After a 5 month wait, just received it in the post yesterday. It was an anniversary gift for my wife and she loves it. She will use this primarily for birding and big cat viewing on safari here in Ranthambhore, India.
Yesterday I got the opportunity to try out this binocular. PROS: *very compact *super sharp and high contrast *long eye relief providing full open view with eyeglasses for me CONS: *partly slippery surface making it easy to glide of your hands. WHY? *double hings(yes, that's my opinion of a drawback). As said in the video this binocular is not very good in low light condition. Still it's significantly better than 8x20. And with the high contrast I think it actually works even at some dusk and dawn.
The bag is brilliant. Drop it into a coat pocket and the magnetic flap will close outside the jacket, through the fabric of the pocket. The case is large enough to drop the binoculars into with the eye cups extended, and not so tight that when you remove the binoculars, you also pull the case from your pocket. I think it's great. I don't use any straps, so it suits me perfectly. Super video.
This is our third pair of Swarovski binoculars. The other two are 10x25 and 10x32. We bought these as a carry-everywhere pair to replace a tiny pair of Zeiss binoculars. The optical quality is outstanding. The field of view and the brightness are much better than I had even expected. The focus is as smooth as silk. The pair I purchased had a minor defect. This was some sharp metal that scratched the skin. I had to file it off, it did not affect the optics. I do not like the case as it has open sides which permit the ingress of dust. For this purpose I carry them in a small Lowe camera case with a zip. This is not a problem. However the cases to the CL 10x32 and 10x25 Swarovski binoculars were already perfect. The Swarovski straps we do not use as being ex-military we both prefer to use 550 paracord. I give 100 marks out of 100! One of the best purchases I have ever made.
Thanks for review! This new 7x21 is very interesting. I had the Leica 8x20 several years ago but sold it because I have high requirements of useable eye relief for use with eyeglasses. While Leica 8x20 has long eye relief for an 8x20 it was not really satisfying for me. At the picture it looks like the eye lens of Curio 7x21 is bigger than the Leica 8x20. And also less recessed so you come closer to the lens. I therefore draw the conclusion that it works better with eyeglasses than the 8x20. Is that right?
The combination of the wide field of view and the optics make them difficult to ignore I think. 🤔 if I go for it, I would choose the black model. Probably Also perfect to looking at trees in landscape mode. Wow very romantic.....ok the €760 will hurt ones 🫣 thanks for the tip.
Really detailed and informative review, thank you. I’m looking to buy a pair as a gift, having never bought binoculars before, how far is the range of 7x21 optics, in layman’s terms, how far can they see? Please forgive my inexperience in the subject.
How would these perform as, say, opera glasses? Would these provide reasonable results for someone attending indoor concerts or live theater productions?
Usually we recommend lower magnification powers to be used in theatres or indoor concerts (3-6x), but these with 7x magnification will also provide satisfactory results.
Very good review. I can confirm: the optical performance of this Swaro is outstanding. But the design, the handling? Unbelievable awfull! How could Swarovski had chosen this Mark Newson? They did it because he is political correct! I don't want to tell you more . . do reserch ... The days of 'German-Engineering' are history, very sad, but the world is changing. So I'll stay with my Swaro's, Leica's and so on. Good bye, Swarovski.
