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10x42 HT vs 10x42 SV (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ticl2184
- Start date
Image 9 (SV) looks like it was never brought to sharp focus.
henry link
Well-known member
I've spent considerable time trying to arrive at a reliable way to photograph the color bias and light transmission of binoculars. I can tell you it's not an easy thing to get right, especially imaging through the eyepiece end. Even the simple white targets I use require a reference image from the camera alone to be of any use. That reference image is missing from the images here. The colors we see are a combination of the spectral transmission of the binoculars and the spectral curve of the camera lens and sensor. The camera's curve may interact with the binoculars in a way that either tends to correct or exaggerate their particular departures from linear transmission. What we really want to know is how the binoculars' color biases change the colors that would be produced by the camera alone, not how the two binoculars compare to each other after they both have been modified by the camera's color bias.
I also doubt that any conclusions about contrast and sharpness can be drawn from these images. Even if the focus is set exactly right (not easy to do photographing through a binocular), both binoculars certainly have higher resolution than is captured in the images and the contrast latitude of the camera sensor is what determines the image contrast in the photos, not the binocular optics.
I also doubt that any conclusions about contrast and sharpness can be drawn from these images. Even if the focus is set exactly right (not easy to do photographing through a binocular), both binoculars certainly have higher resolution than is captured in the images and the contrast latitude of the camera sensor is what determines the image contrast in the photos, not the binocular optics.
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ticl2184
Well-known member
Thanks for you replies.
Pompadour and Chosun.
The Digital camera automatically chose a focus target from panorama. The camera might have chosen different targets in each image which may explain areas that are out of focus. I took about 20 images through the bino's, of which I have only chosen six. The rest were either poor quality or out of focus. I attributed numbers to each image to prevent confusion and they are accurate.
If reference to Henry's comments. At no point did I say these images are scientifically and optically perfect representations of the colour, contrast and brightness seen through the bino's. They are merely accurate and objective images of what the camera saw on the day, and have not been manipulated in anyway.
Having said that I could have included a control image as a more accurate reference. However to accurately produce incontrovertible images which hold up under expert scrutiny is beyond my means.
What I wanted to do is give you guys an idea of what I was seeing, due to the lack of reviews.
Cheers Tim
Pompadour and Chosun.
The Digital camera automatically chose a focus target from panorama. The camera might have chosen different targets in each image which may explain areas that are out of focus. I took about 20 images through the bino's, of which I have only chosen six. The rest were either poor quality or out of focus. I attributed numbers to each image to prevent confusion and they are accurate.
If reference to Henry's comments. At no point did I say these images are scientifically and optically perfect representations of the colour, contrast and brightness seen through the bino's. They are merely accurate and objective images of what the camera saw on the day, and have not been manipulated in anyway.
Having said that I could have included a control image as a more accurate reference. However to accurately produce incontrovertible images which hold up under expert scrutiny is beyond my means.
What I wanted to do is give you guys an idea of what I was seeing, due to the lack of reviews.
Cheers Tim
james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
Tim,
Your efforts were appreciated!:t:
Your efforts were appreciated!:t:
Indeed. Some cameras will adjust the tone curves and saturation too, so it is important to put the camera on manual, with fixed tone curve and fixed white balance, to at least allow comparisons. A DSLR is perhaps best.
And my guess is that the eye will resolve far more detail in the images than is shown in the small photos. Lastly, the camera may have stopped down the binoculars, or maybe not, all depending on the lens used, and aperture selected. If the binoculars are at full aperture, then the aberrations will not be as seen. If the binoculars are stopped down such that 1mm of the exit pupil is used, or less, then again the image will not be as seen, and maybe some aberrations such as CA will be hidden.
I hope these comments are not taken as critical of Tim, his original post is informative. I have not tried photographing through bins, and it is easy to be critical of others.
angelo225544
Well-known member
I applaud your effort, Tim. You clearly understand the difficulty in attempting to document such subtle differences photographically. Perhaps the best approach would be to create captions, in which you detail how each image either succeeds or fails to illustrate what your eyes perceived, lest anyone get the wrong impression that you intended the images to stand on their own. As a photographer and bino enthusiast, I have given this dilemma considerable thought, but I have yet to solve it completely. What is required is strict control over as many photographic variables as possible, such as lens aperture, focus and exposure variations. At the very least this would require a camera that allows manual control of aperture, shutter speed and focus of a non-zoom lens, and that produces a "raw" file (as opposed to a jpeg) which receives no in-camera processing.
Chosun Juan
Given to Fly
X 2 !! :t: :t:
No small, easy task as it turns out .....
Thanks Tim.
Chosun :gh:
Which did you buy the HT or the SV? Which had more sparkle?
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Chosun Juan
Given to Fly
SuperDuty
Well-known member
Chosun Juan
Given to Fly
What about crystalline clarity ?:king:
I would award the HT the prize for 'clarity' (the kind that only 100% reflecting prisms can provide), but the 'crystalline view' (nothing to do with clarity, or clearness, but certainly 'vivid' and 'alive' even if not 'sparkling') prize goes to the SV.
Chosun :gh:
