10x50 is the classic format for
astronomy. Meanwhile other members of Swarovski’s EL range are among my
favourite binoculars. So, put the two together and you should have a fantastic
instrument for exploring the night sky. In this review, I find out whether the
Swarovski 10x50 ELs live up to that theory.
Swarovski 10x50 EL Review
Many regard 10x50 as the ideal astronomy binoculars. Being a
rebel at heart I’ve generally preferred higher magnifications and bigger lenses,
but recently I’ve realised how tiring those big bino’s are to hold (having
reviewed a clutch of them). So as an antidote to all those big-eye behemoths, I
decided to try out the 10x50 format in one of my favourite binocular ranges –
the Swarovski EL.
At A Glance
|
Magnification |
10 |
|
Objective Size |
50mm |
|
Eye Relief |
20mm claimed, ~15mm measured |
|
Actual Field of View |
6.6 degrees |
|
Apparent field of view |
63 degrees |
|
Close focus |
2.5m |
|
Transmissivity |
~90% |
|
Length |
174mm |
|
Weight |
999g |
Data from
Swarovski
What’s in the Box?
Note: The
style of box and case may differ in your country.
Design and Build
The ELs were for many years Swarovski’s premium range.
As of now (late 2022) the 42mm and 50mm models all remain in production,
though the 32mm have been discontinued.
The 32mm and 42mm models have been superseded by a new top-line binocular, the NL Pure.
The ELs originally came in various sizes from 8x32 to the 12x50 I
reviewed a couple of years back.
Body and Ergonomics
It happened again! When I reviewed the 12x50 ELs I had to
double check they hadn’t sent me 10x42s by mistake. This time I again found
myself checking to see if they were the smaller model: they really don’t seem
much bigger or heavier, though in reality they weigh 150g more and are slightly
longer and chunkier. Even so, you get the point – the 10x50 ELs are compact for
the format. They are nothing like those big 10x56 SLCs and Zeiss Conquests I’ve
been testing (which is a good thing).
Part of the reason for their (relatively) low weight is that
Swarovski use magnesium alloy for the body, not aluminium like the cheaper
SLCs.
I really like the slim, open bridge design of the ELs and
that metal bridge looks much classier than the plastic hinge of an SLC HD. I
prefer the subtle-but-classy look of the Swarovski ELs to the rather showy
styling of the Zeiss HTs.
The armour is slightly different in texture from the SLCs’,
but just as grippy and non-rubbery.
Compact body
has thumb cutouts on the back.
Focuser
The focuser is fast, taking about one and a quarter turns
from close focus to infinity. Precision is perfect, with no play. The action is
quite smooth but suffers from the occasional ‘stiction’ that afflicts most
greaseless focusers.
Dioptre adjustment is effected by pulling the focuser knob to
reveal a scale. Turning the focuser now adjusts the dioptre. It’s similar to
the old Zeiss Victory FLs’, but lighter yet more positive with a click-stop
mechanism. The scale is numbered in half-dioptres too and appears accurate, so
if you know your prescription you can just dial in the difference.
Pull the focuser
to adjust dioptre. Those numbers accurately reflect your difference in
prescription.
Optics - Prisms
The EL range all employ conventional Schmidt-Pechan roof prisms complete with SWARObright
dielectric mirror coatings and of course phase coating too.
Optics - Objectives
The objectives are an air spaced triplet design that includes
one or perhaps two HD elements.
All the latest coatings are applied – SWAROtop
and SWAROdur. They also have the SWAROclean
coating that repels dirt and water like Zeiss’ LotuTec.
From what I can see, there is a single knife edge baffle
behind the objectives and ridged baffles in the focuser tube. The objectives
are well recessed to help prevent flare, but don’t have the micro-baffled ring
in front to cut flare like some (for example) Zeiss binoculars.
Darkened
lens ring, excellent coatings and knife-edge baffles behind the lenses.
Optics - Eyepieces
The eyepieces are a six element design that includes a
field-flattening lens. The eye lens is big and deeply recessed, from whence the
eye relief problem comes (see below): it’s no use designing a long-ER eyepiece
and then burying the lens deep in the eye cup.
I could bore for Britain about eye relief, but it winds me up
that there is no consistency, even within a single maker. These 10x50 ELs are a
case in point. Swarovski state 20mm, but I measure it at more like 15mm from
the eye cup rim. Whatever the precise figure, it’s about 3mm less than my Zeiss
7x42s which are stated at 16mm and much less than Swarovski’s own 10x56 SLC HDs
which are rated at 19.5mm. This isn’t splitting hairs – the difference between
15mm and 20mm is between annoyingly tight and … ahhhh
… complete relaxation at the eyepiece.
In practice, eye relief is enough to
see almost the whole field with specs on, but only if I push my glasses into my
face slightly with the bino’s.
