Swaros

[92xj]

In 12s…
Does anyone that own NLs ever wish they would have bought the ELs instead? The size and function of the NLs is so great, but that tiny extra bit of light with the ELs is so noticeable to me.
I’ve never played is this world of high end binos and coming from b.5 mavens, so still trying to learn and wrap my head around the swaros and the price tag with them.
The maven b6 12s keep creeping into my mind for the financial sake but for now, I’m holding strong and saving play money for swaros in a few months.

 

[kota]

I went from 12x NLs to 10x ELs and couldn’t be happier. I think a lot of that is the magnification, but they just work for me.

 

[92xj]

I went from 12x NLs to 10x ELs and couldn’t be happier. I think a lot of that is the magnification, but they just work for me.

Thanks
If you would have stayed in 12s would you have made the switch?
I’m a 12 fanboy. Been behind 12s for more years than I can remember and can’t stand the thought of not using them.

 

[kota]

Thanks
If you would have stayed in 12s would you have made the switch?
I’m a 12 fanboy. Been behind 12s for more years than I can remember and can’t stand the thought of not using them.

That’s a great question and I honestly don’t know. If I had to guess I would say yes though. The NLs were an awesome view, but didn’t work for me for some reason like I expected. I glassed up more deer that year with a $200 pair of 10x leupolds than the NLs, and used the NLs way more (and from a tripod too). I also had more cases than I could count where I glassed up deer with the spotter at reasonable ranges that I missed with the NLs. I am sure it was some mental thing where I was glassing too quickly because the view was so clear and bright (overconfident?), but I didn’t get the production/value out of them like I thought. I am sure I was an anomaly, so YMMV.

 

[wyosteve]

Two year ago I had 10x42 EL's on an aoudad hunt. Sold them and got 12x42 NL's for this year's hunt. Would never go back to the EL's imo. Some of that could be due to 12 vs. 10, but the NL's field of view, light capability really rocked compared to the EL's for me.

 

[nobody]

To the OP, I’ve never owned NL’s, but have experience with other expensive glass and I’ve spent a good amount of time behind NL’s, EL’s, and SLC’s from working in the hunting industry.

As bright as the NL’s may be, there’s no glass or coating “magic” or engineering that can overcome the basic physics and figured that are used to determine optic brightness and performance in low light (assuming high quality glass).

Exit Pupil = Objective Lens / Magnification. So a 10x50 has a 5mm exit pupil (50/10=5). This is a measure of the diameter of the column of light that is exiting the binocular and entering your eyes The human eye optimizes between 4 and 6 as a general rule. Anything above 6 and it’s “wasted” light, and anything below 4 and things get dim. A 12x42 NL has a 3.5mm exit pupil, so while the improved coatings can make up some difference, it will ALWAYS be dimmer than a 10x42 of like-glass quality. If you love a 12x bino, go to at least a 12x50 (4.167mm exit pupil). The NL’s engineering can’t overcome basic physics in that sense. So, IMO, EL 12x50 or 10x50/42 for the win there, without question.

Twilight Factor = Square root of the product of objective time magnification. This is a measure of contrast in low light. Sounds crazy, so let’s just concentrate on the “product of” portion (square root of a bigger number is going to be bigger than the square root of a smaller number). So, in the case of the 12 NL’s, 12x42=504. And the 12x50 EL’s come out to 600. The square root of 600 is bigger than the square root of 504, so the 12x50 EL has a better twilight factor than the 12x42 NL. Again, this relates to a measure of contrast in low light, so like the ability to catch movement through brush in low/poor light conditions. Again, they can put all the fancy coatings on the NL’s they want, but they can’t overcome the physics entirely.

Then there’s the issue of price and value. Personally, I hate the NL’s. I hate how they feel in hand and their eyecups feel like they’re melon ballers trying to dig my eyeballs out of my head. But even then, Swaro has lost a ton of their value with these other companies really stepping out the plate and competing. Swaro has always been most expensive because they had a stranglehold on the market, and people paid it because it was all they could do to get into that type of glass. But now, with companies like Leica offerings lines like the Trinovid for $1k, plus companies like Meopta and Kowa and Maven really stepping up to the plate, I don’t think swaro is worth the price of admission. If you like the Maven’s those B.6 are awesome glass, and do a great job of putting pressure on Swaro/Leica/Zeiss without driving you into the poor house.

Take that for what it’s worth, I’m just a random guy on the internet.

 

[92xj]

Thanks.
I have held both side by side and they are both amazing. I do feel like my eyes can tell a TIIIIIINY bit of light difference with the ELs over the NLs. I will be doing this type of purchasing once in my life and really want to pick the "best" for me. I'm just nervous playing with this amount of money.

 

[nobody]

Thanks.
I have held both side by side and they are both amazing. I do feel like my eyes can tell a TIIIIIINY bit of light difference with the ELs over the NLs. I will be doing this type of purchasing once in my life and really want to pick the "best" for me. I'm just nervous playing with this amount of money.

Do it super early morning, extremely late at night, and under pre/post storm cloud cover (gray light). You’ll notice it more than a TIIIIIIINY bit. You won’t really notice it mid-day, but you’ll notice it at the worst times of day. Go check them out during those times before you make the decision.