Old Swaros or New Budget bino

[nastynick]

I have a 20 year old pair of 7x30 Swaro SLCs. I’ve been alright with them and I’m not going to argue about best brands or anything. No way I could affford new Swaros (I wish).

So the question is, how do 20 year old Swaros compare to brand new $500 binos?

 

[Steven C]

If you’re happy with a 7x30 Bino I would send them back to Swarovski for a tuneup. If you’re looking for something else like a 10x42 I can’t help you with suggestions. I’ve had my SLC 10x42’s for 17 years and only changed to the 12x50 EL’s to run on a tripod. It’s been so long since I last looked at other optics I’m no help. If you get them cleaned and gone through, I can’t imagine a new $500 pair being better.

 

[WestNE]

I bought a pair of pre-neu non-HD 10x 42's, had them refurbished at Swarovski, basically a full rebuild with 3 pages of parts. I still found the eye placement to be very finicky.

Not sure about $500 binos but I'm running Nikon Monarch HG's and find them much more forgiving and easy viewing.

Thanks,
Nick

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[Travis Bertrand]

I believe you are still ahead. You might want to send them in to go through though.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

I agree with the above. If the 7x works for you send them into Swarovski for a clean and check and they'll be good as new

 

[Jskaanland]

If you send them in, call before you send them in and ask what their lead times are. I think you'd be cutting it close if you hunt September archery seasons.

 

[Riles1050]

I think you are better of sending in the Swaro's if your budget is maxed at $500. If you can push it a few hundred dollars more into the $700-800 range I think you could find a glass that would be worth the upgrade.

 

[AGPank]

I had a refurbished pair of 7x30. SONA refurbished and gave a 2013 SN. Previous owner had it done, not sure what cost was.

Glass was excellent. You’d have to spend much more than $500 to improve upon it. But like mentioned before, call and get information first.

If rifle hunting out west I would want more power, but for archery I’m fine with 7 or 8x.


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[JP100]

Ive had plenty of clients with old Leicas and Swaro(and the odd old school Zeiss) and they all still hold their own.
Get em cleaned/serviced well and they will do another 20 years and still be good!

 

[JPHuntingAUS]

In broad daylight average binos are just as good as high end ones. It's the first and last minutes of the day when the real differences come into play. And for a spot and stalk hunter (at least in this part of the world) that's when you see the big boys.

Meopta and vortex are good, but they're no swaro or leica. I'd stick with what you have.

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[nastynick]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback. I have contacted Swaro and get them taken care of. I’ll just save the money for another Swaro bino or scope down the road.