equipment

On test...the Swarovski CL Companion

8th August 2011, first report
First impressions mean a lot. The CL Companion certainly hits all the right notes on opening the rather stylish box! I am probably slightly different to other testers as my interests are in aviation and action photography. I use Nikon lenses and cameras, so having binoculars that fit neatly into my travelling kit bag is a huge plus. Larger, cheaper prismatics are a bit too bulky. The CL Companions themselves certainly have the same kind of feel that quality Nikon equipment has; in that they are nicely weighted and feel sturdy. Mine are the sandy coloured ones and I found that once put together with the neoprene strap and lens covers they were easy to manage. No large pieces of glassware banging together as they sit neatly on the neck and I was able to easily use a Nikon D300 and 70-300 VR ED lens combo alongside them at the first test at Manchester. The CL Companion looks and feels like a high quality item. Nothing rattles, and overall performance is excellent. Next stop Gibraltar!

0

1

2

3

Manchester Airport on a bright morning was a great place to test the performance of these compact binoculars. Using them proved extremely easy. The eyepieces screw out to use without glasses, which is my preferred style. I found that adjusting them and focussing was much easier than with larger, cheaper binoculars and field of view was sharp right to the edges. Detail was quickly brought into focus and I could read off a registration on a parked Boeing 757 which was approximately a mile (1.6Km) away. There seems to be very little ghosting or shadows in use and the lenses themselves appear to transmit through the maximum amount of light possible, which is excellent in poorer light situations or shadows obscuring detail. The CL Companion is fast and crisp to use, making identifying the target fast and accurate so a photograph can be lined up. I certainly find their smaller format fits my needs!

Further reports to come as I have got these for the next six months. Reports also here

[whitehatter.net under construction february 2011] [equipment] [swarovski]