Read Swaro fans preferring their glass over Leica. Curious about Swaro vs Zeiss glass......whether scope or bino. I realize they have various 'Grades' among their offerings....and country of origin varies even in a single brand.

You can throw in Leica and Schmidt and Bender if you want to compare what your eyes told you.

As far as producing vivid, brilliant images that are pleasing to the eye, the Schmidt & Bender Stratos 2.5-13x56 is the best I have tried with the Leica ERi 3-12x56 a close second. I love the flatness of the Swarovski images and the fact they remain fairly consistent in production over many years, but I base what I use more on low-light capability than anything else. The very best scopes in low-light often aren't the most impressive in terms of daylight image rendition.

I've owned and/or used numerous binocs over the years from all the high end makers. IMHO, for the average guy with average eyesight, unless you have them side by side continuously, you will never know what your missing when comparing the "alpha" makers. They are all superb in their own way. You can throw in the Nikon EDG as well, as it is as good as anything on the planet, and I'm not a Nikon fan.

I pay much less attention to it with riflescopes, as any $300 scope nowadays, optically, will allow you to see what you're aiming at. They will get you through legal shooting hours as well given you can see the reticlle. I have never thought, when looking through a scope, that I wished the colors were more vivid, etc.

+1 million

There are plenty of bird watching forums that compare Different Binos Google Swaro EL vs Zeiss SF

I agree its splitting hairs at a certain point. With binos do you really need that high level ones for hunting or shooting?

During a typical hunting day I may glass for hours, literally. I use binocs 99% of the time compared to a scope's 1% if/when I get ready to shoot. So to answer your quesiton "high level" glass makes sense for binocs, not so much for rifle scopes. YMMV.

I’m badly color blind and Zeiss glass seems to make colors pop a little more. For what it’s worth, I own more Swarovski glass because the overall benefits pointed to Swarovski. Everyone’s sees things differently so there’s not a wrong answer.

elkaddict's answer sums it up perfectly.

How does Nikon HG glass stack up to these?

My eyes put it in the Conquest HD, Meostar HD, Toric UHD range. The HG's have a very wide FOV.

Traditionally, Zeiss binoculars leaned toward a little more resolution, Leica toward contrast and Swaro toward a larger sweetspot. With binoculars that is still true to a certain degree, although all three are very good and the choice really comes down to personal preference.

With riflescopes, I can't quite figure out what Zeiss is doing since all of the V4, V6, V8 scopes I have seen to date were very substandard given the price. I think Leica Magnus and Swarovski Z8 are at the top of the heap right now and the choice between them is kinda tricky. In general, in terms of optics, I slightly prefer Magnus owing to how it handles color and microcontrast. It makes a little bit of a difference in low light. I am not sure how the latest S&B scopes fit into that theme. They have had a few different designers, so there are some differences in how compromises in S&Bs are made depending on which team worked on it. Generally, it is a nice neutral image with good contrast. S&B Polar/Ultrabright scopes are very good.

Now, new Blaser binoculars riflescopes are sorta challenging the established top names, but until I spend some more time with them, it is hard to say for sure how they do.

ILya

Thanks for the feedback folks! No doubt - much is subjective to each individual's vision.

Great feedback by all, and I agree on needs on Binos vs an aiming device. My thoughts are more for Bino's, but I did have a Swaro scope in the past and the difference in color contrast was apparent, though whether necessary is another matter.

I don't typically glass thru a scope, but appreciate all optical qualities in both bino and scopes.

The Nikon Monarch HG stacks up very well in the mid-range, I find it and the Zeiss Conquest to be great choices here.

I have both, and also some other alpha models to compare to.