| This Swift 8 x 42mm Horizon roof prism binocular weighs only 26.8 ounces, surprisingly light for a full-size roof prism. It is armored and nitrogen-filled to be fully waterproof and internally fogproof in all climate extremes. Its compact 5.5" length is easy to handle, and its light weight won’t weigh you down during all-day birding. This is an easy-to-carry all-day/all-weather birding bino. We invariably measure a very good 5’ close focus, making this Swift 8x42 Horizon a good choice for butterflies, as well as close-in warbler, woodland, and backyard feeder birding. At a 5’ close focus, its 8x magnification effectively puts you within a bigger-than-life 7.5" of the bird or butterfly. The Swift Horizon is equally at home when examining the details and colors of distant birds in open field, lake, and shore-side birding – thanks to its phase- and silver-coated roof prisms and the high resolution and brightness of its fully-multicoated 42mm optics. This reasonably-priced 8 x 42 Swift Horizon is a surprisingly good performer across a wide range of observing conditions, from near to far, from bright sunlight to dim twilight. Astigmatism is quite low and geometric (barrel) distortion is very modest. There is some curvature of field, so that images at the edges of the field are somewhat softer than they are at the center, but the images stay usably sharp across most of the quite wide 7.4° field. Overall, this is an optically and mechanically quite good binocular at a very reasonable price. It’s easy on the eyes, easy in the hands, and easy on the budget.
Features of this binocular . . . Roof prism optics. H-body roof prism design with internal center focus. Top-quality BaK-4 prisms for high light transmission. Large aperture fully multicoated optics. Large 42mm objective lenses gather substantial amounts of light for bright images in twilight or overcast conditions. The twilight factor is 18.33, well above the 17 recommended as a minimum for a low light binocular. The optics are fully multicoated with antireflection materials for good light transmission and minimum light loss in dim conditions.
Silver coated prisms. The image-erecting roof prism have a mirrored surface coated with high reflectivity silver for neutral color reproduction and high light transmission through the prisms.
Phase coated optics. Phase-correcting roof prism coatings provide very high contrast and resolution. This is particularly visible when looking sunwards, where more color and detail are clearly visible in the shadowed areas of backlit or silhouetted birds.
Waterproof. The rugged die-cast magnesium alloy body is O-ring sealed and nitrogen filled to be waterproof and internally fogproof in all temperature and climate extremes. The Swift Horizon is designed to operate reliably in rainforests and deserts alike. In addition, the dry nitrogen filling prevents tarnishing of the silver prism coatings for years of unblemished optical excellence.
Armor. Fully coated in black rubber armor that absorbs noise and shock and provides a good grip when wet.
Twist-up eyecups. The rubber-rimmed eyecups twist counterclockwise to extend and clockwise to retract. There are two soft stops intermediate between the retracted and fully-extended positions to let you match the amount of eye relief to your eyesight. Three eye relief heights are labeled in mm on the eyecup barrels.
Good eye relief. Eye relief is specified at 18mm. While this is technically correct, the actual usable eye relief typically measures a millimeter or two less. This is due to the recessing of the eyepiece lenses to protect them from getting scratched when the eyecups are in the down position for eyeglass use. A shorter eye relief than specified is typical of virtually all binoculars. Some minor vignetting will be visible for those eyeglass wearers who must wear eyeglasses while observing due to severe astigmatism.
Wide field. The field of view is a substantial 7.4° degrees (387’ at 1000 yards). This is wider than many binoculars more than twice its reasonable price. The wide field makes the Horizon well suited for close-in woodland and backyard birding.
Very close focusing. Little more than one turn of the large focus knob moves from the very good close focus out to the horizon and beyond. Swift specifies an exceptional 3.9’ as the close focus, but we usually measure it as being closer to 5’ in our tests. A 5’ close focus is still very, very good for close-in birding and butterflies.
Rotary diopter correction. A continuously variable diopter ring on the right eyepiece allows you to match the binocular optics to your individual eyesight for the sharpest images. The diopter ring is quite stiff and unlikely to accidentally shift out of position during use.
Tripod adaptable. A standard 1/4"-20 thread socket for attaching an optional tripod adapter is located at the front end of the binocular’s center hinge. A thread-in plastic plate covers the tripod socket when not in use.
Wide neck strap. The wide neck strap is padded with soft neoprene and cloth-wrapped for more comfortable long-term use in hot weather. It makes the lightweight binocular even less of a burden to carry during all-day birding sessions.
Other supplied accessories. A lightly-padded textured soft vinyl case with a belt loop and a shoulder strap is standard. Also included are snap-in objective lens covers to protect the optics during transport and storage and an eyepiece rainguard.
|
Printer friendly version
Email page link to a friend
Do you have a question about this product?
