why were the habicht 8x30 GA discontinued? (2 Viewers)

[PatR]

I am happy as a 🐷 in 💩

What a gorgeous pair of bino's!
I am not in the least bit envious.........................oh alright, a teensy weensy bit.

 

[Bako]

I recently purchased a GA 7x42 central focus and it arrived as a 2022 model. Though it wasn't I.F. like yours, I was surprised that this dealer sourced model was 2 years of old stock. It performs and looks like brand new and has a lifetime warranty, so I have no complaints. I would be very saddened to hear if Swaro "modernized" the armor of >2024 GA models.

The rubber on the Habicht GA is perhaps half of what drew me to buying it. Its so tactile and grippy, aside from just being cool looking. It could be that the smaller bodied 8x30 binocular makes the rubber thickness seem more substantial. The ratio of rubber to metal is different than the larger 10x40W GA or 7x42 GA.

The clear views of modern Habicht porros are really special. I have this 7x42 to compliment my 7x42 Leica UVHD. I would absolutely consider a modern GA 8x30 CF if any ever got produced.

I didn't mean the rubber armor, that looks fine, but for example the metal parts seem to be made of a different material, and the metal finish is rough compared to the 2012 model. Maybe it's just my feeling, I don't know, because production in 2024 will probably be different than in 2012. For example, the eyecup - diopter adjustment is much easier than in the 2012 model.

 

[Ignatius]

Slightly OT, but can anyone show where in the optical train the reticle gets placed, preferably on a cutaway of an 8x30 Habicht?

 

[henry link]

The reticle needs to be placed as close as possible to the eyepiece fieldstop, which you see in the cutaway below as a knife edged baffle about midway between the eyepiece lenses and the prism back. If you observe the fieldstop edge in the 8x30 as you focus you'll notice that it only becomes really sharp when the focus is set for distant objects. That plane of focus is where the reticle needs to be positioned so that it's easily readable when a distant target is in focus.

 

[jan van daalen]

Sorry folks, but I just got words from Swaro that there is currently no stock.

Jan

 

[Maljunulo]

That’s not a good sign.

I’m glad I got my “naked” one when I did.

 

[Dennis Mau]

I recently purchased a GA 7x42 central focus and it arrived as a 2022 model. Though it wasn't I.F. like yours, I was surprised that this dealer sourced model was 2 years of old stock. It performs and looks like brand new and has a lifetime warranty, so I have no complaints. I would be very saddened to hear if Swaro "modernized" the armor of >2024 GA models.

The rubber on the Habicht GA is perhaps half of what drew me to buying it. Its so tactile and grippy, aside from just being cool looking. It could be that the smaller bodied 8x30 binocular makes the rubber thickness seem more substantial. The ratio of rubber to metal is different than the larger 10x40W GA or 7x42 GA.

The clear views of modern Habicht porros are really special. I have this 7x42 to compliment my 7x42 Leica UVHD. I would absolutely consider a modern GA 8x30 CF if any ever got produced.

How do you like your Habicht 7x42 compared to your UVHD 7x42? The only trouble with the Habicht 8x30's is the glare. The Habicht 7x42 doesn't have ANY glare. It is quite amazing.

 

[William Lewis]

I didn't mean the rubber armor, that looks fine, but for example the metal parts seem to be made of a different material, and the metal finish is rough compared to the 2012 model. Maybe it's just my feeling, I don't know, because production in 2024 will probably be different than in 2012. For example, the eyecup - diopter adjustment is much easier than in the 2012 model.

This well thought of reviewer certainly wasn't happy with the build quality of a recent habicht - a translation option should pop up. - Обзор биноклей Swarovski Habicht 8x30w и Nikon E2 8x30 - astro-talks

 

[henry link]

Hi William,

That does look like something worth reading, but I'm not finding a translation option. What does it look like?

Henry

 

[Ignatius]

Hi William,

That does look like something worth reading, but I'm not finding a translation option. What does it look like?

Henry

Try this ...

or ... how does one attach a pdf here? Because I have made myself a pdf and corrected the translation somewhat.

