Review: Swarovski SLC 8x42HD Having recently reviewed two new Swarovski binoculars, I confess to finding it difficult to write about the newly updated SLCs without being repetitive, but birders should know about this new model. Swarovski’s SLC line actually preceded the ELs. The bins in the SLC lineup were aimed originally at the hunting market because hunting was far more popular in Europe than birding when these bins were introduced. Despite Swarovski's intentions, the birding community in Britain, Sweden, and later in the US, discovered and enthusiastically adopted them because they were very rugged, very bright, and had outstanding resolution. But many complained about the color balance being slightly off. In fact, the SLCs' color rendition was somewhat "off" because the bins were balanced to compensate for the flat light of overcast northern European skies. They favored contrast in exchange for some loss of color fidelity, which didn't matter at all to...