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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. J

    I’m loving my year old 7x35 Retrovids!

    It’s been over a year since I bought these wonderful bins, and now, well into the day to day use and not hyper-evaluating everything, I appreciate them more and more. Leica gets slammed by some on their resistance to evolve, but the flip side of that is Leica has a signature view that many of...
  2. J

    Retrovid and BN users, light leather zip pouch.

    I remember I had one with my old 8x32 BN, now the same pouch with my new 7x35 Retrovids. At first I was disappointed, hoping for a padded cordura Ultravid style case, but now that I’m using it correctly, it’s kind of cool. Where with my 8x42 Ultravids, I leave the case behind in my truck, and...
  3. J

    Is there an optimum FOV, or is bigger always better?

    Between my five quality bins, Leica 7x35 Retrovids, 8x42 Ultravids, 8x32 and 10x42 Nikon SEs and Fujinon 7x50s. I can notice larger-smaller FOVs as I change from one to the other but none of them are uncomfortably narrow for me, and I rapidly adapt. I think there is a difference between a nice...
  4. J

    Thinking of selling my 10x42 SE’s and Ultravids.

    To help fund the purchase of some 10x42 Noctovids. I have no idea how what the market is for them. I’m driving down to my local optics shop to put them on consignment right now. Any ideas?
  5. J

    Any experience with the 10x40 Retrovid?

    I’ve had my 7x35 Retrovids almost a year now and am very happy with them. Optically they are on par with my Ultravids, but in a much handier package. The 42 size Ultravids have more comfortable eyecups, but that’s it. I own SE 8x32 and 10x42, but rarely use the 10x42s due to their large size. I...
  6. J

    Leica’s design sense…

    Most of the members on here are way more knowledgeable about the technical aspects of good optics than I am, I’m mostly a user who is blown away by how good alpha optics are. I’ve spent time with Swarovski, Zeiss, Nikon and Leica and find them all amazing. I personally gravitate toward the Leica...
  7. J

    Ultravid BL, is it still available?

    When some of us were clamoring for a new version of the ole Leitz Trinovid, I thought the Ultravid BL was kind of close. Now that we have the Retrovids some are disappointed by their lack of waterproofing and close focus, maybe the Ultravid BL is a viable option. Pretty darn compact, lighter...
  8. J

    Is the leather covered Ultravid BL still available?

    I always felt the slightly slimmer, slightly lighter 8x42 BL was the closest Leica to the old Leitz Trinovid. If they made one in seven power I'd be interested.
  9. J

    Using - enjoying quality optics...

    Hello all, I haven't posted much in recent years because, believe it or not, I quit obsessing about minutia and just started using my binos. I joined back in 2009 when my old Leitz Trinovids died and I was ready for an upgrade. This site was an eye opener (forgive the pun), I learned more...
  10. J

    Please compare the 2012-2015 Trinovid to the new Trinovid HD

    Hello old friends, I've been gone for a few years just using and enjoying my Ultravid BR's and 8x32 SE's. I became addicted to this site and obsessed with ever decreasing, minute differences between new binos. I finally realized that the binos I had in hand were great, and actually using them in...
  11. J

    A simple comparison, 8x42BR, 8x32 FL and 8x32 SE

    I mentioned in another thread that a very generous BFer sent me his latest model 8x32 FLs to check out, and I gave a quick report on that thread, but it was mostly geared toward those newby bino users. Here's my equally amateur report. I was at first turned off by the FL as I automatically...
  12. J

    A very informal comparison...

    I just returned from a trip to Washington State where I was running my Golden retrievers in a field trial, trained over there for three days in advance of the trial. Since DBH lives very close to where I was training, I brought all of my binos in case we were able to get together for some...
  13. J

    Rubber eyecups...

    As I mentioned on another thread, my wife was out of town which gave me an opportunity to set all of my bins out on a table and play with them, one against the other for a week. It was fun, and as usual the two SEs were my favorites. Looking at them all lined up I noticed that only two of the...
  14. J

    Zeiss, Swaro, Nikon, Leica relative sales...

    I was just visiting my local optics shop today in search of the Zeiss 8x32 FL everybody raves about. This shop added Zeiss to his fairly extensive binocular line last summer, partly on my urging, plus an oportunity arose with a new vendor. He ordered a few pairs of the 8x42 and 10x42 FLs plus...
  15. J

    My first Zeiss...

    Sorry for the let down, but I'm talking about my new progressive bifocal glasses. I'm getting old now and my eyes are changing, but I'm still blessed with eyes that are correctable to 20-10. My eye doctor metioned that with my eyes and what I'm used to, vision correct to 20-20 would be really...
  16. J

    Pentax customer service...

    When my old Leitz 7x35s died around 1994 I bought a first generation Pentax 8x42 DCF. It wasn't as good as a new Leica, but it was very good for the money. About a year and a half ago I bought a new 8x42 Ultravid, then a couple SEs, my old Pentax was definitely not up to snuff, and I thought...
  17. J

    Any 8x32 Trinovid BN surrogates?

    I owned one of those great little 8x32BNs for about a month last year. I had tried it in the store for about a year and really loved it so I bought it only to discover the slight blackout which I was able to overlook in the store, really did bug me, especially when comparing them directly to the...
  18. J

    What qualities do you value highest?

    With so little optical difference, but obvious different design trade offs between the alphas and other very good bins, what qualities do you value highest. For example it seems like some go for the widest sweet spot, others the absolute sharpest bin, contrast, color neutral, bightness, ect...
  19. J

    As a fan of SEs...

    This is just a fantasy hypothetical so bear with me; if you were suddenly appointed project manager for the new Nikon SE III, and living within the constraints of modern industrial technology, what would you do? Would ED glass make the SE even better? How hard would it be to make it truly...
  20. J

    Why not the Ultravid BL over the BR?

    I realize the new Ultravid HD has some improved coatings over the BR / BR Ultravids, but if we assume for the sake of argument, the HDs are not being considered, why not pick the lighter sleeker classic looking BL over the rubber armored BR? Both would be covered by Leica's no-fault Passport...
  21. J

    8x32 Wetzlar Hensoldt, how old?

    I've been perusing ebay and see an older 8x32 serial number 84030. Other than a torn leather covering they look to be in great shape. They look like an older roof design with a porro type center focus mechanism, probably not water proof. Would you think these are before phase coating? thanks...
  22. J

    What's your favorite bin to look at?

    I realize this question has nothing to do with function, but personally, I receive some pleasure just from looking at my bins, some more than others. That led me to wonder if there is any consensus of "hall of fame" binoculars from an industrial design standpoint? My list would start with the...
  23. J

    Warranties past and present...

    Here is my understanding of some various warranties, please let me know if I'm wrong or missing some: Nikon Premier series, 25 year no-fault warranty. I don't know if it transferable. Leica Trinovid and Ultravid BR, lifetime no-fault Passport warranty, not transferable, and you have to...
  24. J

    Questions about Black-outs...

    I have come to realize that regardless of other exceptional optical qualities, black-out issues can render a superb binocular either unuseable or relatively harder to use. For example many people find the wonderful Nikon SE series fantastic optically, but useless due to black-outs. From reading...
  25. J

    I'm thinking about selling my 8x42s for 7x42s

    Now that I own both 8x32 Nikon SEs and Trinovid BNs, I feel my fantastic 8x42 Ultravid BR is redundant. After running into a woman at a birdwatching refuge with a 7x42 Zeiss Classic who let me try it I am hooked on that large, easy picture. I see some very good demo deals on various bins...
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