Binocular Review: Zeiss Victory SF 10x42 vs. Swarovski NL Pure 12x42 vs. Swarovski SLC 15x56
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- Опубликовано: 31 авг 2021
- I thought it would be quite interesting to put the Zeiss Victory SF 10x42, Swarovski NL Pure 12x42, and Swarovski SLC 15x56 against each other in a head-to-head review. Now, most people are going to say this is an apples to oranges comparison and not really appropriate. I disagree, I think these binos present unique solutions to solving the same problem. I’d love to hear your feedback and experiences with these and similar optics and if I have missed anything or you have any questions, please drop them in the comments section below.
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I just spent time with Swarovski NL Pures and I must admit they are the finest bins I’ve ever had the privilege of using. My jaw dropped after using them. The Leica Noctovid were incredibly sharp & detailed. The Zeiss Victory were also incredibly bright with amazing colors. Ultimately the Pures put it all together in a magical way that is hard to describe.
I totally agree. And I don’t know if I did a great job of describing this in the video but they’re just so easy to use like I felt every time I lifted it up to my eyes I had nice for clear picture didn’t have to wiggle around to get my eyes in an exact location they were just useable every time.
Just upgraded to the NL 12x's from my EL's. They're phenomenal. Very intelligent thoughtful discussion here.
Thanks man. Still love my NL’s too.
This is a good review. I wanted to add a couple of things. The Zeiss SFs are very forgiving for eye placement. Many people who are not used to getting their eye placement right might not notice the optical difference of the NLs. The SFs are very easy to use. The SLCs would appeal to people with completely perfect vision. The diopter adjustment of the NLs are also incredible if you know how to use them.
Excellent points. Completely agree.
After watching many reviews this is the video that tipped me over the edge and made me swipe my card for the 12x42 pures. Ouch, that hurt, but as a new western hunter the idea of carrying a set of 10’s and 15’s or 18’s just was not appealing. The pures were light years above my old Walmart Nikons that I had used for midwest whitetail bowhunting. So far on just a few scouting trips for my upcoming AZ deer hunt they have picked out deer that I would’ve missed. Keep up the great reviews. Enjoyed the tent review video as well.
Buy once cry once 🤣
Really enjoyed your review 👍
Don't use my Binoculars for hunting or in that many long distance environments, that being said, you simplified a lot of things that take a lot of time and money to learn about Binoculars. I do love my Leica Noctivid 8x42 and really appreciate my friend's Swarovski Pure 10x42s for the visual quality, but also they're both durable and built like tanks.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
💪
Finally someone comparing NL pure twelves with victory SF tens. Thanks man
I’m surprised more people didn’t put these head to head. Seems like the perfect matchup to me.
I watched this review because I was about to buy a pair of NL's I was always leaning towards the 12s over the 10 but was still concerned with hand shake. Great comparison & upon your insistence I bought the 12s a/w the Outdoorsman's tripod stud. I later bought the Head rest that helped a bunch.
After a couple month I am very happy I bought the 12s. I can hand hold them steady enough for the general viewing that I do mainly longer range glassing.
Appreciate the feedback!
@@MindfulHunter No Worries. Bonus is that I ended up buying from the at the Outdoorsman's Store in AZ... So I had additional 'expert" opinions
Picked up a pair of 12x42s and 8x32s this year and they made all the other binos our family own look like crap, my wife loves the 8x32s and the easily capture more light and are way crisper than my 10x42 sig range binos. Plan on switching out range binos and kestrel to 2400abs so I never leave the 12x42s at home. The depth of field is amazing and we found elk so east this year and filled our bull tag on second day of rifle.
That's awesome. There's nothing like great glass!
Thanks Jay, great video. You should be playing " Welcome to the jungle" as the intro..lol
It's a pretty lush backyard I gotta say!
That's a beautiful (and expensive) stretch of gear! Love it.
That’s a fact brother! Now to be fair. The whole point of the NL’s was to see if I could replace the other two and I’m satisfied I can. So the 15’sbare already sold and I’m putting up the 10’s next. I can’t justify needing more then the NL 12’s long term.
@@MindfulHunter good idea.
