Customer Reviews

Swift 8.5x44 BWCF Audubon Birder Waterproof Porro Prism Binoculars, Black - 820

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My Swift Binocoulars was exposed to a rain shower on my deck. The promply fogged up. I called the customers service rep and he was most helpful. He told me to mail the bino to the repair center which I did. Two weeks later he called me back to check in. Wow, what a great customers service. This is when it fell apart. He said that a replacement pair would be sent and I patiently waited. A week or so later my old pair showed back up unrepaired. I called him back and he appologized and said to mail them back and he would replace them with a demo set. I mailed them back Aug. 7th and I'm still waiting. In the meantime I learned that Safetgard had acquired the bino division from Swift out of bankruptcy. I contacted Safetgard and they have continued to give me the run around. Now they said they can't locate the bino that I returned. I would refrain from getting involved with this company in any manner until they get their act together.

As advertised, the Swift 8.5X44 Audubon Waterproof binoculars are an excellent buy. I have found the optics to be very sharp and bright and have had no problems with interior fogging, despite some light rain use while birding. They are not all that heavy, but I recommend a shoulder harness rather than a neck strap. Field of view (430 feet at 1000 yards) is among the best of any binocular. These come close to matching binoculars costing 2-3 times as much, as far as optical quality goes. The only gripe I have with them is the focusing. The focusing knob is easy to find with the fingers but is somewhat stiff and hard to turn, making quick identification of birds flitting around in trees a little difficult. It's possible this problem may have been addressed in more recent models.

These binoculars are pow-ow-owerful. I can view details of the moon's craters with these babies! Love the sharp visible range when birding-- from the feeder just feet away, to raptors soaring a mile away. Also the clarity of images in dim light always amazes me. However, the flipside: the incredible optics have a weighty cost-- these binoculars are heavy hanging around the neck for very long...

The binoculars seem very high quality, robust, good value and water resistant. Not too heavy and good case - would recommend to others for bird and animal watching.