Swaro SLC,EL or Leica ultravid, nictovid Or Victorys?

[firebird]

My wife's looking for a pair of binos. I have the Conquest HDs and have broke 3 eyepieces, and 1 has come 'unglued' so she's looking past those.

Shes got swaro stuck in her head. She was going to buy the SLCs for $1899 mail order. Until we went to the local birding shop and looked at the ELs. They had no SLCs for comparison because they said 'they can't sell them, no one wants SLCs'. ELs were $2899. They also had no Leicas in stock to compare and no Victorys.

The SLCs seem to be in their own price niche

Problem is she can't compare side by side. She's read online and talked to a few reps who say the ELs are noticeable better (different is maybe the right word) because of the Swarovision.

I told her buy the SLCs and save the 1k.

If if she is comfortable in the 3k range should she be looking into Leicas or the Victorys over the ELs???

Could anyoneswent through the same thing, chime in please

[300rum700]

Call Omer at Precision Optics, no sales bs, he'll give you an honest rundown of what's what and give you the best price as well. PM me if you want contact info.

[firebird]

Yes that's who's pricing I used. I told my wife order the SLCs if she feels they are awesome, keep them. If she thinks there's better then return them and upgrade.

Just tough ugh when she can't compare side by side

[backcountry99]

Cant go wrong with any of those 3 its really splitting hairs. Ive looked through them all and would pick the swaro’s.

[Ovis17]

Could always try and find a pair of older Swarovski EL's in the 1800-2200 range. Non-swarovision (HD) but still unreal glass w lifetime warranty.........

[Blockcaver]

You can’t go too far wrong with Swarovision ELs. They are clear right to the edge versus the older non-Swarovision version. We have both in 10x42. My wife kept taking my original 2002 vintage pair and referring to them as hers. I got the hint and bought another set for me! They have excellent resale as well, probably better than Zeiss or Leica.


I also also have a pair of older 2005 era Leica non HD Ultravid 8x32 for thicker cover hunting and day hiking. They are compact and very good optically. I use them quite a bit, but they are not quite the longer range glass, detail in the shadows glass the 10x42 are.

[firebird]

So you guys suggest Non 'SV' ELs used, over new SLCs for the same price? $1800-1900$

[Weatherby Fan]

Yes that's who's pricing I used. I told my wife order the SLCs if she feels they are awesome, keep them. If she thinks there's better then return them and upgrade.

Just tough ugh when she can't compare side by side

Just tell Omer what two you want to compare and he will ship both to you and the wife can compare them, then ship back what you don’t want.
He does it all the time.

[Tikka.300.wsm]

As others have mentioned call Omer at Precision Optics in Quesnel. Great guy to deal with. PM if you need contact info.

[firebird]

So you guys suggest Non 'SV' ELs used, over new SLCs for the same price? $1800-1900$

From what I understand the old model NOn SV ELs are the same optically as the new SLCs. Just different ergonomically...