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A High Power Binocular that Even Works in the Clinches.
The Golden Eagle, an adult, was about as beautiful a bird as I’ve ever seen–and I was seeing it about as well as I have ever seen one of these iconic birds of prey. Golden hackles kindled by a stark winter sunlight. Underparts illuminated by the reflected light off the snow blanketed Alps. I could see broken white at the base of the flight feathers. I could see texture on the body. I could savor the bird with an intimacy I only rarely experience on soaring eagles but always crave–the kind of look that gets hawk watchers up on ridge tops in the first place. Arms finally tiring, I lowered the instrument, keeping my eyes fastened to the section of sky where the great bird circled. But the bird was gone. All I saw was empty sky! “No way,” I said. Raising the 12x binoculars once again, panning, relocating the bird. Yes, way. The great, dark bird of prey was so far that I had difficulty finding it with the naked eye against blue sky. But the instrument in my hand brought me to an intimacy that compressed distance and vaulted my optical expectations. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, the 12x instrument in my had was almost twice as powerful as the 7x binoculars I commonly use when hawk watching so the bird looked twice as close; twice as large. But this is just another way of saying, that without those 12x superbins, the bird was twice as far as my 7x calibrated expectations. “Wow,” I breathed then turned toward our Swarovski hosts, offered them this summary: “These Swarovision12x50s are amazing!” And that’s just the starting point. The truly amazing thing about this new Swarovski stand-out is how the instruments perform in the clinches. Can you imagine? A long distance nullifier that can cross over into the general birding arena? That’s not simply amazing. That’s unbelievable.
Nobody Can “Nobody can hold a 10x steady,” said Floyd P. Wolfarth–hawk watcher, retired teamster, mentor, friend. He elevated his gargantuan Swift 7x binoculars for emphasis, daring me to contradict him. I didn’t. One of the things I’d learned about Floyd in the autumn of 1975 was that he, and the Almighty, shared similar opinions on almost every subject. To gainsay Floyd was to question Divine Proclamation. We were standing atop Raccoon Ridge, Route One for migrating hawks passing through North Jersey. The subject was hawk watching binoculars and I’d just announced my intention to buy a new instrument. A 10x Leitz Trinovid, I thought. “Welllll,” Floyd rumbled, and then passed judgement. In the end I didn’t buy a 10x, not then. Not yet. That would take another six years or so and the glass would be a 10x40 Zeiss Classic–the glass that empowered a whole new generation of birders and paved the way for a whole new school of birding. The “look close and note detail” school whose tenets were codified in the celebrated National Geographic Field Guide (now in it’s 5th Edition). It’s not that Floyd was wrong. Back in 1975 when he made his pronouncement almost all the binoculars on the market were designed using the big, bulky porro prism design. It was a configuration that brought a user’s elbows up and out, reducing image quality by exacerbating hand shake. Sure, you got a bigger image with 10x binoculars. But you gained little, if anything, in terms of resolution and image quality. What you gained in magnification you lost to hand shake. But roof prisms changed the game. They made it possible for binocular users to hold their sleek, new instruments with greater stability (and less muscle fatigue). The roof prism design made 10x functional, even desirable. Yet, and still, and as most birders know, I’ve never been a big fan of 10x. If you can hold a 10x steady, you can still hold a 7x steadier. And magnification comes at a price. The cost, in terms of overall performance, is measured in field of view, depth of field, close focus, brightness...in sum, all around user-friendliness. Given a choice between nimble and powerful, I go for nimble every time. But what if powerful can be made nimble?
