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Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Forgot how good the Swarovski Habicht 7x42 GA are! (1 Viewer)

D

Dennis Mau

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I forgot how good the Swarovski Habicht 7x42 GA's were until I picked up a pair on eBay for $700 from Sweden. I just received them today after 13 days shipping time, and they are like new. The Habicht GA's are really a classic looking binocular, and the bigger eyecups help a lot with eye placement comfort. When I first looked through them, it amazed me how clear, sharp and bright they are. I don't find the FOV that restrictive anymore either after using compact binoculars with their smaller FOV for a while, and 7x is much easier to hold steady.

This pair of Habicht 7x42 GA's actually has an easier focuser than most Habicht's because I think it was broken in a little, but cosmetically it shows very little use. There is something about the Habicht's that makes them special. I think it is the transparency, unbelievable brightness and on-axis sharpness that set's them apart from even the alpha roofs. PC230740.JPG
 
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Here's a question for the folks with the real nous: can the wide-angle eyepieces of the 8x30 or 10x40 be finagled onto the 7x42?
Because that would be the ultimate bino (despite the existence of the 7x42 FLT*).
I only sold my Habicht 7x42 GA after I got zhe Zeiss 7x42 FL T*, because that is indeed the dog's danglies in my bino world. Possibly one day to be usurped by the Habicht 6x30, if I ever manage to snag one.
 
The eyepieces can be exchanged, but the result would not be a wide angle 7x42 since the 8x30/10x40 eyepiece has a shorter focal length than the 7x42 eyepiece.

Jan van Daalen had a custom made 8x30 GA assembled for me by switching the objective tubes between a 10x40 GA and an 8x30 OGA. The result was a 10x40 OGA and an 8x30 GA with center focus and current coatings, something I wanted but Swarovski doesn't make anymore. If the objective tubes were switched between the 7x42 and 8x30 the results would be something close to but maybe not precisely a 10x42 and the no longer available 6x30.
 
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[email protected] said:
I sold my NL 8x32 because I compared it closely with the Nikon MHG 8x42, and I found the Nikon had 95% of the performance at less than 1/2 the price. The biggest difference between the two is the NL has sharper edges than the MHG. The Nikon MHG 8x42 has a 435 foot FOV, which is only 15 feet less than the NL 8x32 which has a 450 foot FOV and the Nikon MHG does not have the glare in the bottom of the FOV like the NL does.

I really like the fact the Nikon MHG 8x42 has a 42mm aperture also versus the 32mm aperture of the NL, yet it weighs about the same at 24 oz. When I compared the NL 8x32 and MHG 8x42 in low light, there was a big difference in brightness, and it made me prefer the MHG 8x42, especially considering the price difference. I also really like the handling and ergonomics of the Nikon MHG 8x42 also.
Click to expand...
Are you ever satisfied with a binoculair?
The grass is always greener on the other side huh? 😉
 
[email protected] said:
Zeiss concentrated on center field sharpness in the FL's and deliberately designed some pin cushioning in the optical design to avoid rolling ball when panning.

It seems to have worked because Zeiss binoculars are some of the sharpest binoculars I have seen on-axis from the Conquest HD to the SF and have very little rolling ball.

True flat field binoculars like the Swarovski EL have considerable rolling ball when panning and can be a dealbreaker if it bothers you. For that reason, even the Swarovski NL has a slight bit of pincushion now to avoid rolling ball.

The newer Zeiss SF have less pincushion than the FL, but more than the Swarovski NL's to avoid rolling ball. Optics are all about tradeoffs in the end. You can't have everything.

I am impressed with the low level of distortion in the FL 7x42. Comparing it directly to the Nikon HG 8x42 it has less distortion with sharper edges and the Nikon is supposed to have a field flattener.
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[email protected] said:
Even If you could put the WA eyepiece of the Habicht 8x30 on the Habicht 7x42, it would increase the glare and decrease the transmission. A big part of the advantage of the Habicht 7x42 GA is the almost complete absence of glare and the extremely high transmission because of the simple 3-element Kellner eyepiece. The Habicht 7X42 GA is so sharp and with the steadiness of 7x they are the only non-IS binocular I have been able to read the lettering on my neighbor's A/C unit with and that includes the NL 8x32.

