The Swarovski NL Pure 10x42’s on an Arctic Photography Expedition
The Swarovski NL Pure 10x42’s on an Arctic Photography Expedition
In August 2024 I was invited to help run an arctic photography expedition with good friends Nigel Danson, Mads Peter Iverson and James Popsys for Aurora Expeditions in Svalbard… one of the most remote and exciting locations for landscape and wildlife photography.
When visiting climates like this, it’s extremely important that you can trust your gear to perform, and give you the best results no matter what the weather, conditions, or environment you see yourself in.
It was time to invest in a serious pair of binoculars to help in spotting and guiding in these conditions, on the ship itself (The Greg Mortimer), zodiacs and landings. I headed down to the team at Castle Cameras and after trying several pairs, settled on an incredible pair of the Swarovski NL Pure 10x42’s.
For me, it was all about the ergonomics and optical quality – they just felt super comfortable in my hands, and I couldn’t get over the colour rendition and detail, it was like looking through a 500/600mm prime lens. These two factors were super important as we ended up spotting throughout day and night during midnight sun – and after a few days, I quickly became obsessed (and jokingly known on the ship) for spotting polar bears from a huge distance away, keeping both the guests and bears safe on our travels.It was the norm to spend 5-6 hours a day out on zodiac cruises, bouncing around in the arctic sea and battling huge temperature changes as we approached gigantic glacier walls. One zodiac cruise, using my NL Pure’s (which were also hanging around most of the expedition teams necks, including the expedition leader who was continuously scouting) I spotted a white dot on the beach which to some, looked like white rock. However, with the true colours of the Swarovski’s, I knew it was more of a cream colour, meaning one thing… POLAR BEAR!
So, after alerting the expedition team, and letting them sort out all the safety briefings, safe distances etc. we set out to photograph this calm and relaxing bear as it chilled on the beach. Without a doubt, one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had. Using my Canon R5 and Canon RF100-500mm with 1.4x TC I snapped away and captured some of my favourite photographs from the trip, all thanks to the binoculars!
Some evenings I often found myself struggling to sleep, so I’d sit on the balcony and just look through the binoculars for hours on end, with my camera by my side ready to capture any special moments. We had guillemot’s, puffins, arctic terns, walrus, the sea was buzzing with wildlife and so many photographic opportunities.
What I can’t get over is how durable and natural to use the Swarovski NL Pure 10x42’s are, handing them in freezing, wet conditions was easy, and handing out to clients who’d never used a pair before felt natural, everything was in the right place, easy to adjust, crystal clear vision and such a wide field of view with what looks like to me, edge to edge sharpness, it made using them so natural and easy.
Not owning a pair of binoculars in the past, but needing them on countless occasions, I very quickly become so attached to them that they wouldn’t leave my side, and now find a permanent place in my camera bag as I run landscape and wildlife photography workshops up and down the country.
I now very much look forward to taking them on many other adventures, as well as another expedition with Aurora, this time to Antarctica, in February 2026. Bring on the penguins!!!
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Posted by Racheal Tattum
3rd October 2024
