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After trying both the Swarovski NL Pure 10 × 42 and 12 × 42, I-a self-proclaimed lover of small full-size binoculars, felt the urge to try the latest 32 mm NLs. For most of my birding life, I birded using 8s, and with the NLs and their extreme wide angle field of view, I found myself in a dilemma: should I stay with 8s and get a 20% wider FOV, or should I keep the FOV I’m used to and I’m glad, but getting more augmentation?
NL Pure 42 mm vs. 32 mm
Ideally, I want to have both, but binoculars are similar to kayaks: if you want to go faster, go for a straighter, slimmer and longer hull. However, if you want more control over tight turns, choose a shorter, curvy and wider boat. You can’t get both short and long bodies in a kayak. Choose what is more important to you and sacrifice others. It’s the same with binoculars: I can get a wider FOV with a real wow-effect, or higher magnification while keeping the same FOV I’m already using. What should it be?
I usually exclude my local patch, which consists of mosaic dwellings with a series of ponds intersected with islets of willow and poplar and surrounded by lawns and forests. Often I am not in fully open dwellings, and even more often within a closed-canopy forest. If I was a bird birder, without a second thought I would choose 8s and their extra FOV, but this way I felt my FOV was satisfactory, so I chose the higher magnification : 10 × 32 NLs.
The first time I touched them, the first look at them, all I knew was: this is it, this is the pair for me. Absolute cessation. Although I tried them thoroughly later, I knew from the first glance, this pair was made for me. The old knight in the Indiana Jones cave full of the holy grail to choose from would tell me: You know how to choose.
What made me, so fast, so easy? When I picked them up, I used the last hour of the day at the nearest lake to try them out Whiskered Terns at Squacco Herons, European Bee-eaters and a Black Woodpecker, Eurasian Golden Orioles at Great Reed Warbler. Expectedly, the views are bright and crisp, focused side to side.
The 10s are a completely new experience compared to the 8s. It’s a new level of birding quality, giving me the little extra boost I need in the long run. I still carry my range most of the time, but in the 10s I can’t reach it as much as I did in the 8s.
The 32 mm NL is 144 mm/5.7 ″ long and weighs an average of 640 g/22.5 oz, so they can be easily worn around the neck throughout the day without fatigue. The barrels are flattened in ellipse in the middle section, making the NL handles noticeably slim and ergonomic. The FOV of 10 × 32 is 132 m/1000m (396-foot/1000 yards), while the light transmission is 92 %. I’m not a very technical person and I don’t like going with better numbers and percentages more. Of course they are waterproof and inert gas-filled, which is becoming standard in mid-range binoculars, and NLs are as premium as possible.
After long periods of time with bins around my neck, I already knew what I needed, who I wanted, who I wanted. The NL 10 × 32 is comfortable to use, they fit my expectations and it’s all I dreamed of in a pair of binoculars: captivatingly bright and crisp, medium-sized and almost lightweight.
However, if I like everything, is there something I don’t like? Yes, when you adjust the diopter, you can no longer block it in position. Some people have commented that the spike on the front side, next to the focused wheel, which is used to fix the diopter, is still hard to move, but I think this is not true. You probably won’t move it when there are binoculars hanging around your neck, but when driving alone, I often hide the binoculars in the passenger seat, front side down, as I have been doing for decades. . And that spike is on the front side and is pretty easy to move while driving. Now I’m trying to put the front part on top, but I think it’s weird that I have to twist my hand before I can put it on.
The NL Pure 10 × 32 is the 6th pair of Swarovski binoculars I have tested. I enjoyed the CL Companion 8 × 30, so I used them for 11 years without deciding to upgrade to EL. But the NLs ’super wide FOV is a real game changer, making 10s the new 8s.
Now I can give a detailed conclusion as to why NLs are so good, but do you really want to read that? They were so good so I put my money where my mouth was and bought them. And that’s my conclusion: I don’t think I’m going to look for a new pair of binoculars.
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