A WA eyepiece increase glare and decreases transmission because it usually has 6 or 7 elements in it, as can be seen in the NL 8x32. I sold my Zeiss FL 7x42 because of too much green color bias and too much distortion for me. The Habicht 7x42 GA is much better in that regard, and it is much brighter and more transparent than the FL.
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I don't post in this area much as I'll admit my knowledge of the finer points of binoculars could be better, but I know what I like looking through.

I've made the important bits bold - really?
 
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Thanks for the thread, and the snow,
finally about to receive a plain 7x42, inspired by your 2022 thread,
www.birdforum.net

Why are those dang Habicht's so BRIGHT!

Habicht's aren't the best birding binoculars out there. Far from it. The focuser is too tight, they can have glare issues and the eye cups are too small, at least on the W. The GA or armored version do have bigger eye cups, and you can help the glare and small eye cups on the W with a Bino...
www.birdforum.net www.birdforum.net
 
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In mid December the exact same binoculars were purchased on EBay by the person who sold these here. Comparing photos of the new purcahse with the ones that were sold show that these are identical. At the time the seller worte the following:

"I forgot how good the Swarovski Habicht 7x42 GA's were until I picked up a pair on eBay for $700 from Sweden. I just received them today after 13 days shipping time, and they are like new. "

Selling the exact same binoculars on BirdForum for almost $500 more (!?) is a very naughty thing to do. Someone has been ripped off. And rather conveniently, the OP has removed the image of the item for sale from here, but they are the same ones that were bought for $700 a few weeks ago. But of course we don't know how much the OP actually got for the sale, but a bit off if he is exploiting the classifieds for a huge profit.
It is exactly because of such dodgey dealings that I will never buy nor sell on here.
SW
(BTW, this is copy of same text as in classifieds)
 
@ seawatcher: I would politely ask you to reconsider your text - which I am therefore not quoting - for the following reasons:
  • Buying from overseas involves higher risks and costs, which should be reflected in a lower price.
  • In a free market economy, every seller has the right to charge the price he considers appropriate. Equally, every buyer has the opportunity to consider whether the good in question is worth this price or not. IMHO it is not necessary to pay attention to morally impeccable prices as long as life and limb are not at stake.
  • The seller has already sold numerous binoculars on BF in the past and often had to accept considerably lower prices than those he had paid himself a few weeks earlier. In this respect, making a profit is certainly not his main concern. The lower prices probably didn't bother his customers. Hence, I don't blame him now for not wanting to pass on a possible bargain.
  • If I had to criticise anything at all, it would be the fact that the seller did not point out the age of the binoculars, which is clearly evident from the serial number (1995 = 30 years). In view of possible technical updates during this period, I in person think it is fair to state the year of manufacture if the current new price is also indicated.
 
forent said:
@ seawatcher: I would politely ask you to reconsider your text - which I am therefore not quoting - for the following reasons:
  • Buying from overseas involves higher risks and costs, which should be reflected in a lower price.
  • In a free market economy, every seller has the right to charge the price he considers appropriate. Equally, every buyer has the opportunity to consider whether the good in question is worth this price or not. IMHO it is not necessary to pay attention to morally impeccable prices as long as life and limb are not at stake.
  • The seller has already sold numerous binoculars on BF in the past and often had to accept considerably lower prices than those he had paid himself a few weeks earlier. In this respect, making a profit is certainly not his main concern. The lower prices probably didn't bother his customers. Hence, I don't blame him now for not wanting to pass on a possible bargain.
  • If I had to criticise anything at all, it would be the fact that the seller did not point out the age of the binoculars, which is clearly evident from the serial number (1995 = 30 years). In view of possible technical updates during this period, I in person think it is fair to state the year of manufacture if the current new price is also indicated.
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I don't disagree with what you say Forent. Buying from Ebay and then selling on BirdForum is something I am not comfortable with, particularly if there is a noticeable profit. In this case the asking price was a huge mark-up on the price that they were purchased. If someone wants to pay that much then fine, it is up to them. Maybe the 30 year old model is a collector's item and worth a lot more than $700, and a collector might be willing to pay that amount, or even more? At least as you say, life and limb are not at stake, just a large hole in someone's wallet. I will contimue to buy and sell only through dealers. SW
 

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