@@MindfulHunter once the 10x42’s are sold you could buy the SF in 8x32 for birding, amazing FOV 😛
Excellent review. Here’s poor me with my 8x42 Monarch 7s.
I stared with vortex diamondbacks lol
Another great review
I appreciate that
Great review, going to be upgrading from 10x42 slc’s to the pures, was on the fence about the 12’s until I seen this. Does the outdoorsman stud screw in or do they have to do it at their location so you don’t void the warranty?
You can do it yourself. You just need a torque driver so you don't overtighten. And they stand behind the warranty. If there's ever an issue they will take care of it.
I have a pair of 8x42 Victory SFs on the way. I chose them over the NL Pures. I’m an eastern US Hunter and 8x is a better fit.
Great choice!
Solid review. I’m probably due for some new glass.
I'm here to help you spend your money!
All badass glass. I am a huge fan of the Leica Geovids too.
They would fit right in on this table for sure!
Excellent review.
Thanks!
Nice review!
Thank you! Cheers!
Thanks for the great review. Highly appreciated. I have a pair of ziess 10 x 42 conquest. And 15x56 thinking about upgrading to either new 10x42 with rangefinder or just bino . 1 question is any experience rangefinders and bino combination. Question, 2 do you think the extra power of the 12s is worth the money over the tens ?
Thanks man! So, you will always be compromising the glass quality in a rangefinding bino so I keep them separate. Only person I would advise different would be a guide who works with lots of rifle hunters. For me I prefer the 12's as they have similar handshake to most 10's because of the increased fov, so best of both worlds.
Recently I'm tested a ten magnification NL PURE. Supernatural thing!
🙌
My dad has the SF and they are amazing and I own the ELs and also love them. They are both killer binos. I was going to upgrade my ELs to the NLs but bought a Swaro spotter this year instead. Next year all upgrade just to have em lol haha
100%
Nikon EDG better than EL and SF in color
Really honest review in my opinion.
Thanks!
Sounds crazy but if you put on a good wrist brace on your weak/support hand, it reduces hand shake and has the added benefit of being a better rifle shot. It acts like monopod.
I could see that working for sure.
A pan head vs pistol grip outdoorsman would be a cool review I’m in the market
Got it!
Great review, I`m going to buy one. I`m in doubt about Zeiss Victory SF 10x42 or Swaros NL Pure 10x42.
I think NL Pure has more FOV, but optical quality Zeiss is better.
And the price of Zeiss is better too. In the end I think I`m pick Zeiss.
But in your opinion, what you pick??
If you have the cash the Pure's edge out the Victory's.
Pure is better in almost everything!
Hi! Which NL Pure would you suggest for birdwatching? Now, I've got HG Nikon 8x42 but I'm thinking about buying NL.
If you’re mostly hand held go for 10’s if you use a tripod get 12’s.
How are those Nikons? Ive read great things about them! And even from looking at how the M7 punches above it's price point (IMHO) Id imagine their top end stuff would be outstanding.
Have u ever compared the kowa genesis to the alpha binos? They have fluorite glass.
I have not. I’ve looked at the 88 and currently have the 66 spotter but I need to look at their binos.
I went and compared all the alpha binoculars a couple of weeks ago. I bought the 8x42 Victory SFs (not for hunting) and they are amazing. I couldn't justify the cost for the NL Pures although they are nice, they just were not £400 better than the SF's. The SF's also were a lot brighter they have 92% light transmission vs 90% on the Swavo's which you could tell when comparing them. As you highlight the weight is also important too. I may save up and get a pair of 10 or 12x42 NL Pures in a couple of months as it would be good to have both. Hopefully it wont be long before they lower the price a bit as these are all xxpensive toys....
Completely agree with your assessment. I even prefer the color profile of the Zeiss to Swaro personally. At the end of teh day having 12x with the fov of 10x was just too good to pass up. I think this would be pretty specific to hunting as well.
Im seriously considering the 8x42 Sf too, I used to use 10x magnification but now prefer 8x as to me there are more benefits of 8x. Do they feel big in your hands? I wish they were a bit smaller.
