Swarovski NL Pure 8X42

 I purchased the Swarovski NL Pure 8X42 many month back  and have been using it since then in every single trip of mine. Question is how do I felt about it. I'm Not a brand ambassador and the unit was not a discounted for review purposes nor I was given free. I need to purchased it. Here I will like to share how I felt after month of using it. I must say I was very tempted to get hold on the first unit here in Malaysia and I'm a happy man.

Remember is how I felt after used and as my eye and other people eye are not the same it does not mean what I have experienced will be equal to other. my recommendation is that you need to try it out. :)

First Impression

My first impression when I took it out from the box was amazing looking unit. The shape and optic packaging was just "Swarovski" impression. It does give me a feel that I need to used it immediately and so I did. 

Packaging and sustainable bag is just the way forward and embrace by the company. 

Built & Handling

Using it in the field was amazing. The ergonomic and light weight of the binocular enable me to used it the entire day even under burning hot sun without feeling tired on my hand. The ergonomic shape allow me to hold the binocular as steady as possible even when I was holding on one hand. Having a diesel car mean that there is almost certain amount of vibration but not something I felt while viewing through the binocular when I'm in the car with my engine on.

Before the unit arrive I admit I was bit worried on the built and if I will always felt that the binocular will break apart due to the new bridge system. Once I hold them I never felt worried. The built was great.

Focusing was also amazing. I find my index finger lean properly on the binocular focusing enable me to work on the variation of distance almost as fast as I could. The focusing was also precise and easy to achieved sharp images without continuous turning the focus knob.

I have try using the binocular on one hand a few time both in open country and forest and focusing it simultaneously and I must say that this was amazing piece. The built and ergonomic assisted me to hold the binocular steadily while im holding my scope/camera on the other hand. The light weight help a lot too. 

Eye cup and relief was no exception. I wore glasses and my wife does not. I started to note that even with my glasses it all lean perfectly on the eye piece giving me the maximum view I can get out of it. Not to discriminate other modal but this was much better off compare to my Leica and Kowa. The other two have different advantage against Swarovski and that discussion will be in a different chapter.

Waterproof no problem I have tried it under drizzling time and the result, no fog and the waterproof together with Swarovision technology play their role well for my observation.

Image Quality and Optic

There is no doubt the image quality to be said as "amazing". The contract was great. In few incident I was trying to locate a juvenile peregrine falcon in a dried paddy field. The binocular contract enable me to pick it difference immediately. I'm talking about bird who at least more than a 100meter away from us on the ground. There's no doubt the Swarovski NL Pure was performing well on forested where colour of tree and different leave can prove a bit of a challenge when search for bird which is near same colour. In all it was performing almost perfectly the best.

Did I say almost? 

One draw back here is that, during extreme low light condition especially during twilight. I was using the NL Pure while observing harrier roosting. Unfortunately the sharpness and also contrast does not prevail on this matter. I'm not saying it was not great as in my opinion it was still performing at the very best however when this was compare to Kowa during twilight I must say my wife Kowa genesis out perform my Swarovski. Nevertheless if we are having some light aid this is not a problem at all and shall be performing at par. 

The ultra wide eagle I must say great for scanning wide places and conducting raptor count. I have no doubt that it make my life easier when scanning the entire paddy field for raptors. Not to say that when I was observing wader the binocular prove itself again. Here I will recommend that it is something I should technically have with me during count. Having to say that I don't really get too much bothered or I will say the advantages when im birding inside Malaysia forest. I personally felt I don't see much difference on the EL, Leica and Kowa top range. Don't get me wrong some people have tried it and felt the difference. 

While the contrast is good I don't seem to notice any chromatic aberration. This is point to be noted here. 

Disadvantage

One of the disadvantage I can see here is the price of this unit. It was above MYR 12k. A price which can actually put a hole in your wallet. If im budget tight and not willing to come out with this price I probably stayed with Kowa Genesis series which I will write further later. 

Personal disadvantage is the accessories that come with it. The forehead rest is very tempting and im trying to resist it. So far very successful.

Conclusion

I don't really see how far wrong one can get with the NL Pure unit. After my purchased last year it seem they have come out with the 32 series. This goes together if one willing to pay for the price of course. 

Still if one does I'm rather sure there will be no regret.