15x56 SLC HD Review

[kwp]

This story starts last fall when I made the decision that I was going to buy the new Swarovski 15x56 SLC HD binoculars. I called Swarovski and Outdoorsmans to see how to go about getting them as early as possible. A good buddy of mine had an upcoming New Mexico Barbary Sheep hunt in February 2014 and I was hoping to have them for that hunt. I decided to pre-pay for them and the guys at Outdoorsmans told me that they thought it would be mid to late January at the earliest, even though Swaro was shooting for January 1st. Christmas passed and I was hoping Swaro would hit their mark for a late gift from Santa. The guys at Outdoorsmans kept me updated and Swaros date kept getting pushed back. Finally, 7 days before our departure, Cody from the Outdoorsmans called and said that he had talked one of the Swaro reps into sending me his pair that he takes to shows as a loaner, just for the hunt. Keep in mind, I don't know these guys, I am just another customer. I was amazed at the lengths that Cody (and Swaro) went to make me a happy customer.

 

On to my review;

There were three of us on the hunt, all using top of the line 15x56 binos. One buddy has the 15x56 Leica Geovid non HD and the other has the current 15x56 Swaro SLC non-HD.

 

 

My initial observation was that the new HDs are quite a bit shorter than the current SLCs and that the ocular lenses are quite a bit bigger. When using them it was very clear that the pupilary(sp) distance had been reduced. The older SLCs are useable for me but I have them sqeezed together as far as they will go. With the HDs, there was plently of room to adjust them closer together. I also noted that the HD focus wheel was easier to adjust with gloves on. The eyecups on the HDs twist out and click into a few different positions, which I also like better.

 

Looking through them the biggest difference is the brightness. The HD versions are noticebly brighter than their predecessor and significantly brighter than the Leicas. The difference in clarity is not as big but the HDs are definitely clearer than the non HD models. The brightness and clarity upgrades were most noticeable when glassing into the shade, during a bright sunny day. With the HDs the shady areas were much more crisp, making it alot easier to make out what it was in the shady area.

 

I feel like Swaro upgraded every aspect of the binos that for so long have been the gold standard that all other binos are compared to. I know that I am very excited to get my permanent pair (hopefully very soon) and will never regret the purchase.

 

[naturebob]

I have close eyes and the old ones whouldn't work for Me . I bought Doctoers (15's) 20 years ago then went to Minox cuz they fit my eyes and price. But I am ready to spend some $. This sounds great. All were purchased from the Outdoorsman. Still using My original Bogen tri-pod that came as a package with the big pistol grip. Kinda heavy and bulky. Like to upgrade all. At 57 they should last longer than Me.......BOB!..... PS. What do they cost Roughley?

[trphyhntr]

good to know. tbh i think my leicas are as good or better than my dads old slc's. never looked through the new hd's though.

[naturebob]

I like Leica's as well. I have the 900 range finder ( 5 years now) and its as true as anything. never seen their spotting scopes, but the only one I whould touch is the swaro HD high dollar one or nothing. I can tell at 1-3 miles away if a animal has a good rack with My 15's but to get any detail you need the hd's in the spotting scope. Just an old farts opinion.....BOB!

[Guest wdenike]

kwp,

 

 

 

Good job on the review! Seems to be an honest evaluation of the comparison. And good luck with the new purchase. Also kudos to OUTDOORSMAN for that kind of customer service. But to the rest of the readers, I say hold on to your hats!!!! Because when these become more readily available. I fear the reviews will likely be that when you put these jewels to your eyes, they simply grow trophy animals right before your very eyes. And you will be lost with out them.

 

 

 

Take care, Willie

[DesertBull]

LETS SEE THE SHEEP!!!!

[oz31p]

LETS SEE THE SHEEP!!!!

 

Beat me to it.

[Seldom Drawn]

This story starts last fall when I made the decision that I was going to buy the new Swarovski 15x56 SLC HD binoculars. I called Swarovski and Outdoorsmans to see how to go about getting them as early as possible. A good buddy of mine had an upcoming New Mexico Barbary Sheep hunt in February 2014 and I was hoping to have them for that hunt. I decided to pre-pay for them and the guys at Outdoorsmans told me that they thought it would be mid to late January at the earliest, even though Swaro was shooting for January 1st. Christmas passed and I was hoping Swaro would hit their mark for a late gift from Santa. The guys at Outdoorsmans kept me updated and Swaros date kept getting pushed back. Finally, 7 days before our departure, Cody from the Outdoorsmans called and said that he had talked one of the Swaro reps into sending me his pair that he takes to shows as a loaner, just for the hunt. Keep in mind, I don't know these guys, I am just another customer. I was amazed at the lengths that Cody (and Swaro) went to make me a happy customer.

 

On to my review;

There were three of us on the hunt, all using top of the line 15x56 binos. One buddy has the 15x56 Leica Geovid non HD and the other has the current 15x56 Swaro SLC non-HD.

 

DSC_8361.JPG

 

My initial observation was that the new HDs are quite a bit shorter than the current SLCs and that the ocular lenses are quite a bit bigger. When using them it was very clear that the pupilary(sp) distance had been reduced. The older SLCs are useable for me but I have them sqeezed together as far as they will go. With the HDs, there was plently of room to adjust them closer together. I also noted that the HD focus wheel was easier to adjust with gloves on. The eyecups on the HDs twist out and click into a few different positions, which I also like better.

