Swaro EL; Zeiss Victory vs. Bushnell Elite binoculars

Mountainsheep

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Apr 10, 2006
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Chickasaw Point, SC
I'm looking for some advice concerning these bino's. I want a superior grade set of optics, but I haven't had any lenghty experience with either of these brands. The Bushnell's are less expensive, but appear to be comparable at first glance. My main concern is clarity and eye fatigue. I would appreciate your comments.
Thanks,
Dave <font color="black"> </font> /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Both the sawro and the zeis are way superior to the other one. You´ve named one on the main isues.. eye fatigue. Look through the bushnell for 15 min and then change to any of the other two and you´ll notice the difference. Your pocket will also notice that difference though.

I would go with the best one you can afford.
 
Alq,

Thanks for the info! That was the perfect answer to my biggest concern. The Bushnells were in a different store from the others, so I could not make a direct comparison. I just wanted to hear it from someone with experience before spending the extra $$$. But the price is worth every penny if it protects my one &amp; only pair of eyes.

Dave
 
You should take a hard look at the Leica's I prefer the Leica's, you may not ,but if spending this amount of money on optics, I believe that you should at least consider the Lieca's
 
I agree, you should at least look at the Leica's. I own, use and prefer 10x42 Swarovski EL's. Money no object, they are tough to beat. Let you personal eyes tell you though. I have used and experimented with many brands and types and cant seem to see anything clearly through a pair of Ziess's while others swear by them. I can tell you though that the brightness and clarity between the upper end euorpean glass and bushnell is far better with the euro's. The bushnell's these days cost over a grand. If you cant afford the top end euro's, the next step down cost about the same as the bushnell elite, you may as well get a pair that is built much better.
 
I currently sell all three. I use the Zeiss FL 10x42. They are 1 oz lighter (so what) but they have the best glass. They cost $400 less that the Swar EL. We send more EL's in for service than the Zeiss FL due to the light weight materials used, the leica is a great product however the clairty is not complete across the full focal plan. The Zeiss however has a very poor tripler/double. I love the EL design doubler. It attaches to the bino and stays there. There are four glass companies in the world, 1. Shotz,2. Acme, 3. Pacifcal and 4. Carl Zeiss. Most top end optics come from Shotz however the big 4 zeiss, leica, swar and smit/bend get some from both Shotz and Zeiss. Swar is a small company in the grand skem of things. They make most of their money in CZ (fake diamonds) Leica is a camera company, Smit/Bend is really good stuff and a higher price. Carl Zeiss optics is the largest optic company in the world and sport optics is their smallest division. Medical optics is where the make their money. I came make a simmons look good in my store with all the fake lighting conditions. The best way is to wait till the time changes and gather them all up and go outside in real light to seperate the men from the boys. I myself wrapped the optics in paper and judged them. I did not want any marketing machine changing my thoughts. This way MY eye told me what to get. I sure wanted something else but my eye told me Zeiss. Please understand that since you have read this post your eyes have gottem worse. Therefore whatever brand is currently on your shelf did not suddenly go bad, your eyes did. Dont get into a optic war with a 16 year old either, they can see better in a pair of tasco's than any 40 year old. Good luck..
 
Is it common practice for a merchant to allow a customer to test and compare the binos outside? Most of the privately owned shops I' have visited haven't had the high end glass in stock, and the big retailers don't appear too keen on having me wander away from the optics counter (they don't even allow you to have more than one pair from behind the counter). One store even has its $300 - $500 glasses on leashes that are so short you have to put your elbows on the counter to look through them. And oh-yeah, you guys are right-on about the eyes. I've been staring at a computer screen for the last couple of years and I'm starting to notice some eye fatigue. I recently had my vision tested and I am still ok, but my older brother keeps teasing me that loss of hair &amp; vision is just around the corner. So not only am I upgrading my optics, I'm getting out from behind this desk &amp; heading back into the "Wild Blue Yonder". I want to keep myself as physically young as I am mentally immature. I want to make sure I only need the optics for glassing canyons; not reading menus /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Thanks,
Dave
 
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