| This Swift Ultra armored porro prism binocular is waterproof – a rarity among porro prism binoculars. Sudden showers or driving rainstorms won’t threaten its optical well-being. It weighs only 26.5 ounces, surprisingly light for a full-size porro prism. It is armored in two-tone dual density grey rubber. The easy-to-hold armor has embossed dimples on its gripping surfaces for a positive hold in wet weather. Its 5.4" 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. The close focus is rated by Swift at 13’ – acceptable, but not outstanding, for an 8x binocular. We typically measure the close focus at one or two feet less. However, not everyone will be able to achieve the shorter figure, so we’ll stick with Swift’s more conservative 13’. Despite its not-exceptionally close focus, the high resolution and brightness of its fully-multicoated 42mm optics make it a good performer across a wide range of observing conditions, from reasonably near to far, from bright sunlight to dim twilight. Curvature of field and barrel distortion are modest, and astigmatism is well controlled. The result is images that stay usably sharp across most of the field. The sharp images combine with good color rendition and low chromatic aberration for a view that is easy on the eyes during extended observing sessions. Overall, this is an optically and mechanically very good waterproof binocular at a very reasonable price. It’s easy on the eyes, easy in the hands, and very easy on the budget. Features of this binocular . . . Porro prism optics. Z-body porro prism design with center focus. Top-quality BaK-4 prisms for unvignetted images and 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. It is fully multicoated on all air-to-glass optical surfaces for very good light transmission with minimum light loss in dim conditions. Waterproof. O-ring sealed to be waterproof in all temperature and climate extremes. Designed to operate reliably from rainforest to desert. Armor. Dual-density, dual-color grey rubber armor (dark grey dimpled gripping surfaces with softer-textured medium grey inserts at the front and rear of the barrels). The armor 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 stops at four heights to let you match the amount of eye relief to your eyesight. Good eye relief. 16mm of usable eye relief allows views that are only mildly vignetted for those who must wear eyeglasses while observing due to severe astigmatism. Very fast focusing. Only three-quarters of a turn of the smooth and comfortably-large ribbed focus knob moves from the 13’ close focus out to the horizon. Rotary diopter correction. A variable diopter ring with 15 clickstops on the right eyepiece allows you to match the binocular optics to your individual eyesight for a sharp image. Wide neck strap. The comfortable wide woven neck strap makes the lightweight binocular even less of a burden to carry during all-day birding sessions. 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. Supplied accessories. A soft case with a belt loop and a removable shoulder strap is standard. Also included are snap-in objective lens covers and an eyepiece rainguard.
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