 

Looking through them the biggest difference is the brightness. The HD versions are noticebly brighter than their predecessor and significantly brighter than the Leicas. The difference in clarity is not as big but the HDs are definitely clearer than the non HD models. The brightness and clarity upgrades were most noticeable when glassing into the shade, during a bright sunny day. With the HDs the shady areas were much more crisp, making it alot easier to make out what it was in the shady area.

 

I feel like Swaro upgraded every aspect of the binos that for so long have been the gold standard that all other binos are compared to. I know that I am very excited to get my permanent pair (hopefully very soon) and will never regret the purchase.

 

DSC_8388.JPG

DSC_8397.JPG

DSC_8429.JPG

Thanks for the update,good to hear, I think I am going to sell my old 15's and upgrade is it really worth the money?and have you

ever compared the new 12-50's to the new 15's

[SwarovskiCoues]

they will be 2500$, its a long shot to compare 12x50s since they are ELs and 15s being slc. The EL glass has more lenses inside the housing an a few more coatings, (swaro-vision) which makes the picture alot brighter

[kwp]

good to know. tbh i think my leicas are as good or better than my dads old slc's. never looked through the new hd's though.

 

Comparing the Leica Geovids with the old SLCs, the clarity was very similar but the SLCs were much better in brightness and color trueness. One of my biggest complaints with Leica has been the coating they put on that gives everything a yellow hue.

 

 

Thanks for the update,good to hear, I think I am going to sell my old 15's and upgrade is it really worth the money?and have you

ever compared the new 12-50's to the new 15's

 

I have not had the joy of looking through the 12x50 EL Swarovision but like SwarovskiCoues said it is not really comparing Apples to Apples. For me I have my 10x42 ELs (pre-Swarovision) so I didn't see a point in having 10s and 12s whereas 10s and 15s have different situations where I'll use both.

 

As to your question about if the upgrade is worth it, only you can make that decision. I'd say it depends a lot on your hunting style. The HD SLCs will provide the biggest benefit in poor light situation. A little bit at first and last light but I think mostly mid-day, when the deer are bedded deep into the shadows. In the mornings and evenings while the deer are active and moving around, I doubt the HDs will help you find more game. So if you are the type of hunter that goes back to camp mid-day then I'd say no, probably not worth the extra $$$. But if you stay out in the field and glass all day then I think you'll have a little better chance of finding that bedded buck with the HDs.

[kwp]

LETS SEE THE SHEEP!!!!

 

We saw over 70 sheep on opening day, including a few good rams. The rams were either in cliffs that were not accessible or moved around so much that is was impossible to get a shot at them. The second day we found a group of sheep right away that had a good ram in it but once again the ram moved all over the country and by the time we were within range he had gone out of view. My buddy decided to take the second biggest sheep in the group.

 

[DesertBull]

Nice! I'm leaving on Wednesday for unit 30.

[Xforcebaby]

That ram is awesome!

[Seldom Drawn]

This story starts last fall when I made the decision that I was going to buy the new Swarovski 15x56 SLC HD binoculars. I called Swarovski and Outdoorsmans to see how to go about getting them as early as possible. A good buddy of mine had an upcoming New Mexico Barbary Sheep hunt in February 2014 and I was hoping to have them for that hunt. I decided to pre-pay for them and the guys at Outdoorsmans told me that they thought it would be mid to late January at the earliest, even though Swaro was shooting for January 1st. Christmas passed and I was hoping Swaro would hit their mark for a late gift from Santa. The guys at Outdoorsmans kept me updated and Swaros date kept getting pushed back. Finally, 7 days before our departure, Cody from the Outdoorsmans called and said that he had talked one of the Swaro reps into sending me his pair that he takes to shows as a loaner, just for the hunt. Keep in mind, I don't know these guys, I am just another customer. I was amazed at the lengths that Cody (and Swaro) went to make me a happy customer.

 

On to my review;

There were three of us on the hunt, all using top of the line 15x56 binos. One buddy has the 15x56 Leica Geovid non HD and the other has the current 15x56 Swaro SLC non-HD.

 

DSC_8361.JPG

 

My initial observation was that the new HDs are quite a bit shorter than the current SLCs and that the ocular lenses are quite a bit bigger. When using them it was very clear that the pupilary(sp) distance had been reduced. The older SLCs are useable for me but I have them sqeezed together as far as they will go. With the HDs, there was plently of room to adjust them closer together. I also noted that the HD focus wheel was easier to adjust with gloves on. The eyecups on the HDs twist out and click into a few different positions, which I also like better.

 

Looking through them the biggest difference is the brightness. The HD versions are noticebly brighter than their predecessor and significantly brighter than the Leicas. The difference in clarity is not as big but the HDs are definitely clearer than the non HD models. The brightness and clarity upgrades were most noticeable when glassing into the shade, during a bright sunny day. With the HDs the shady areas were much more crisp, making it alot easier to make out what it was in the shady area.

 

I feel like Swaro upgraded every aspect of the binos that for so long have been the gold standard that all other binos are compared to. I know that I am very excited to get my permanent pair (hopefully very soon) and will never regret the purchase.

 

DSC_8388.JPG

DSC_8397.JPG

DSC_8429.JPG

I was able to set my older version of 15's up next too the new 15's today,I was really wanting to sell my old ones along with some sheds to

buy them,but after comparing them I wont do it there wasn't much difference between them, maybe just a little clearer with the new model

and there are shorter and lighter which is a plus but I was really disapointed with the optics themselves they are nothing like my 10-42 hds

I would have thought they would have done a better job.