ChrisSearle
Tuesday 29th March 2005, 11:38
As I've said elsewhere on BF, the tech specs, the look and the feel of a pair of bins ain't everything: I've used a pair of Pentax DCF 8x42 for years and looking at the specs, they're quite big, not waterproof, have a dismal FOV and compared to high end glass, are dim and even vague. HOWEVER, I loved 'em, saw stacks of fab birds with 'em, they've been all over the world with me, up mountains, through tropical cloud forest and they fit my hand like a glove. In short they're great bins!, or, put another way, I'm used to them. I suspect that I would have felt pretty much the same way about any other mid range glass.
Now I''ve got some 10x42 Ultravids, had them for a month now and I'm just starting to 'grow into them' It's taken a while and for a time I though I might have made a mistake and should have saved my money. Yes they're brighter (much) and yes the contrast etc is fantastic but they just didn't feel quite right, did not seem quite so easy to 'look' through, subtle differences but important ones. Much better to be comfortable with your bins than be impressed with thier technical excellence! Anyway, I've just spent four days intensive birding with the UVs and I realised on the fourth day that I'd forgotten the issue, I was finally used to them! Got home and compared them with the DCFs and the DCFs felt, for the first time, less comfortable and immediate. So what is the conclusion of this ramble? What am I trying to say? Well, firstly that theres a whole lot more to bins than tech specs, that enjoyable birding may be had with any half decent optics and that no amount of comparing specs or 'field trialling' will tell you what they will be like to live with ultimately. Lastly that if you buy a pair of high end or even mid range bins, use them enough and you'll get used to them, yes and even grow to love them....
Now I''ve got some 10x42 Ultravids, had them for a month now and I'm just starting to 'grow into them' It's taken a while and for a time I though I might have made a mistake and should have saved my money. Yes they're brighter (much) and yes the contrast etc is fantastic but they just didn't feel quite right, did not seem quite so easy to 'look' through, subtle differences but important ones. Much better to be comfortable with your bins than be impressed with thier technical excellence! Anyway, I've just spent four days intensive birding with the UVs and I realised on the fourth day that I'd forgotten the issue, I was finally used to them! Got home and compared them with the DCFs and the DCFs felt, for the first time, less comfortable and immediate. So what is the conclusion of this ramble? What am I trying to say? Well, firstly that theres a whole lot more to bins than tech specs, that enjoyable birding may be had with any half decent optics and that no amount of comparing specs or 'field trialling' will tell you what they will be like to live with ultimately. Lastly that if you buy a pair of high end or even mid range bins, use them enough and you'll get used to them, yes and even grow to love them....