The Low Down On Swarovski's NL Pure Binoculars

[Outdoorsmans_Dan]

Hello All!

Bottom Line Up Front:
• Swarovski NL Pure Binoculars are available for pre-order here.
• Available in 8x42, 10x42, and 12x42 configurations.
• NL Pure Binoculars have 20% greater FOV over EL counterparts (13% for 12's because EL's have 50mm objectives).
• Outdoorsmans self-installed binocular stud is currently in development (not press-fit like EL's).
• Estimated ship date is Sept 1st
• Orders will be processed in the order they are received once the bino's have shipped from Swarovski.

The longer version:
Pre-orders for the New Swarovski NL Pure 42 Binoculars are live! Available with 42mm objective lenses in 8x, 10x and 12x configurations, the field of view on all of these is absolutely incredible. The 8x and 10x boast an impressive 20% improvement in FOV over their EL equivalents, with the 12's still about 13% better than the EL 12x50 (50mm objective vs the new 42mm objective).
Estimated ship date is Sept 1st, so the sooner your order is placed, the sooner we can get these out to you once they have shipped from Swarovski.

Give us a shout for Guide & Outfitter pricing or additional information on these awesome new binos.
Call 1-800-291-8065
Thanks Roksliders!

 

[Ten Bears]

Will you guys be getting a pair early to do some reviews ? Specs sound great but would love some trusted reviews before committing that kinda dough.

Also is that Sept 1st date seem solid ?

 

[DouglasMorales]

Here's a review we just released. The Sept 1 date seems very solid from what we've heard.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Thank you so much guys, great overview

 

[Middleofnowhere]

I’m curious about the light transmission between the NL and EL 12’s? A 13% FOV improvement going from a 50mm to a 42mm lens doesn’t seem to be enough of an improvement if their is a loss in “low light” ability.

Which prism does the new NL use? It kind of looks like it’s shaped for an Abbe Koenig prism.

Here's a review we just released. The Sept 1 date seems very solid from what we've heard.

 

[MattB355]

The Swaro debut video says the prisms are the same as the EL but rotated 90 degrees. I would have a hard time seeing the NL 12x42 outperform the 12x50 besides FOV. The EL's are amazing and with a 50mm objective it should resolve much better than the 42mm. Although at this level of optics, you need instrumentation to tell a difference.

 

[Brix06]

I’m curious about the light transmission between the NL and EL 12’s? A 13% FOV improvement going from a 50mm to a 42mm lens doesn’t seem to be enough of an improvement if their is a loss in “low light” ability.

Which prism does the new NL use? It kind of looks like it’s shaped for an Abbe Koenig prism.

Yeah this looks like a classic situation of trade offs. Just based off of the numbers , the 12x42 NL will have 12% more FOV than the 12x50 EL. The 12x42 NL will be more compact and 17% lighter weight than the EL 12x50. BUT the exit pupil on the 12x42 NL will be 15% smaller than the exit pupil on the 12x50 EL (3.5 vs 4.16). - math is right maybe-?

This is all speculation of course. But if you want the brightest/highest resolution image, the 12x50 should beat out the 12x42. If you want lighter weight, more FOV, in a more compact package, you should probably check out this new 12x42 bino.

 

[eltaco]

Yeah this looks like a classic situation of trade offs. Just based off of the numbers , the 12x42 NL will have 12% more FOV than the 12x50 EL. The 12x42 NL will be more compact and 17% lighter weight than the EL 12x50. BUT the exit pupil on the 12x42 NL will be 15% smaller than the exit pupil on the 12x50 EL (3.5 vs 4.16). - math is right maybe-?

This is all speculation of course. But if you want the brightest/highest resolution image, the 12x50 should beat out the 12x42. If you want lighter weight, more FOV, in a more compact package, you should probably check out this new 12x42 bino.

Great post. I’m in the same boat and suspect all of the reasons I chose EL 10x50 will still validate my decision to keep them over the NL. I tested against Zeiss Victory SF which had more impressive weight and FOV numbers, but lacked the same wow factor in low light, which seems for me to be most critical.

Next for me is field flattening. I’m not yet clear I’d the NL has it, but now that I’ve gotten used to it I have a hard time giving it up. If NL has the same flat field, I’d definitely be taking a look to compare low light. If they have field flattening and a 50mm variant, I’d be setting some money aside already...

 

[Ace1204]

Great overview thank you

 

[SwarovskiLover]

I have looked through every single model of NL Pure back to back to back. The best is the 8x42. The image is the brightest, the colors are the richest, and the field of view is the largest. The 12 x 42s are amazing, but the image is duller and appears foggier or whiter than with lesser magnifications. The 10 x 42s outperform the 12 x 42s when it comes to color and brightness, but the 8 x 42s are so bright and so contrasty that in most cases the same detail is still seen even with two less power. Only when looking at objects +500y away do you really notice a major difference in detail that you can spot between the 8 x42s and the 10s or 12s. The 8 x 42s perform the best in low light situations, the field of view at 477' is enormous, and the colors are the brightest and best compared to the other binos. When looking through them the colors pop the most compared to the 10s and the 12s. The difference in apparent field of view between 71 degrees with the 12s and 69 degrees with the 8s is a non factor. The difference in image quality makes up for minute FOV Apparent advantages.

 

[eltaco]

I have looked through every single model of NL Pure back to back to back. The best is the 8x42. The image is the brightest, the colors are the richest, and the field of view is the largest. The 12 x 42s are amazing, but the image is duller and appears foggier or whiter than with lesser magnifications. The 10 x 42s outperform the 12 x 42s when it comes to color and brightness, but the 8 x 42s are so bright and so contrasty that in most cases the same detail is still seen even with two less power. Only when looking at objects +500y away do you really notice a major difference in detail that you can spot between the 8 x42s and the 10s or 12s. The 8 x 42s perform the best in low light situations, the field of view at 477' is enormous, and the colors are the brightest and best compared to the other binos. When looking through them the colors pop the most compared to the 10s and the 12s. The difference in apparent field of view between 71 degrees with the 12s and 69 degrees with the 8s is a non factor. The difference in image quality makes up for minute FOV Apparent advantages.

Great feedback. This really should be the case for any product you pick up… if you constrain yourself to 42mm, each step up in magnification should reduce brightness, color, etc as you reduce the exit pupil. We’re talking relatively small differences, but certainly they’re real.

I ended up with a 10x42 and for me found that break over distance to be 400yds where I could begin to discern greater detail with the 10x. Anything shorter distance and I would grab the 8x for certain. Unfortunately, I find hand jitter with the 12x actually reduces their ability to discern detail at distance… so there’s a happy medium I get forced into for my use case and capability to hold steady.

If there was a 10x50 NL, I’d probably end up putting my 42s on the market to reap the benefits. My 10x50 ELs felt like the perfect compromise until the NLs came along.