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Monday, November 14, 2005Swift Audubon 820ED - a birding classic
It's nice to know some of the great classics in birding binoculars are still around and still being made without any compromise in quality. I recently had a chance to test the Swift Audubon 820ED on both birds and stars this last week and I was very pleased. The ED of the "still made in Japan" 820ED makes the standard 820 even better. Resolution in the ED version was about as good as I have seen in an 8x bino and will compare favorably with any premium grade roof prism. Stars were crisp pinpoints of light and Mars showed itself with only a tiny hint of flare.
Yes, I know, the published eye relief of 17mm is a bit misleading. It's more like 12mm with the way the eyepiece lenses are buried in the housings, but I had no discomfort at all (my preferred eye relief is 14mm) and still got a nice field of view without that pinched in feeling. Also true that no one is going to accuse this, or any other porro prism binocular, of being slim and slender, but I did not find the size or shape uncomfortable after several hours of viewing. Bottom line is that the 820ED passed my "can't put it down" test with flying colors due to its fine optics. Anyone looking for Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss class performance on a middle-class budget, the Swift Audubon 820ED is well worth considering. Comments: |
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