Game Changer...? The new 10x50 and 12x50 Swarovision (ELs) follow on the heels of the exceedingly popular and highly acclaimed 8.5 and 10x Swarovision (ELs). Introduced in 2000 they, very quickly, vaulted to the top of the charts in terms of market share–a place they have held, both here and abroad, ever since. I’m not saying that the other, premium binoculars are not without merit or are not worthy title contenders. They are and I think everyone knows that I am a big fan of both the Leica Ultravids and the Zeiss FLs. But through a combination of good product, good marketing, and exceptional service, Swarovski has won lots of hearts. But a 50 mm? And a 12x? Come on. At 35 oz, the instruments are 20% heavier than the 42 mm models. They are also, modestly larger and bulkier. But the sleek, split bridge, EL design offers an ergonomic accommodation that turns the 50 mm into a functional package. It doesn’t feel too big. It doesn’t seem to weigh too much. It only feels big if you pick up a 42 mm first and then trade up to the 50 (and some people have difficulty telling which is which in their hands until they look at the formula etched on the focus wheel). So it’s not too big, except, perhaps, for very small hands. As for performance... Optical excellence. A standard setting image. As good as glass gets. You’d expect this. It’s a Swarovski. But what about the other qualities that give binoculars the reflexes to maneuver in the birding arena? Field of view, close focus, depth of field. At 345 feet/1000 yards, the 10x50 has a wider field of view than the 10x42 ELs (9 feet wider). The 12x offers 300 feet at 1,000 yards. OK. Pretty lean by general birding standards. But how does this compare with comparable instruments? It doesn’t. Fact is, there are hardly any 12x50s on the market that you can name and not swear at in the same breath. One, however, is the Leupold Olympic 12x50 which has a field of view of 252 ft./1,000 yds. The 10x50 Leupold isn’t much more generous, offering a skimpy 262 ft. at 1,000. To put this, and the Swarovski 12x50 Swarovision FOV into perspective, realize that the very popular 8x42 Monarch binocular offers a field of only 330 ft/1000 yards! Think of that. A 12x binocular whose field of view is only 10% smaller than one of the most popular 8x binocular on the market! I’m not saying that at 300 ft. at 1,000 yards, the Swarovski 12x50 offers a generous field of view. I am saying it is very impressive for a 12x and, more important, that 300 ft at 1,000 yards is at the low end of functional for an all purpose birding binocular. The 10x50 is even better. With a field of view of 345 ft/1000 it is almost panoramic (for a 10x). Heck, the very fine Nikon 8x42 Premier LXL only offers a field of view of 367 ft./1000! As for close focus, how does nine feet sound to you? For the 10x? No. For both the 10x50 and the 12x!!! That’s only a foot farther than the Leica Ultravid 7x42 and, as I tested it (and in bright sunlight), the 12x50 Swarovski in my hands focused down to 6.5 feet!!! Astonishing! Depth of field is a difficult quality to quantify. I didn’t have the time to do it with precision. One thing I will say is that the 12x surprised me with the depth I enjoyed in woodland situations. Part of this can be traced to the superb brightness. When your eyes are subjected to bright conditions, the pupils constrict. Just like a camera lens, this smaller aperture increases your depth of field. As for focusing, the focus wheel on the instrument I tested went the range of focus (near to infinity) in two full revolutions. That’s a little more than optimal in my estimate but actually less than the Swarovski 42 mm Swarovision. Because of the slim lines of the binocular and the two-finger wide focus wheel, I could go the range of focus in four quick pulls of a finger. I can live with that.
...Or Optical Fork in the Road? So what’s the bottom line here. What am I telling you? That you should ditch your 7x and 8x binocular and start using a Swarovski 12x50 Swarovision? No. What I am telling you is that it seems that birding has reached the point that birders should consider owning more than one binocular. A low power, super nimble glass specked for serious woodland birding and getting quickly on birds in flight plus a high power, reach out and grab ‘em glass (that can cross over into the clinches at need). The new Swarovski 12x50 Swarovision is just such a glass. I’ll bet even Floyd Wolfarth couldn’t help but be impressed.
2012 PRICES Member* Nonmember 10x50 $2,599.00 $ 2,699 12x50 $2,649.00 $ 2,749
*member price = Swarovski MAP (minimum advertised price allowed by a dealer)
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