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Happy owner of some new swaro's


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Well, after relying on an old pair of porro’s from my father for long enough I decided to bite the bullet and on my trip to the US on business this week managed to source a brand new pair of Swarovski EL 8.5x42 SV bins off ebay at a discount of more than 33% off the UK list price.  And the price even included free Fedex delivery so they arrived at my hotel with two days to spare before I checked out!  Happy to report that what was delivered was indeed what was promised in the listing (i.e. brand new, in the box)!  I gave them a go in failing Houston light yesterday evening and was mighty impressed by the sheer clarity of the image – just felt like I could reach out and touch things!  I’ve not had a chance to check out the night sky yet but looking forward to that in due course.  Also happy to report that whatever rolling ball effect there may be in them, I didn’t see it at all in this pair, nor any of the others that I’ve tried over the past few months.

It was a real toss-up between these and a pair of image stabilised Canon 10x42 IS WPs.  I compared them both at WEX a week ago, albeit indoors, and the quality of the Canon’ without the IS turned on really surprised me.  Very clear indeed and I couldn’t discern any CA (unlike others in the range).  And of course, when the IS was turned on …. well, as everyone always says … WOW!

In the end what made me decide was the crystal clear Swaroviski images (albeit a bit shaky but I’ll see what I can do in terms of holding/bracing technique to minimise that) versus the very slight continuous in-focus/out-of-focus changes in image caused by the Canon IS system.  Don’t get me wrong, they are truly amazing bins and it was a knife edge decision, but when I compared warranty, weight, ergonomics, etc, the Swaros were the winner for me.  Of course, if I win the lottery or otherwise come into money, I'll be sure to pick up the Canon's also when I'm next Stateside!

I’ve included some unboxing pics if anyone is interested.  I struggled to figure out how to attach the neck strap but finally got it all worked out and as they didn't fall to the ground, it looks like I managed to affix it correctly!

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Not cheap, no, but I paid £565 less than what Wex (and to be fair, most others) are selling them for in the UK!  Still painful to part with the cash, but I console myself that it's an investment and should they ever be sold, the secondhand price should offset the initial purchase cost by some way.  Well ... that's what I'm telling myself!

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Oh, I am so envious. :grin: I have used those before, and wish I hadn't, because they made my very good (compared to most stuff) Opticron BGA, with which I was perfectly happy until then, seem distinctly mediocre. As others have said, you just can't beat good glass. Happy for you!

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Looks great. I had the privilege of having a look through Olly's 8x42 Leicas, and they were superb. I was worried i would no longer like my Helios 15x70s, but that fear was unfounded (I just want both types :D). I think the extra light grasp of the 70mm allowed me to see so many more stars that this more-or-less compensated for the sheer optical quality of the Leica.

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So ..... I might have a bit of a problem here.

Last night I took my new Swaro's out under the stars for the first time and treated myself to fantastic, pin sharp, crystal clear views.  All great stuff, but I experienced the dreaded rolling ball.  The same thing happened tonight as well, and both times is was quite pronounced to my eyes.

Now ... I read all about rolling ball before my purchase and looked and looked for it on a number of examples of 8.5x42's looking around showrooms and also looking into streets and even fields, and I didn't detect anything ... and that was me looking HARD for it, looking for an excuse not to spend the money.  And I didn't find it.  At all.

This morning, I didn't notice it looking around the garden either, just when panning acorss star fields at night.

Any thoughts on this, has anyone else experienced the same thing?

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So I tried my new Swaros again last night and tonight and it's the same thing again. Aaaaarrrrggggh!  My wife is fine with them, so I guess it's my [removed word]-eyed eyes.  They're too expensive to just use soley for off-chance day time viewing so I'm going to have to put them up for sale.  I'm so annoyed.  They say pride comes before a fall - I guess I shouldn't have posted how chuffed I was with them until I'd checked them under the stars with my eyes.  They'll be on ABS in due course if anyone's interested.  Gutted.

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Sorry to hear your going to have to part company with your Swaro's ... One of my mates can't cope with it either so we spent many hours going through all the various bins at the Birdfair a few weeks ago before he settled on the a pair of Zeiss Conquests... Of course you can only check them in daylight  but they setup various test charts in font of the optics "tent"  as well as the wildlife that's around on Rutland water...

Peter...

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Thanks for the commiserations. 

Re rolling ball, most designers deliberately introduce an element of pincushion effect into binocular design to eliminate rolling ball.  But the Swaros have a flattener and do not have pin cushion.  Most/nearly all folk are not affected, just some unlucky sods!

Further reading here if you're interested ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_effect

Or if you like formulae and fuller explanation ... http://www.holgermerlitz.de/globe/distortion.html

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I have the same binoculars and can see the rolling ball effect but I was aware of this before I bought them (and I paid the full list price). I compared them to top of the range Leica, Zeiss and Nikon's all of which were excellent but the Swarovski's sharpness right to the edge of the field just blew them all away, I hadn't intended to buy them but after 5 seconds of viewing nothing else would do.

Mel

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