@@GM-bq6zo Yeah the Zeiss are very nice. I did eventually make the jump up to the NL Pures 10x42 because I had saved up some money to get a spotting scope but after trying those and the eye strain you get from closing one eye I decided against that purchase, Instead I traded in my Zeiss bins and got the NL Pures in 10x. I still have my Zeiss 8x25 SF Pockets which were almost as good as the full size SFs. You really cant go wrong with either brand when you are looking at their alpha level binoculars :).
@@ads3453 I'm interested in the 32mm sf aswell as I carry a scope. I love a nice 32mm they're great to carry and u can wear them all day, joy to use, and I think most situations 32mms are fine, especially the top 32mms u don't lose much light. Though 42mms are great.
@@ads3453do u still think the sf 42 are brighter than the NL pure?
Outstanding briefing on the
each pairs of binoculars pros and cons it's really useful for me because of i was planning to purchase for a big power binos such as 15×56 and the 25×100mm astronomy viewing would that be a good idea or not how would you recommended which brand should i buy love to hear your suggestions....
have a amazing day''
Thanks! I am not that familiar with astronomy viewing so I am not much help unfortunately.
I am familiar with astronomy viewing. Take into consideration the weight of your binos - they are MUCH heavier than regular ones. The body is bigger and needs to be thicker too so it's rigid enough to resist some rough handling while keeping the heavy lenses in their place. And every lens is heavier than you'd think - twice the diameter means pretty much 8 times the weight with the same geometry, since lenses are 3-dimensional - 2x2x2 = 8. So you have all that weight, and you obviously do not want to hand-hold that. Sure, you can do it, but it will quickly turn into torture because your arms will get tired almost immediately, and from then on you will be fighting fatigue and hand-shake. So you need a good mount that needs to be VERY sturdy AND must be able to position your glass so you can look into it without incurring neck injury, even when you point it straight up! And we know the best observing is high up in the sky. You will likely spend much more on a mounting solution than you spend on your binos, for example on a parallelogram mount. To sum it up, astronomical binocular viewing is an equipment-heavy affair. It's tempting, but it's not for everyone.
Badass review
Thanks!
I love my Zeiss Conquest HD 10x42s but man, every time I look through a Swaro I say WOW! out loud, they are just so beautiful and a privilege to look through!
Just wish I could responsibly afford them! Gimme those NL 8x42, or the classic but still amazing EL 8.5x42! Or the 10x42, I dont care.
💪
I haven't been able to compare them in real life yet, but from comparing specs online, the only thing that gives me pause about the NL Pure 12x42 is the smaller exit pupil, versus the EL 12x50 which has the same size exit pupil as any of the 10x42 (EL, NL Pure, Victory SF). Do you find that the large field of view and forgiving eyebox on the NL Pure 12x42 makes the smaller exit pupil a non-issue?
The NL pure blow everything out of the water. Hands down.
For low light at night, would you say NL Pure 8x42 is the way to go?
The 8's will have better light gathering ability than the 12's, yes.
How do you put that Swaro on a tripod?
I use the outdoorsmans bino stud. I have them on all 3. Best adapter system in my opinion.
I have a older pair of zeiss victory 10x40 B T*P* binos and trying to figure out if the upgrade is worth the $$ for either the Swaro NL pure 10x42's, Swaro NL 12x42's or the new Swaro EL's with Rangefinder. I was only able to look through the binos through the store window at a distant hill and it was not ideal. The fit and feel of the EL's with RF seemed clunky due to the extra weight but it would be nice to have ballistics and range finding capability.
Thanks for the review!
If you can afford it you will definitely notice an improvement. For 10 vs 12 I would base that on how much distant open country glassing you do vs. closer timbered stuff. If you do a lot of western glassing I'd go 12's. The glass in the EL range is not as good so unless you're guiding and need to keep the animals in the binos and ranged at the same time then I'd go with the NL's and a separate range finder.
I love my zeiss conquest hd 10x42s. They are crazy high resolution. Most reviewers say they can't really tell the resolution difference between them and swarovskis. Most say they are better resolution, significantly brighter, and much easier eye placement and afov and fov than ultravids (some say they are better than swaro slcs!). I'd suggest give them a try they are awesome.
