Swaro vs everything else Convince me

[desertdog15]

Convince me not to buy swaro. It’s widely regarded that the NL pure is the best binocular but also the most expensive. The EL was widely considered the best binocular before the NL pure even with the Noctivid and the Victory SF on the market. I can see people not going for the NL pure based on price.. but now with the EL being $400-$500 less than the Zeiss and Leica why would you buy the Victory or Noctivid? In all reality I would love a nice piece of Leica glass but I just really can’t see the reason to spend $500 more. Any thoughts? Anyone compared the two or all three? I’ve watched plenty of videos and read reviews and they all seem to prefer the EL.

They pretty much already did but now it seems as if Swaro really has the bino industry by the balls with those 2 binoculars at those price points.

 

[Miflatlander91]

Following this. I agree the price drop in the els really seems like they cornered the market

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[roosiebull]

it's really hard to claim "best" when you are comparing top end alpha glass.... my NL's are my favorite glass to sit behind for sure, EL's are amazing too, but some don't care for the NL's or even EL's. i think i like the kowa genesis a little more than EL's (comparing 10x42 EL with 10.5x44 kowas) but that may just be the slightly larger objective and not the actual glass, tough to really tell when comparing optics that are that close, and i do think certain glass is better or worse for certain eyes

 

[tdhanses]

Can’t really help specifically but i’ll say the EL SV Swaros were just a small hair better then the Leica Geovids, so close I don’t regret selling the Swaros and keeping the Geovids. I do prefer the Leica color saturation over the EL’s.

Now those that have looked through the Geovids and Noctvids say the Noctivids are way better, so it wouldn’t shock me if the Noctivids are better then the EL’s.

In the end there is only the best for your eyes.

 

[fatrascal]

Everybody sees differently than everybody else. Go try them all out. But even though you try them out at the store I feel like it's not a true test. You have to spend a good amount of time with them all in different conditions to really get a true feel of quality. Ive seen some cheap binos look as good as alpha in the middle of the day but in the evening they cannot hold a candle to the expensive binos. Or the quality might shine in long distance. Any of the binos you brought up are great choices and you would be happy with them. But truley, everybody compares their glass to swarovski glass for a reason. They truley are top tier glass. My money will one day go to the NL's. Fatrascal.

 

[nobody]

That's a loaded request, because everybody's eyes see differently. Personally, I can't stand Swaro glass. It's clear and crisp, but I can't do the bluish hue it casts across the whole view. To me, it makes it too dark in low light. So because of that, I'll never run their binos, no matter what the reviewer or the guide or the peanut gallery or the hype train says. So, to me, I don't even think the EL's are worth it. Even though I can objectively say they really are clear and crisp. But the color rendition, to my eyes, is less than ideal relative to lots of the competition.

 

[roosiebull]

That's a loaded request, because everybody's eyes see differently. Personally, I can't stand Swaro glass. It's clear and crisp, but I can't do the bluish hue it casts across the whole view. To me, it makes it too dark in low light. So because of that, I'll never run their binos, no matter what the reviewer or the guide or the peanut gallery or the hype train says. So, to me, I don't even think the EL's are worth it. Even though I can objectively say they really are clear and crisp. But the color rendition, to my eyes, is less than ideal relative to lots of the competition.

i have never heard someone claim swaro had a blue hue to their eyes... goes to show i guess. my sig range finder has a blue hue to me, and if you see blue through any optic your are looking through to spot game, i wouldn't want it either. i tolerate it with my rangefinder because it's not an issue for the roll it plays... even a rifle scope i would be ok with it as long as it was clear, but binos or a spotter, there is no way.

to my eyes, swaro has excellent contrast, more so with EL and NL, but even SLC are great, if not fantastic with color contrast and rendition. there is something very rich about the color rendition on the kowas for my eyes too, a little softer edge than EL but same or better than SLC in edge clarity, but better color pop than SLC.

Noctivids are excellent as well, and it's been a long while since i looked through geovids.... the only alpha glass i wouldn't be content with (knowing what i know now) is Zeiss conquest, they don't do it for me at all, they are in the same category as razor UHD imo, which isn't a good place to be for the price.... i have heard people say they liked the razor uhd, i used them for a season and were the biggest optics disappointment i have had... i would rather have the razor hd myself, at least they are light, haha... went from the biggest disappointment to the biggest surprise in a good way with the kowa genesis.... i could be totally happy using those forever, though i do like the NL better and am not disappointed with them in the least, they live up to the hype for my eyes.... they took some getting used to because they were so crisp and bright, it was a strange thing for a couple days.... in a good way, but it did take some adjustment to get used to the sensory overload looking through them.

i cannot wait to glass blacktail with them this fall, though i'm not rifle hunting them this year, i'll still be going plenty with others.... hopefully my wife, but we got her a bow last weekend, so she may be archery hunting bucks too this year, but i'll try to convince her to rifle hunt

 

[WRO]

Simply, Leicas have a yellow hue (slight) but the noctovids are an excellent piece of glass, Warranty can be questionable at times.

Zeiss have a blue tint to them, the victory sf's have bad pincushioning on the edges which is un acceptable imho at glass of that price point.

The reason that Swarovski is where they are is that they have a the best or damned close glass depending on model and no one complains about their service..

At the price, there is 0 reason to not by the EL's over the others IMHO. Just don't look through the NLs for any period of time.

 

[schmalzy]

You can find Victory SFs on used market fairly reasonably for 1800 or so. I love mine. Perfect balance or ergonomics for me and for
My eyes the colors and what not are awesome. That being said I’ve never had el’s or nl’s, but have had SLCs and Geovids


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[Blue72]

many Leica fans would never give up the color saturation

that’s why you need to try all the glass out and see what you like

 

[jimh406]

There is a group of "elites" that will only use binoculars that cost several thousand dollars. If that makes them happy, and it's their money, that's totally fine with me.

I've heard that you have to compare all brands to see that your eyes can tell the difference. Whether it makes sense to you or not has a lot to do with what you will do with them as well, and the type of hunting you do.

I bought Tract Toric binoculars. I previously had Nikon Monarch 7s. Well, I still do, but I don't use them. I find the Tract Toric far superior, in my "head to head" comparisons. You can get Tract Toric binoculars on Amazon and try them out. They are direct to consumer, so the prices are relatively cheap compared to many other brands. As in $750 for Schott glass.

 

[desertdog15]

I appreciate all the replies. I understand that different glass is going to look better to some. I also understand that no matter what some people are going to have an allegiance to some companies just because, that can skew opinions as well. You see it a lot in the optic industry and especially in the technical hunting apparel industry. I guess what I’m asking is somewhat more of a rhetorical question.
Outside of the extreme rarity of someone not liking Swaro glass I just don’t see why you would spend $400-$500 more on other top tier optics, when before the NL the vast unbiased majority of people considered the EL to be top dog.
That being said, I’ve looked through most of the premium alpha level glass (Leica, swaro, zeiss) besides the noctivids and I’ve enjoyed all of them. I bet the noctivids will blow me away, and in all reality I think I’d really love a pair. Maybe just to be a bit different? Maybe because Leica has that nice warm contrasty image? Im not sure. But when I do get to sit behind them and pick a hill apart, it probably won’t be anextra $500 worth of an image.
In my opinion Swaro now has the alpha market cornered and I give them props.

 

[elkguide]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes and it is also in the eye of the hunter sitting on the hillside or sneaking through the brush.
As has been said very well, Alpha glass is Alpha for a reason. I am a Swaro fanboy. To my eyes they push all of the right buttons. I have both the SLCs and the ELs. I have also used their customer service/repair (MY FAULT every time!!!!) and that in and of itself has been enough to keep me in their fanboy club.
The Leicas are amazing glass as well, but their CS has been up and down. (lately it is very good according to a couple of my friends that had issues) So get out and look through them and see what works best for you and your planned use. Alpha glass is a true lifetime purchase and if they come out with something "new and improved" their resale value is very good.

