Leica, Zeiss, Swaro Bino's

[Brambles]

Lets here from you guys who own these binoculars, I tried to buy a pair last year but my brother got it in his head we needed to pay $2600 in airfare and $800 in diesel to go up north moose and caribou hunting, strangly enough he still had enough money for his Swaro EL's:roll:


I'm looking at:

Swarovski EL 10x42
Zeiss Victory T* FL w/LotuTec coating 10x42
Leica Ultravid 10x42 BR

Anyone who has used these binoculars or had the chance to test them against each other, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

I already have a Zeiss Diascope 65 T*FL and would like a good pair of bino's to complement the scope.

Apparently the Zeiss are the brightest of the three.

[daycort]

I have 10x32 EL's and if I can afford a new pair of 10x42's I would get the Zeiss Victory's. Much brighter IMO.

[Kechika]

I love my Leica's.I think ya'd be happy with any of em.Its a Ford Chevy dodge thing

[Brambles]

Dodge is the bestest.

[Kechika]

Dodge is the bestest.

Plum Crazy Sassy Grass and cartoon characters on the front fender(BEEP BEEP)= Gheyness;)

[Gateholio]

I own the Leicas and my buddy owns the Swaros. Never looked through the Ziess.

I prefer the Leicas, which is why I bought them. It's going ot come down to how your eyes personally see.

The Leicas are just a bit better to my eyes, but the Swaros are a teeny bit brighter just before dark. Again, that is my eyes, and you may be the opposite.

All 3 are awesome, dont' get married to one over the other until you look through them, side by side.

[todbartell]

Ive looked through Swarvo EL 10x42 & 8x32, SLC 10x42, Leica Ultravid 10x42 & 8x32, Bushnell Elite 10x43s, and Leupold Gold Ring HD 10x42. They all have bright, clear lenses. The Swarvos are probably the best (EL, not the heavy SLC), Leupold/Leica tied for second (downside to leupold is the weight, but keep in mind they're half the price). Elite 10x43s are pretty good optically, and light, but Ive heard stories about their durability being a problem.

If it was me I would go with EL 8x32s, but the 10x42 may be a better choice for mountain hunting

PS I own a $400 pair of Nikon monach 10x42s :(

[Mik]

I own the Leica 10x42 BRF, reason being, I wanted the built in range finder. I looked thru the swaro's and zeiss, but in the daytime, they are all the same.

[BlacktailStalker]

I tried all three and chose the EL's.
Never was a fan of the range finder/bino combos so didnt look at those, I bow hunt too much and binos around your neck is way too cumbersome I feel.

[Fisher-Dude]

I've got the Leica 10x42BN Trinovids, and after 11 years of being bashed around and used in rainy/foggy/snowy weather, they are like new and have never had a glitch. They even stand up to being cooked by the defroster on the dash of the truck, and since Brambles only road hunts, that should make his decision EASY! :p

[ruttinbuck]

I run the zeiss dyalyt classics 8x30.
Highly recommended.watch Ebay and if you have the patience they come up in often in 10X40,sometimes 8x30 and alot of the time as NIB.
My pard bougth the 10X42 trinovids last spring and we put a pair of 10X42 SLC,10x42 trinovid and my zeiss side by side for a last light test and like kechika said it basically boiled down to chev,ford,dodge.
Go with the ford to match your spotter:smile:.RB

[Spitzer]

After looking through many pairs, different brands and researching the birding forums etc. I ended up buying Zeiss Victory 8x42 T* FL's last year.

They are THE brightest and THE sharpest. Glassing takes on a whole new meaning now as they're unbelievably sharp!

No wonder all the head to head reviews decided on the Zeiss Victory FL's, I'm no longer searching for the ultimate alpha glass.

[Sitkaspruce]

Looked, bought, returned and looked again at all three but in the end, bought the Leupold 8x42 HD. For me they were the brightest and had the best colour resolution. The other reasons were the price and for me the warranty. The Big three have to change their warranty becuase of some court agreement it Europe. It is all over 24hourcampfire a few months back. I posted a link here at the same time, I believe it was for Leica only at the time.

Next choice for me was the Swarvo's in 8.5x43. Amazing glass and also has been reported the best in Customer Service. For me it is the little things that make a difference.

Check out this site, some pretty good stuff there.
http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=112

Good luck, it took me 14 months before I spent the money.

Cheers

SS

[kennyj]

Ive had a pair of Lieca's for 14 years.Love them.The new lighter ones would be awesome.
Kenny

[Banks]

i have the 10x42 leicas have used swarovsky 10x42 as well i found no big differances in the glass just in wieght and feel leicas can take more abuse from what i have seen and one of my partners has zeiss and went and got swaros

[tufferthandug]

I picked up the 10x42 Trinovids. Super happy. They change what bushnell optics make out as stumps into deer.

[Brambles]

*UPDATE*

Well i considered the Swaro 10x42 EL's, Leica 10x42 ultravid, and the Zeiss Victory T*FL w/loutec 10x42

I wanted the Zeiss for the warranty and the Brightness, Swarovski's were a close second but no Demo's avaliable and the Leica were a not to far off third but better priced among the three by a fair margin. It was a very close race between them all and I figured I'd do well with either of them.

But I really wanted the lifetime warranty and Zeiss are the only ones that offer it and its transferrable to boot.

The company I was buying through only had one pair of the Demo Zeiss left and they had put them on Ebay. So I bid on them. They had been used for 2 days at optics booth at the NRA show, big deal

After i bid on the Zeiss they got in some Demo swarovski EL 10x42 :lol: OH well, their warranty basically boils down to 10 yr.

So today the Ebay listing Expired and I was the winner of a pair of Zeiss Victory T*FL bino's.

Now the painful wait for them to arrive......

Thanks everyone for your remarks and participation. It made the decision a tough one.

[BlacktailStalker]

Congrats!
Happy glassing and pick out some bone with them this year.

[BCRiverBoater]

I have Swaro 10x42 and have loved them. A buddy has the Leica and one has the Zeiss. All great glasses and you can not go wrong with any of them.

[porcupine]

Leica's 8 x32. Couldn't be happier.
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