To compensate for the relative lack of eye relief, there are
no kidney-bean blackouts with glasses and only occasional minor ones without.
Field of view looks quite wide on paper at 6.6 degrees true
(115m at 1000m), but feels even wider because that field is so flat.
The eye cups have three extended positions and Swarovski’s
usual exemplary twist-out action.
Three extended eye cup positions. The first has very
little extension.
Accessories
The ELs come with Swarovski’s semi-rigid field case as
standard. It’s an excellent item with a soft lining and separate compartment
for accessories. It is designed for both 50mm and 56mm models, so it’s on the
large size for these ELs.
Swarovski’s standard premium ‘lift’ strap and band-on
objective covers are included. Note that
the new ‘FieldPro’ version (late 2015 on) has integrated
caps and special strap.
Semi-rigid
field case is nice but big (it fits the 56mm models too).
Swarovski
10x50 EL with (pre – FieldPro) strap and caps fitted.
In Use – Daytime
Ergonomics and Handling
Comfort is state of the art. The 10x50 ELs handle like a
smaller binocular and don’t feel as
heavy as they are. The double barrels are very comfortable and secure to hold.
The armour is grippy but not rubbery and doesn’t attract marks and dirt like
some (Zeiss).
The focuser is easy to use and precise, though I still prefer
Nikon’s HG focuser to any greaseless design like this one. Dioptre is very easy
to set and impossible to knock out accidentally. The eye cups work better than
any other with very positive click-stops.
The only demerit on the comfort front is that shortish eye
relief. According to the brochure ER is super-generous, but none of the EL
models I’ve tried has more than adequate ER in practice. I can’t quite see the
whole field with specs on and it feels tight – if I stop pushing them into my
glasses, I lose a bit more field width. It’s enough – but only just.
Panning is surprisingly comfortable considering they are a
flat-field design (see note below).
Unlike many (most) larger-objective binoculars, the EL 10x50s
look elegant and unobtrusive when carried. In other words you won’t look out of
place in a group of birders all wearing 8x42s.
Swarovski 10x50 ELs don’t feel like a big binocular to
hold.
10x50 ELs look like a regular birding bino’ hanging
around my neck.
The View
The daytime view is the very best: wide, sharp, bright, full
of finely-resolved detail edge to edge and with great depth of field and
virtually no nasty false colour fringing. Colours are very naturally rendered
but still vivid; perhaps just a shade warmer than my Zeiss Victory FLs.
It goes without saying that optical fabrication quality is
the very best. Focus snap is absolute and collimation super-comfy perfect.
The fantastic thing here is that you just aren’t making any
compromises at all for the big lenses – these perform like the very best small birding binoculars
during the day.
Close focus performance is outstanding for such a high-power,
big objective design. I can easily focus on objects across my study, but the
barrels don’t merge as well as the 42mm version very close up (less than 3m).
I experienced no ghosting and only fleeting veiling flare
when viewing around a low sun.
Flat field?
The field is a bit wider on paper than the 10x56 SLC HDs’;
but it’s also much flatter, so all of it is usable. That make these 10x50 ELs
feel as if they have a wider field than the SLC HDs, superb though they are.
Because even the field at the stop is sharp and usable it
seems the field is completely flat; it isn’t. In fact Swarovski have added just
a little pin-cushion for comfortable panning so these don’t create the rolling
ball effect I saw recently in Zeiss’ big 15x56 Conquests. It’s an ideal
compromise for me.
Chromatic Aberration
Correction for chromatic aberration is among the very best,
slightly better than my Zeiss 7x42 FLs. I watched a crow teetering on the top
of a nearby conifer against a brilliant sunny sky, with perfect definition and
no false-colour rim around his black feathers.
In Use – Dusk
The 10x50 ELs work very well into deep dusk as you would
expect, but are not quite up to the latest big-eye models with
high-transmission Abbe-König prisms. These 10x50s give slightly less
‘light-intensifier’ effect in full night than 56mm models.
In Use – The
Night Sky
The view at night is characterised by the same high levels of
comfort as during the day. For some reason this is a pair of binoculars I could
really relax with, perhaps due to the wide flat field, perfect optics and
modest weight.
Contrast is supreme and really helps tease out faint DSOs.
Stars remain stars across the whole field, with just slight
blurring near the very edge. Even there, the slight remaining pincushion can be
focused out (there is no significant astigmatism).
Ghosting and flare suppression are not the very best at
night. A bright security light in field caused a faint ghost. Bright lights
outside the field cause minor veiling flare. However, there was no ghosting with the Moon in-field and very fleeting
and minor veiling flare around it.
The Moon
The 6-day Moon looked about as good as I’ve seen it at 10x,
with just a trace of false colour on the limb but very sharply defined
otherwise. Resting on the car in my drive, I could see significant Lunar detail
on the terminator – rugged Janssen, the mountainous rim of Mare Nectaris, Proclus with it bright rays near Mare Criseum, Hercules and Atlas in the north.
