tenex
reality-based
Well, I finally got to try the 8x42 NL today, which was rather curious because I don't normally like 8x bins, or 42mm bins, but that's what NL is for now and this was the model (briefly) in stock. Others have reported on it in great detail in various circumstances; I can only give first impressions from a short time outside the store on a sunny morning, looking across a parking lot that didn't even provide a raven, with mountains, trees, buildings with signs, power lines etc in the background.
Swaro doesn't tout the "concept" of balance to the degree Zeiss does, but the NL has it in spades. It feels great in the hand, not just normal sized (which it is) but lighter and even smaller, so I immediately forgot that there's supposed to be a 32mm version out soon. I twisted the eyecups all the way out, adjusted the IPD (with more care than usual, after discussions of this here), and just enjoyed that big 5.25mm pupil without ever having problems with eye positioning, blackouts, etc. No trick to it at all. I'd prefer a dial to a lever diopter but it worked fine, stubby and firm enough that I saw no danger of accidental disturbance. The 8x model at least holds so easily even in one hand that I didn't need or try the headrest. This sample had no noticeable flaw like seams in the armor. (I ignored the FieldPro features that I dislike or would remove.)
The view was brilliant, just lovely rather than mind-blowing, until I remembered what other 8x bins look like; then it started to blow my mind. FOV makes all the difference. 477ft (159m) sounds almost absurd, but the apparent field claimed is only 69°, which Swaro must have measured since it falls in between the ISO formula and simple approximation. That's just about what I'd want (and 10x models often come closer to), not somehow "too much" but very natural, just right. I actually had to put the NL down and look again to appreciate how much it was taking in at once. The balance of distortions is fairly ideal; straight lines stay reasonably straight, with just a bit of AMD to be found at the edges... altogether so natural, even in panning, that I kept forgetting to think about it, which is starting to feel like the theme here. The field seems uniformly sharp[*] from center to edge, to a degree I don't normally demand and might not insist upon here, but this approach doesn't detract from my viewing experience in any way, as in some other bins. I meant to study this further but again somehow forgot and just enjoyed the rather unspectacular view, which means the NL does what it does really well. I had no chance to study glare systematically but the NL handled the high contrast of sun, shadows, snow, and bright shiny metal with elegance.
I usually want something smaller or larger than 42mm, but the NL is somehow just right, at least in 8x. Which I hardly need at all, but it's very interesting after so many years to finally see one that even I could like. And it wouldn't be competing directly with the 10-15x bins I already have and am fond of. The NL offers something genuinely new[**] to me for the first time, shows what an 8x bin really should be, and perhaps I could find some use for it after all. Forest birding, bats at dusk... hmm... (any further goading strongly discouraged)
[* - If I find a suitably detailed target I can see the slight loss of sharpness noted in Roger Vine's review and photo in a band just before the field edge, but wouldn't find this noticeable in normal use.]
[** - OK, so the Zeiss SF came out five years ago, but the NL's FOV beats it so handily in so much smaller a package that I don't feel obliged to go into what else I dislike about it.]
Swaro doesn't tout the "concept" of balance to the degree Zeiss does, but the NL has it in spades. It feels great in the hand, not just normal sized (which it is) but lighter and even smaller, so I immediately forgot that there's supposed to be a 32mm version out soon. I twisted the eyecups all the way out, adjusted the IPD (with more care than usual, after discussions of this here), and just enjoyed that big 5.25mm pupil without ever having problems with eye positioning, blackouts, etc. No trick to it at all. I'd prefer a dial to a lever diopter but it worked fine, stubby and firm enough that I saw no danger of accidental disturbance. The 8x model at least holds so easily even in one hand that I didn't need or try the headrest. This sample had no noticeable flaw like seams in the armor. (I ignored the FieldPro features that I dislike or would remove.)
The view was brilliant, just lovely rather than mind-blowing, until I remembered what other 8x bins look like; then it started to blow my mind. FOV makes all the difference. 477ft (159m) sounds almost absurd, but the apparent field claimed is only 69°, which Swaro must have measured since it falls in between the ISO formula and simple approximation. That's just about what I'd want (and 10x models often come closer to), not somehow "too much" but very natural, just right. I actually had to put the NL down and look again to appreciate how much it was taking in at once. The balance of distortions is fairly ideal; straight lines stay reasonably straight, with just a bit of AMD to be found at the edges... altogether so natural, even in panning, that I kept forgetting to think about it, which is starting to feel like the theme here. The field seems uniformly sharp[*] from center to edge, to a degree I don't normally demand and might not insist upon here, but this approach doesn't detract from my viewing experience in any way, as in some other bins. I meant to study this further but again somehow forgot and just enjoyed the rather unspectacular view, which means the NL does what it does really well. I had no chance to study glare systematically but the NL handled the high contrast of sun, shadows, snow, and bright shiny metal with elegance.
I usually want something smaller or larger than 42mm, but the NL is somehow just right, at least in 8x. Which I hardly need at all, but it's very interesting after so many years to finally see one that even I could like. And it wouldn't be competing directly with the 10-15x bins I already have and am fond of. The NL offers something genuinely new[**] to me for the first time, shows what an 8x bin really should be, and perhaps I could find some use for it after all. Forest birding, bats at dusk... hmm... (any further goading strongly discouraged)
[* - If I find a suitably detailed target I can see the slight loss of sharpness noted in Roger Vine's review and photo in a band just before the field edge, but wouldn't find this noticeable in normal use.]
[** - OK, so the Zeiss SF came out five years ago, but the NL's FOV beats it so handily in so much smaller a package that I don't feel obliged to go into what else I dislike about it.]
Last edited:
