I've tarted looking for a new pair of binoculars, feeling that my Swift HR/5 Audobons are a little long in the tooth (more than 25 years old, and hardly coddled).
I tried the Hawke Frontier ED, Leica Ultravid HD, Swarovski Swarovision EL and SLC HD
I had some sort of blackout problems with all the roofs. The only binoculars that seemed capable of reading the prices on the market stall I looked at were the ELs and the Swifts (maybe it was the slightly higher magnification on the 8.5s - or maybe they are just that much sharper). There was a bit of colour fringing on the Leica's - just a little, but there. The SLCs were the nicest to handle of the lot.
I did try some 8.32 Zeiss FLs at another store and they seemed decent enough, but I wasn't able to try the market stall comparison with them, and I wasn't convinced enough to order the 8x42s sight unseen.
I'm sure that the blackouts are a personal issue and maybe I could work around them with time (the ELs were better than most on that, too) but at least I left with a new appreciation for my old Swifts.
You might try the current Swift Audubon model 820 in ED guise. If the eye relief of the HR 5 is alright the 820 should do. The only thing I found, and why I didn't keep those I had, was the very large diameter ocular assembly, which was too big for my taste. I think the image was a bit brighter than the HR 5 I had as well.