're acclimating to obscene European pricing...

True, if you actually pay full retail for these products. You can easily find the current EL and FL though (not to mention the Nikon EDG and possibly even the Ultravid HD) for significantly less if you are happy with "demos", "open boxes", "non-Lotutec", etc....

A quick peek over at CLNY or EO would illustrate this point.

 

[Kammerdiner]

Yeah, it definitely pays to stay on top of things. Or I should say it definitely pays to have FrankD around! A couple weeks ago I got an 8x32 FL with Lotutec for $1050, and that's $850 off the going post-rebate price. It was a "demo," and I had to clean one fingerprint off the ocular. One fingerprint. Other than that it was absolutely untouched as far as I could tell. An $850 fingerprint--I can live with that.

Thanks FrankD!

 

[FrankD]

You are welcome.

There are so many good deals out there. You just need to know who to ask and where to look. Doug always has some great deals. He sponsors 24hourcampfire so he lists all of the "recent shipments" on that forum. Eagle Optics has some excellent open-box/demo deals right now as well. I saw an 8x42 EDG over there earlier today for around $1200!

 

[Mac308]

I bought a Lutotec Zeiss 8x32 FL from CLNY for $800... it was a demo and was absolutely perfect condition-wise. However, I didn't like the bin at all so sold it on ebay for $1100...

 

[Mac308]

"1-turn close-focus to infinity" is not the same thing as 10' to infinity. The close focus on the Zeiss 8x32 is 2m. It probably takes about 1/4-1/3 turn just to go from 2m to 3m, so 10' to infinity is probably more like 2/3-3/4 turn. I think most birders will find the Swarovski focus speed unexceptional.

Henry, I did a little experiment with my 8x32 Ultravids last night... I held a tape measure out to 10' and focused on its end (held the tape at an angle in my hands which were holding the bins). Noted the position of the focus wheel then re-focused to infinity... you are absolutely right! The amount of rotation is right at 3/4 of a turn...

 

[henry link]

I'm not surprised. Those last few feet of close focus require a lot of focuser turning.