Swarovski EL Binoculars - Thoughts? Are they worth the money?

[rkmontana]

Hi Everybody,
If any of you own or have used Swarovski EL binoculars I would love to get your thoughts on them. My main question is - do you think they are worth the $2500+ dollars they cost? I have picked them up and looked thru them in the stores and can tell they feel to be built well....but when I look thru them again in stores I am not seeing anything that different than when I look thru other $300 - $600 binoculars like I have used in the past. I am not 'blown anyway by them' when I look thru them in the store I guess it what I am saying - they are nice.....but look about the same as a the others I look thru. What am I missing? Are they that much better once you use in the field in low/natural light - than a $500 binocular to justify the extra money they cost?

I have a retailer credit I need to use so was thinking about putting it towards grabbing a pair of these because I have always heard with optics you get what you pay for. I figure if I get these....for the price they will hopefully be the last pair of binos I ever need to buy, and can maybe even hand them down to my son because I would hope they hold some of their value. Just wondering if you agree that these are worth the cost - or should I find something else to spend my credit on - and just keep hunting with my Vortex Diamondbacks I currently own? Thanks for the advice!

PS - for those of you who own - I would be curious what magnification you went with? Thanks again!

[J-Jac]

There is no comparison once you get into a field situation comparing them to a $500-$600 Bino. If you're having trouble justifying the price, the SLC's are about $700 less and they are a great piece of glass as well. I'm sure some guys will chime in and tell you to go with Vortex but I am highly satisfied with my decision to go swaro. You can't go wrong with 10x42's.

[Jamesl]

I just bought a pair about a month ago. I had company gift cards and I got 12% back through a Cabela's promotion. Used my cash back from Visa to pay it down to about $400 out of pocket. So the purchase was a little easier for me. I took them elk hunting. I really liked them over my previous Zeiss binos. They were impressive during lowlight conditions.

[scottamu]

Well worth the money. I have the 12x50 ELs and have never looked back.

[hchntr]

I have a pair of 10x42 Swarovski, I also have a pair of vortex diamondback 10x42 for my kids to carry. During the broad daylight, I can't see the difference, during low light conditions, the difference is huge.



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[WBT]

Yes, they're absolutely worth it. I suggest being patient and buying online to save paying tax. There's sure to be a sale sometime this year at Europtic, Cameraland NY, etc. It seems like optics are always going on sale somewhere.

You can also keep an eye on the classifieds for a good used pair.

[JakeGraves]

Get them to let you take the bino's outside at dusk. I compared about 6 pairs at Cabelas and ended up leaving with Sig Zulus. The Swaros were definitely the best but not 1.5x the price of the Zulu 7's that I bought in my opinion, of course.

[Goldstein]

I have had a pair of 8x32 Swarovski SLC for 15 years. To me, they were better than 90% of binoculars I ever looked through.

2 years ago, I bought a pair of the 12x50 Swarovski EL. There is no comparison in my eyes to how great these glasses are. Are the pricey? Yes! Are they worth it? Absolutely!!!

[150class]

Looking in the stores is not worth a darn for comparisons.

They are definently worth the money for low light situations and long days glassing

[Mike D]

Swarovski EL Binoculars - Thoughts? Are they worth the money?

Absolutely.

I have a pair of 8x42 EL Range for rifle hunting and a 8x32 EL for Bowhunting. There is nothing that I have personally used that is close, especially not in the $$ range you mentioned.

If I had to do it over again I would buy the 10x42 EL over the 8x42.

I may have missed it but what is your primary method of hunting; bow or rifle? The full size ELs can get heavy. If primarily bow hunting glass, you might consider the 32mm size instead.


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[Artos]

I have had a pair of 8x32 Swarovski SLC for 15 years. To me, they were better than 90% of binoculars I ever looked through.

2 years ago, I bought a pair of the 12x50 Swarovski EL. There is no comparison in my eyes to how great these glasses are. Are the pricey? Yes! Are they worth it? Absolutely!!!

This was basically my progression...started out with the 8x SLC's about 2 decades ago & traded for the 10x42 SLC's, then the 10x42 EL's. I'm not sure my eyes are good enough to upgrade to the swarovision version, but would still like to do a side by side comparison just for grins.

[DirtyDave]

You get what you pay for in Optics.
Once you've used good Optics, you will always use good optics.
You never move backwards in the optics world

[bermise]

Hi Everybody,
If any of you own or have used Swarovski EL binoculars I would love to get your thoughts on them. My main question is - do you think they are worth the $2500+ dollars they cost? I have picked them up and looked thru them in the stores and can tell they feel to be built well....but when I look thru them again in stores I am not seeing anything that different than when I look thru other $300 - $600 binoculars like I have used in the past. I am not 'blown anyway by them' when I look thru them in the store I guess it what I am saying - they are nice.....but look about the same as a the others I look thru. What am I missing? Are they that much better once you use in the field in low/natural light - than a $500 binocular to justify the extra money they cost?

I have a retailer credit I need to use so was thinking about putting it towards grabbing a pair of these because I have always heard with optics you get what you pay for. I figure if I get these....for the price they will hopefully be the last pair of binos I ever need to buy, and can maybe even hand them down to my son because I would hope they hold some of their value. Just wondering if you agree that these are worth the cost - or should I find something else to spend my credit on - and just keep hunting with my Vortex Diamondbacks I currently own? Thanks for the advice!

PS - for those of you who own - I would be curious what magnification you went with? Thanks again!

Yes I believe they are worth it especially when used for long periods of time. I would suggest going with the el range model which have the built in rangefinder as well. Very useful

[Mayhem]

I will have a pair one day.


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[TKRanch]

Yes, well worth it.