If I was to go all out on a alpha binocular I would likely go with a non flat field design because the flat field designs give people headaches with the rollerball effect. For rangefinder binos leice geovids are probably the way to go. They are bulky but the rangefinder electronics are the best and interface is the best. The zeiss victory rf optics are probably even better but the display isn't set up as good and too dim. Don't think anyone ever regretted a leica geovid. They look sick.
Image stabilisation will outperform all these in terms of identifying anything.
🤦♂️
Those are nice man. I have a pair of leupold bx4 and really like them but would love to try one of these. Would a man notice that big of a difference?
You would 100% notice a differencce between these and the Leupold. Those are decent binos but teh Victory's are alpha glass. Just a different class altogether.
@@MindfulHunter good deal thanks. Im going try get a zeiss conquest 4 or 6 do you like them ? For a rifle scope
Sold my NL 12x42. Just did not get on with them at all - I could see strange striations in the view. Possibly an effect caused by my differential LASIK treated eyes and the flat field.
I have definitely found that 1-2% of people just do not get along with the field flattening properties of swaro vision and you’re the second person who’s made the comment that has had Lasik. Very interesting. What did you move to?
@@MindfulHunter I’m actually in the process of deciding. At the moment it’s between Leica Noctivid and Zeiss SF both in 10x. The 12x options are limited because for some reason Leica don’t sell the 12x Ultravid in NZ so I’d have to special order it from Germany sight unseen which I’m not happy about!!
@@marcusnz232 I’m just about to compare the Leica noctovid with the swaros. I don’t have my Zeiss anymore. I loved those binos though.
How do you think the 10X42 NL Pure compares to the Zeiss 10X42 SF?
The NL are superior in every way. And I’m a Zeiss fan.
How about the 10x32 NL’s for birding?
8x10 are better when a wide field of view is required such as surveying a plain or the ocean.
agreed
Do u think nl pures are built to last though? I'm not sure if swaros are built to last 20 years?
If any binos are built to last 20 years it’s swaro.
@@MindfulHunterhhm I'm not sure tbh, do u think the nls have a yellow tinge to them?
@@GM-bq6zo nope
@@MindfulHunter the optics are amazing, but do u really reckon that rubbery armour will last year's upon years of use? I'm not sure.
Would you include the swaro Els in this group?
100%
@@MindfulHunter do the zeiss SFL's come anywhere near these top binos?
@@GM-bq6zo did you watch the SFL review I just posted?
@@MindfulHunter sorry mate no I haven't seen it, I will check it out.
Hello Jay, we have a new monocular prototype coming up. Would you like to do a review?
You’re welcome to send one over. Can’t make any promises but I’ll take a look.
@@MindfulHunter Perfect, I will reach out in the upcoming weeks once we have a unit ready to go.
Nice review，but Is NL PURE more prone to blackout?
What do you mean by blackout?
@@MindfulHunter I don't know how to explain，but i can give you the video(at 7 minutes 40 seconds)，(Seems like a lot of forum folks mentioned this)
ruclips.net/video/pP22wUFACgI/видео.html
@@MindfulHunter ?
@@Charley_Su I watched the video you posted. Holding your phone up to a pair of binoculars by hand in order to somehow test or review them is absolutely ridiculous and provides no useful information. The reason you can't find the term anywhere else is that it's something this guy just made up.
@@MindfulHunter No~No~No~The term blackout is very common.
Wish you had the swarovski el included in this overview
👍
"truck hunter" lol, what, you guys shoot of the hood off the side of the road? lmfao, americans
Well that would be illegal in most areas so I wouldn't recommend that. and I'm a Canadian not an American.
@@MindfulHunter you are the same
Hey curious if you have tried the zeiss fls or hts? I really don't like flat field binoculars because rollerball gives me headaches and to me everything looks like a 2D cardboard cutout compared to non flat field binos. I really like my conquest hds but looking to get a 2nd pair for a bro and wanted to see if I was missing something with the higher spec zeiss. Thanks
I have not. However, I am preparing for another big bino review at Mindful Reviews and one of those may get selected.