Swarovski SLC New 10x42 WB
Mechanically, the binoculars are made of anti-allergic and odourless material, comfortable to hold. They feature adjustable eyecups which can be twisted up and down. These binoculars come with central focusing. The individual focusing of the right eyepiece was solved in an original way – you have an additional knob, situated on the central focus wheel.
The binoculars are nitrogen-filled and waterproof down to a depth of four meters. They are equipped with a tripod exit and a wide range of additional accessories is available. You can complement the set by buying profiled eyecups, a very stable and solid tripod adapter (included in box in the case of a 15x56 model) and a so-called “booster” - an eyepiece cap that increases the binoculars’ magnifications two times.
In 2005, Swarovski launched a new SLC series, slightly made over. Binoculars got a better strap, a nicer and a bit more comfortable housing and, what’s the most important thing, they got physically lighter by even 50 grams. Unfortunately their price is also “new” so a several hundred PLN more than previously.
In the SLC series Swarovski offers the following models: 8x30, 7x42, 10x42, 7x50, 8x50, 10x50, 8x56 and 15x56.
| Magnification | Lens diameter | Angular field of view | Prisms | Eye relief | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 42 | 110/1000(6.3o) | BaK-4/roof | 14 mm | 870 g | 5500 PLN |
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| Real front lens diameter |
Left: 42.48+/-
0.05 mm Right: 42.47+/- 0.05 mm |
8 / 8.0 pkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real magnification | 10+/- 0.15x | 3/3.0 | ||||
| Transmission | 91+/- 3% | 18.5/25.0 | ||||
| Chromatic aberration | Slight. | 7.5/10.0 | ||||
| Astigmatism | Almost perfectly corrected. | 9.4/10.0 | ||||
| Distortion | The distance of the first curved line from the field centre compared to the field of view radius: 45% +\- 5% | 5/10.0 | ||||
| Coma | Appears very far from the centre of FOV but is significant at the very edge. | 7.6/10.0 | ||||
| Blurring at the edge of the FOV | The blur appears in the distance of 89% +\- 4% from the field of view centre. | 8/10.0 | ||||
| Darkening at the edge the FOV | Imperceptible. | 4.8/5.0 | ||||
| Whiteness of the image | Perfect. | 4.9/5.0 | ||||
| Collimation | Exemplary. | 5/5.0 | ||||
| Internal reflections |
|
4.4/5.0 | ||||
| Housing | Very solid, very convenient to hold. A bit heavy. Eyecups set in detented stops can collapse under a very high pressure. | 7.7/8.0 | ||||
| Focusing | Exemplary. Two screws in one so you can focus with just one finger. The full turn takes 360 degrees. | 5/5.0 | ||||
| Tripod | There is an exit for a brand-name tripod foot. | 2/3.0 | ||||
| Interpupilary distance | from 56 to 76mm | 5/6.0 | ||||
| Closest focusing distance | 3.30 m. | 1/2.0 | ||||
| Eyepieces FOV | Apparent field of view of 61.8 deg (according to simple formula) and 56.7 deg (according to tangent formula). | 11.5/20.0 | ||||
| Field of view | Measured by us amounted to 6.18 +\- 0.04 degrees and it was slightly narrower than in the specifications. | 6/8.0 | ||||
| Quality of the interior of the barrels | Inner tube gray and matt. Bottom gray and slightly less matt. Very clean. | 4.7/5.0 | ||||
| Vignetting |
|
8/8.0 | ||||
| Prisms quality | High quality BaK-4. | 8/8.0 | ||||
| Antireflection coatings | Green-yellow on objectives and prisms.Green-yellow-pink on eyepieces. Very low intensity. | 5/5.0 | ||||
| Warranty [years] | 30 years | 5/6.0 | ||||
| Final result |
81.6%
2nd place in the overall ranking of 10x42 binoculars test. |
155 / 190 pkt | ||||
| Econo result | 28th place in the econo ranking of 10x42 binoculars test. | 0.8pkt. |
Summary
Pros:
- excellent quality of housing, very convenient to hold and to look through,
- very good transmission,
- slight chromatic aberration,
- practically zero astigmatism level,
- low coma,
- excellent whiteness reproduction,
- imperceptible light fall-off at the edge of the field,
- perfectly circular exit pupils on almost black background,
- sharp image almost to the edge of the field,
- high quality prisms and coatings,
- wide maximum gauge of the eyepieces,
- good blackening inside the binoculars,
- long warranty period.
Cons:
- distortion could have been lower,
- minimal focus distance amounts to 3.3 meters.
Here we have another practically flawless binoculars, which won a very high, because second place, in our 10x42 binoculars test. What’s interesting, it fared better than the flag EL 10x42 Swarovski model, which is physically lighter, has shorter minimal focus distance but is also over 200 USD more expensive. It proves that the SLC series’ renown is fully deserved and a forced slimming down of binoculars doesn’t always do you good.
The results of the Swarovski SLC New 10x42 are difficult to flaw. Even the high distortion level was added a bit by force to the “cons” list - the binoculars’ result was, in fact, medium (5 points out of 10). The minimum focus result is a bigger slip-up – it would be perhaps accepted if we dealt with a Porro binoculars but in the case of an expensive roof-prism instrument it can’t be deemed satisfactory. In you don’t see a problem with these 3.3 meters, though, you can buy the SLC model and never even look at the EL series.
The Allbinos.com/Optyczne.pl editorial team decided to award this set of binoculars the “The Choice of the Allbinos.com/Optyczne.pl Editorial Team” distinction for winning the 2nd place in the 10x42 binoculars ranking.
