• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Vortex Diamondback '09' 8x42 (1 Viewer)

Andrew,

The buzz was over the newer configurations (7x36 and 9x36). I don't think anyone purchased the newere 8x42s IIRC. I would not mind grabbing a pair to see how they compare with my impressions on the older model.
 
I don't have the new 8 x 42's. I have the new 9 x 36's and the old 8 x 42's. I can tell you that the new ones will be brighter. The new 9 x 36's are brighter than the old 8 x 42's. The new ones have coatings on the Objectives that have a distinctive Purple undertone (or overtone, if you will.) This is different from the old coatings. They are just as solidly contructed as the older models.
Bob
 
Last edited:
Bob,

That is saying a lot in my opinion considering the smaller objective and greater magnification of the 9x36s. I wonder if the apparent centerfield sharpness has improved any.
 
Frank,
Improvement in brightness is not hard to discern. As far as sharpness, not much, if any, as far as I can tell. They are at their best in sunny conditions. They are sharp enough, but are at a disadvantage. The only ones I have to compare them with are my 10x's for the most part and the 8 x 32 SE. They can't match up to the 10 x 35 EII, which is to be expected, nor the 10 x 32 LX L or 10 x 42 SE of course. They are clearly better than the Pentax 9 x 28 in sharpness, brightness and contrast and the old 10 x 32 Eagle Platinum/Raven; and they come close to holding their own against the Minox 10 x 32 BDBR Asph, especially on edges, but the 10x advantage is evident and they are not as bright. Contrast is better with the older Alphas.

If I can complete some personal items soon, I hope to have a more detailed report shortly.
Bob
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top