Hermann
Well-known member
I'm not *that* critical when it comes to binoculars. Sure, I like alphas, and my Nikon 10x42 SE is nowadays my favourite pair, not least because it's a porro. But I can bird all day with one of yesteryear's alphas without feeling I'm missing something. Last week I used my sister's Zeiss 10x40 BGATP for a couple of hours - that's still a very nice pair indeed. My most used pair in the winter is the much maligned Zeiss Victory II 10x40. Sure, there's some CA, but it doesn't bother me much and other than that the view is fine, with very high resolution, a nice sweet spot and good ergonomics. And once in a while I use my Zeiss West 8x30 Porro for a short birding trip. That pair is almost 50 years old, and whenever I use it I think what a shame it is Zeiss don't make these with modern coatings. Perfect ergonomics, a very wide field of view, and a build quality that's far better than that of any modern binocular.
I'm far more critical when it comes to scopes. The scopes I've got at the moment (cherry Nikon EDIIIA and Nikon ED50) are good, but I'd be prepared to pay a lot of money for a 60mm or 65mm scope that's optically clearly better than my cherry Nikon EDIIIA. So far I haven't found any. With scopes the optical quality is far more critical than with binoculars in my opinion, especially when you use higher magnifications quite a lot.
Hermann
I'm far more critical when it comes to scopes. The scopes I've got at the moment (cherry Nikon EDIIIA and Nikon ED50) are good, but I'd be prepared to pay a lot of money for a 60mm or 65mm scope that's optically clearly better than my cherry Nikon EDIIIA. So far I haven't found any. With scopes the optical quality is far more critical than with binoculars in my opinion, especially when you use higher magnifications quite a lot.
Hermann