Planets
Jupiter looked as good as it ever does in binos
– a sharply defined disk with no significant flare or spiking surrounded by the
Galilean moons as perfect points.
Venus was a tiny dazzling disk with no flare or spiking
either.
Saturn, though very low and small in the dawn, showed its
Galilean ‘handles’ (all you can make out of the rings at this magnification)
and a distinctly pinkish-yellow hue.
Deep Sky
Despite being ‘only’ a 10x50 (I’ve recently reviewed a number
of 10x56 and 15x56 models), the ELs are absolutely first rate on deep sky. I’m
going to go into some detail here for prospective astronomy users. Feel free to
skip down to the comparison section if you’re not interested.
The view of the Great Nebula in Orion on a clear night was
the best I’ve had through binoculars, period. I could make out the dark lane
and sharply defined ‘arms’ as if through a telescope. With averted vision I
could see variations in the nebulosity – something I’ve never seen with
hand-held binoculars before.
I also found it very easy to find relatively small, faint
DSOs, something I wasn’t expecting of a 10x50. I quickly picked out the Crab
Nebula in Taurus. I found various galaxies without difficulty – M51 and M101 in
Ursa Major; M96 and M105 in Leo. Bode’s Nebula was
very bright and easy to find, the two galaxies looking quite different from one
another, not just faint smudges.
The tight stars and high contrast make for a beautiful view
of clusters. M35-38 in Auriga, including the Starfish (M38) and Pinwheel (M36)
clusters, were a silvery mist of separate stars. Their characteristic shapes
were easily visible. I could just fit M36, 37 and 38 into the same field of
view and enjoy them together – only possible thanks to the flat field.
The Double Cluster looked fantastic – masses of pinpoint
stars, including the two red ones (AD and FZ Per) in the middle and the Heart
Nebula region nearby in the same field of view.
The Andromeda galaxy – M31 - looked very bright and well
defined. On the opposite side of Mirach, M33 was very bright and distinct too.
On a later night, I was able to pull various dim DSOs out of
the Moonlight, including the Crab, Bode’s and even
M15 near Enif in Pegasus and the Dumbbell Nebula,
despite both being very low in the sky.
I could go on. Perhaps
you can tell, I had a fantastic few nights of deep sky observing with the
Swarovski 10x50 ELs. Despite their modest aperture and power, they are among my
very favourite astronomy binoculars. I became addicted to using them and wasted
hours enjoying their view.
Enjoying the
Dumbbell Nebula with the 10x50 ELs
Swarovski 10x50 EL vs Swarovski 10x56
SLC HD
This is an obvious comparison, so let’s
summarise the main contrasting features of these two state-of-the-art 10x
binoculars.
·
The
ELs are 200g lighter and 2cm shorter, but the difference feels even greater
than the numbers suggest
·
The
ELs are much more elegant, but basic build quality is the same
·
The
ELs have a flatter and wider (115m vs 110m at 1000m) field
·
The
SLC HDs have much more real-world eye relief
·
The
SLC HDs are a touch brighter during the day and significantly brighter at dusk
or at night thanks to their bigger objectives and Abbe-König prisms
·
Both binoculars are among the very best for suppressing false
colour
·
The
SLC HDs suppress ghosts and flare a little better
·
The
focuser is essentially the same
·
The
view is just superb through both
·
Their
compact size (but not the view) make the ELs a more
general purpose binocular
·
List
price is about 20% more for the ELs
Summary
I absolutely love the 10x50 ELs. Larger binoculars have a bit
more reach, smaller ones slightly better portability, but taken in the round
these are among my favourite binoculars ever, simple as that.
On the one hand the daytime view is simply the best: bright,
wide, flat, sharp, with really outstanding resolution and contrast and almost
no false colour. The view for astronomy is as good as it gets too – wide and
steady for lovely views of star fields and clusters, but deep and contrasty
enough to find smaller DSOs and show nebular detail in larger ones.
On the other hand, these are a small and reasonably light
binocular, a real relief after reviewing some big 15x56s. They handle like a
large 10x42 and so are much more comfortable and manageable than big-eye binoculars.
There are a couple of downsides: a trace of ghosting and veiling flare on a bright artificial light
is pretty much just academic. But that tighter-than-advertised eye relief is a
minor annoyance.
All in all, though, these come the closest yet to being the
perfect all-round binocular – outstanding for everything and still very
manageable to carry. Overall, I slightly prefer them to the 12x50 EL for their
steadier, wider view. If I had to own only a single pair these would be a
contender.
The Swarovski 10x50 ELs get my highest recommendation. I’m
tempted to buy a pair.
Buy Swarovski 10x50 EL from Wex here:
