Swarovski AT Balance 18-45x65 Stabilized Spotting Scope Tested and Reviewed

[Wapiti151]

Question for everyone (maybe side barring from the main thread) but what would your ideal specs be on a swaro IS bino? Objective, fov, magnification, weight, size and form factor, etc.


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12x42 or 52, 315+ft @ 1000yds, weight rearward towards the eye cups to reduce perceived weight when hand holding, as light as possible with IS & RF, 90% light transmission, NL coatings and focus wheel in the NL/SF location towards objective. That’s my huckleberry…and probably a pipe dream.

 

[lintond]

I may be the minority but I think image stabilizing in sport optics at least in the hunting context is one of the biggest gimmicks going right now.

You can make a case for it in a pair of bino's that you plan on using free hand way more than on a tripod but to me thats about it.

This is just going to make glass more expensive, heavier, and probably worse picture quality and light transmission wise.

ibis or ois, or whatever tech is utilized to create the stabilization was ground breaking in photography because you are capturing a moment of time, where either setting up a tripod wasn't convenient or feasible, or lack of light forced you to push your speeds down, thats not the goal in glassing and it generally doesn't suffer from the same limitations.

It also introduces even more complex mechanical parts, which will either need to be serviced or can malfunction or break. Ask any photographer you know thats been doing it a while and I can guarantee they have had a body or lens thats needed the stabilization serviced.

The straight eye piece would make more sense, to be used as a spotting monocle of sorts I guess, but a 14-35 zoom for 4k is a bit outrageous as well. I could see it being for guys wanting the absolute lightest possible setup and dropping the tripod, but it's literally 2 ounces off of being 3 pounds.


I am sure they will sell, and I am sure there are niche cases where they will see use, but I feel like the hype and practical use is far over blown, especially for the price of entry here.

I am on the IS bino bandwagon but haven’t been able to imagine where I’d want to handhold a spotter. I don’t use a spotter a ton, so that’s probably contributing to that bias/opinion.


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[nm.otter]

FOV relaxes me -- is what our eyes and brains are built for.

 

[Sully_44]

I may be the minority but I think image stabilizing in sport optics at least in the hunting context is one of the biggest gimmicks going right now.

You can make a case for it in a pair of bino's that you plan on using free hand way more than on a tripod but to me thats about it.

This is just going to make glass more expensive, heavier, and probably worse picture quality and light transmission wise.

ibis or ois, or whatever tech is utilized to create the stabilization was ground breaking in photography because you are capturing a moment of time, where either setting up a tripod wasn't convenient or feasible, or lack of light forced you to push your speeds down, thats not the goal in glassing and it generally doesn't suffer from the same limitations.

It also introduces even more complex mechanical parts, which will either need to be serviced or can malfunction or break. Ask any photographer you know thats been doing it a while and I can guarantee they have had a body or lens thats needed the stabilization serviced.

The straight eye piece would make more sense, to be used as a spotting monocle of sorts I guess, but a 14-35 zoom for 4k is a bit outrageous as well. I could see it being for guys wanting the absolute lightest possible setup and dropping the tripod, but it's literally 2 ounces off of being 3 pounds.


I am sure they will sell, and I am sure there are niche cases where they will see use, but I feel like the hype and practical use is far over blown, especially for the price of entry here.

Just curious if you’re speculating, or if you’ve used image stabilization?

I’d imagine guys were saying the same thing about things like turrets on riflescopes 20+ years ago.

 

[tipsntails7]

Just curious if you’re speculating, or if you’ve used image stabilization?

I’d imagine guys were saying the same thing about things like turrets on riflescopes 20+ years ago.

I’ve used is or ibis in cameras for 20+ years at this point and have used the sig binos as well that my buddy has.

Have not used a spotter, but have used big glass on the end of cameras with IS off tripods before.

 

[Alpine4x4]

Gimme a 10x50 and a 16x50 with IS, wide FOV and at least SLC quality glass and I'm sold. I barely even use my SLCs now that I have a Zulu6. Its just so much more effective handheld, but the FOV is a killer that keeps the SLCs around.

 

[thegoosano]

If swaro can make a set of IS binos that look and feel like real binos (which I’m sure they’re trying hard to do because ergonomics are so important to them) that alone will be a huge selling point. Exciting to think this maybe isn’t far away, but I’m guessing it’s not quite there yet which is why they released a scope first. I bet syncing the IS btwn the two “tubes” of the binos without it being a big block like the sigs is extremely difficult


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