 

[William Lewis]

Hi William,

That does look like something worth reading, but I'm not finding a translation option. What does it look like?

Henry

I use the chrome browser which has a pop up option, Denitski seems to have rattled out a decent translation though. The mans abilities have no limits!

 

[recon493]

How do you like your Habicht 7x42 compared to your UVHD 7x42? The only trouble with the Habicht 8x30's is the glare. The Habicht 7x42 doesn't have ANY glare. It is quite amazing.

Not to go off topic too far here, but I'll say that the 7x42 Habicht has a more transparent and clear view than my UV. I do not consider the central sharpness of my modern Habicht to be much sharper than the UV. I can start imagining or convincing myself but in the end, I find them both outstanding. I do find the overall view of the UV to be more calming or complete. The Habicht are "closed in" by comparison; but, there are times that the neutrality and clear white brightness of that Habicht's image circle makes the ported type view worth it in spades.

As to quality (referenced above regarding older year models being more robust perhaps) I have compared several 2022 Habicht to a 2017 and to a 1996. All of them, without fail, just put a smile on my face when I bent the bridge, twisted the eyecup diopter adjustment, the focus wheel or the quality of the armor. The build quality was 50% of the reason why I wanted one. The bridge will feel like it is stuck at first but once it starts moving its like its hydraulic.

The Habicht, though contrary to current day consumer demand, are treasures to behold.

The absolute money would be the Zeiss Dialyt's being rebooted with modern coatings. Their AK prisms afforded views closer to the Habicht's 3D with more FOV than the UV's.

 

[henry link]

... Denitski seems to have rattled out a decent translation...

Thanks Ignatius and William. I finally used the "Show ignored content" feature to see "Denitski"s translation.

Absolutely excellent work from "traveler in time". I wish we had better access to his reviews. Unfortunately, he doesn't cover what I consider the three most important optical characteristics of binoculars: axial resolution, axial aberrations and light transmission, but I can't quibble with the understanding and useful detail he brings to what he does cover. I'd be very interested to know what methods he uses to measure objective lens focal length (without removing the lens) as well as clear aperture, true magnification and true apparent field widths.

I was happy to see that his infinity measurement of the Habicht's true magnification (7.7x) is in good agreement with both Gijs and my measurements (7.8x) and his AFOV measurement (59.3º) is essentially identical to what I found. Before reading this I hadn't considered measuring the close focus clear aperture of binoculars of this design, but it's clearly warranted.

Thanks for acquainting me with his work.

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Henry, post 8,
I got one of the custom made CF 8x30 Habichts. Works well.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[henry link]

Maybe the last one of the breed. Enjoy!

Henry

 

[master5]

Tell me please, is the central focusing wheel on the 8x30GA as hard to turn as on the regular habicht 8x30? Thanks!

 

[Ignatius]

Tell me please, is the central focusing wheel on the 8x30GA as hard to turn as on the regular habicht 8x30? Thanks!

Of course it is, unless the binocular is faulty.
And btw: it is not the focussing wheel itself that is 'hard' to turn. The Habichts are waterproof, something no other porro bino is. This is achieved with o-rings which form a seal between the ocular tubes and the eyepieces. When the focussing wheel is turned to move the two-armed assembly holding the eyepieces up and down to achieve focussing, the tightnerss of those o-rings and their friction cause the mechanism to move stiffly. This tightness is a requirement for the Habichts' guaranteed waterproofness. If it were not for those seals, the focusser would be as easy to turn as it is on cheap, non-waterproof porros.

 

[master5]

Of course it is, unless the binocular is faulty.
And btw: it is not the focussing wheel itself that is 'hard' to turn. The Habichts are waterproof, something no other porro bino is. This is achieved with o-rings which form a seal between the ocular tubes and the eyepieces. When the focussing wheel is turned to move the two-armed assembly holding the eyepieces up and down to achieve focussing, the tightnerss of those o-rings and their friction cause the mechanism to move stiffly. This tightness is a requirement for the Habichts' guaranteed waterproofness. If it were not for those seals, the focusser would be as easy to turn as it is on cheap, non-waterproof porros.

Thanks!