 

[tdhanses]

I appreciate all the replies. I understand that different glass is going to look better to some. I also understand that no matter what some people are going to have an allegiance to some companies just because, that can skew opinions as well. You see it a lot in the optic industry and especially in the technical hunting apparel industry. I guess what I’m asking is somewhat more of a rhetorical question.
Outside of the extreme rarity of someone not liking Swaro glass I just don’t see why you would spend $400-$500 more on other top tier optics, when before the NL the vast unbiased majority of people considered the EL to be top dog.
That being said, I’ve looked through most of the premium alpha level glass (Leica, swaro, zeiss) besides the noctivids and I’ve enjoyed all of them. I bet the noctivids will blow me away, and in all reality I think I’d really love a pair. Maybe just to be a bit different? Maybe because Leica has that nice warm contrasty image? Im not sure. But when I do get to sit behind them and pick a hill apart, it probably won’t be anextra $500 worth of an image.
In my opinion Swaro now has the alpha market cornered and I give them props.

I don’t necessarily agree, for EL money you can easily get into Geovids. Swaro should of kept the SLC and dropped the price to $1250, they would never be instock.

 

[WRO]

I don’t necessarily agree, for EL money you can easily get into Geovids. Swaro should of kept the SLC and dropped the price to $1250, they would never be instock.

The geovids have sub par ca control and not everyone wants a rf binoculars.

I have owned nearly every set of rf binoculars over the last 8 years, and I haven't looked through one that is optically as good as els (new tas are close)

The old black bridge slcs imho are better than the last generation.



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[SomeJackassOnAForum]

I don’t necessarily agree, for EL money you can easily get into Geovids. Swaro should of kept the SLC and dropped the price to $1250, they would never be instock.

Do you think the EL or NL are in stock for Swaro?

 

[roosiebull]

But when I do get to sit behind them and pick a hill apart, it probably won’t be anextra $500 worth of an image.
In my opinion Swaro now has the alpha market cornered and I give them props.

when you get to that point, incremental improvements start costing a lot more, price vs added performance isn't linear in optics (not saying anything that everyone doesn't know) but take nl's for example, the extra dough is money well spent (for some) for the combination of small advantages, the FOV is awesome, and that gives a sensation of even better edge to edge clarity, which is awesome on it's own.... it's a truly different optic, it's different sitting behind them... still, any of the top tier alpha glass is not disappointing when comparing to others, but i do think the NL is a different beast.... my next thing in my head that will not go away until i get them is the 8X NL, i assume that will be my favorite glass of all time, because i really like the 8.5X EL.... i really want to look through some... i bet that's the most "wow" factor bino made

 

[tdhanses]

The geovids have sub par ca control and not everyone wants a rf binoculars.

I have owned nearly every set of rf binoculars over the last 8 years, and I haven't looked through one that is optically as good as els (new tas are close)

The old black bridge slcs imho are better than the last generation.



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Not sure I agree completely but again comes back to our own eyes, for me CA control is great in the Geovids and they were super close to the SV EL’s optically, for you there was a big difference it sounds.

 

[tdhanses]

Do you think the EL or NL are in stock for Swaro?

I haven’t had difficulty finding NL’s in configurations I’d consider, such as 8x32 and 10x42, haven’t browsed for any others. Haven’t looked for EL’s since I sold mine other then 8x32 and they seem easy enough to find.

 

[WRO]

when you get to that point, incremental improvements start costing a lot more, price vs added performance isn't linear in optics (not saying anything that everyone doesn't know) but take nl's for example, the extra dough is money well spent (for some) for the combination of small advantages, the FOV is awesome, and that gives a sensation of even better edge to edge clarity, which is awesome on it's own.... it's a truly different optic, it's different sitting behind them... still, any of the top tier alpha glass is not disappointing when comparing to others, but i do think the NL is a different beast.... my next thing in my head that will not go away until i get them is the 8X NL, i assume that will be my favorite glass of all time, because i really like the 8.5X EL.... i really want to look through some... i bet that's the most "wow" factor bino made

The 8x will be expensive, they're awesome.. I've got a set on order.