Swift Kestrel 10x50

Ratings:Top:Astronomy:Equipment Reviews:Binocular Reviews:Swift Kestrel 10x50

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Brand and Model:Swift Kestrel 10x50
Price ($USD):$495.00
Attributes:un-checked Waterproof checked Armored
Objective Lens Size:50 mm
Magnification:10 x
Prism Type:
Coatings:
Field of View:7.0 degrees
Eye Relief:10 mm
Near Focus:0 ft
Weight (lbs):32 oz.
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:American Style one piece housing that holds the objectives results in a rugged binocular. The tripod adaptor socket has a spring loaded ball that protects the threads. There is no little cover to remove and lose.

Vote Highlights Vote
Swift Kestrel 10x50
The Swift Kestrel are 10x50's. They have a nice wide field (7 degrees) with stars that exhibit good definition out to about 85% of the field edge. Nice smooth focus. The only negative feature is the short 10mm eye relief, fairly typical with 10x binoculars with wide fields. Another feature of these binoculars are little flaps cut in the leather covering that can be lifted by a technician for binocular collimation externally. After adjustment the flaps can be reglued.

Barry Simon

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 20 (Notable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=41871

Swift Kestrel 10x50
Of all the binos I have on hand (usu 6-7 at any given time), the big Swift has what I would call the "easiest" view I've yet 2c in a higher power glass...much like it's sibling 8.5x Audobon (also have the new 820 model of that one) but if anything a tad better....u just put it in front of the eyeballs and the whole expansive picture is there with no strain...very bright, sharp 70* afov makes finding distant birds in trees a snap and takes in open clusters, nebulae, constellations, etc in their entirety....have heard some grousing on these (& some other glasses as well) about "edge softness" but it's axiomatic that virtually any optical (or mechanical,electrical et al) device is a series of compromises....to get a desirable feature(s) or characteristic something else will have to suffer a little (or a lot, depending)...to get the exceptional field and the high resolution this glass offers, if that was the tradeoff, it's well worth it....the only detriments I've found with the Kestrel are 1)short eye relief at abt 10mm 2) the stiffest rolldown eyecups I've ever encountered...one reason I never mess with them 3)very short recess of the objectives into the body...it has rubber obj rings but they're very shallow....there's no more than 3mm recess from the plane which means that the lenses are very prone to be touched or rubbed against something causing smudging or scratching to the coatings...and smudges etc are one of my major taboos where fine optics are concerned....this design oversight means you need to leave the objective covers on virtually all the time unless you're actually viewing...if Swift redesigns the 10x as they did the smaller one hopefully this will be fixed. But for what they cost ($225-250 street price) and what they show you this is one fine performer...Kamakura Koki (the builder of the Swift Audobons) did a remarkable job of combining high resolution, brightness,field and holding comfort in a lightwt unit...for the price you cant beat it.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Value:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=211803

Swift Kestrel 10x50
Stars are sharp to about 65% of FOV and don’t really start to flair until you reach 85%-90% of the outer FOV. The views seem very crisp and sharp, day or night, with very good contrast.

For comparison, I recently bought a pair of 10x50 UltraView (both the UltraView and Kestrel have the same real and apparent field of view); the Swift Kestrel easily beat the UltraView on sharpness, contrast, and usable FOV. Perhaps the only advantage of the UltraView was eye relief. If you’re an eyeglass wearer the Kestrel may not be a good choice on that account, but I personally found the eye relief quite comfortable (I don’t wear glasses).

The Kestrel has a nice smooth focuser and very good overall construction quality.

I highly recommend the Swift Kestrel for the 10x50 under $250 class of binocular.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Value:7
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=197223

Swift Kestrel 10x50
in my opinion they are the best value in the 10X glass. Extremely bright, and durable. Feel good in my hands.

Don

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=41872

Swift Kestrel 10x50
Good compromise in weight and wide field and holdability.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:6 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=599808

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