After a LOT of research, checking my finances, and reading tons of reviews, I may have come close to a final choice on my "go-to" birding optics, at least for a while before I can save the big$$ for nicer ones.
I wanted to spend around $250, and wanted these to be acceptable binocs on many levels. Most of my birding will be done during the day, in mostly bright conditions, out on the water while kayaking in FL, as well as walking through the woods of Florida and TN. Not a whole lot of late evening or early morning birding.
They had to have good eye relief (I wear glasses, at least until I get LASIK). Had to have nice clarity, resolution, not too much CA. I wanted waterproof (obviously) and not too heavy.
So, it appears my best choices are:
Audubon Equinox 8x42 HP
Swift 8.5x44 Audubon
Now, pros and cons of each:
Audubon Equinox Pros: 20mm eye relief, 5 foot close focus, twist up eyecups with detents.
Swift 8.5x44 Audubon Pros: 430' FOV, a little extra magnification, and a little extra objective.
Now, it shows on the optics4birding scorecard that the Swift's are considered a "class 3" binoc vs. a "class 4" for the Audubons. The swifts are NOT nitrogen purged, have slide-up non-locking eye-cups, and of course have a smaller eye relief and don't close focus less than 10 feet.
I guess when I look at it this way, it seems that giving up the extra FOV and magnification/objective lens diamete may be a good trade-off given the Audubon's better eye relief, operating characteristics, and close focus capabilities.
Does anyone have any first-hand experience comparing or using either of these optics?
[QUOTE=greywolf]Does anyone have any first-hand experience comparing or using either of these optics?[/QUOTE]
I've used the Swift Audubon 8.5x44 porro-prism binocular extensively and for me the eye-relief isn't quite enough to be comfortable with my glasses on. If it were I'd still be using them. At the end of the day viewing comfort is just as important as other considerations.
Hope that help.
John
Solentbirder - that was one of my main concerns re: the Swift - I have read some reviews that said that even though the claimed eye relief is "x", the real eye relief is somewhat less. I don't know how long I'll continue to be a glasses user, but I want something now that I can use with my glasses on, and perhaps even later without glasses or if I was wearing sunglasses. Seems the Audubon Equinox HPs are winning the battle.
Can't beat the price, either - best prices so far are $250 shipped.