My cure for Binocular Anxiety. (1 Viewer)

Hello all,

I've been looking for some time for a new set of binoculars to replace my Zeiss FL 8x32s, very fine glass but I confess I didn't 'warm' to them. I've spent the last few months obsessing over FoVs, focussers, edge sharpness, warranties, robustness, transmission %s etc, ad nauseum. In the process I've gone and got myself into quite a tizz. I've got an excel sheet with most of the alphas and mid tiers specs for comparision, a great use of my time.

Very slowly it has come to me that in order to put this creeping anxiety to bed I should choose binoculars whose longevity is extremely well proven and has more than enough performance for accurate IDs, provided I do my part.

So, like a better established forum member, I've scored an immaculate pair of Dialyt 7x42 T*P* for half of the price of my target modern binoculars (HTs). I will not be taking them to the optics shop to try to identify their shortcomings against modern glass, I'll be taking them birding.

All the best,

Bob.

Congratulations! Use them well! :t:

Wow Bob, you lucky.........person:t:
Enjoy in good health. :king:

Lee

My experience, though I don't have 7x, is that the less x, the less headache they will cause. I still have some 10x toys.

Bobby Dids said:

Hello all,

I've been looking for some time for a new set of binoculars to replace my Zeiss FL 8x32s, very fine glass but I confess I didn't 'warm' to them. I've spent the last few months obsessing over FoVs, focussers, edge sharpness, warranties, robustness, transmission %s etc, ad nauseum. In the process I've gone and got myself into quite a tizz. I've got an excel sheet with most of the alphas and mid tiers specs for comparision, a great use of my time.

Very slowly it has come to me that in order to put this creeping anxiety to bed I should choose binoculars whose longevity is extremely well proven and has more than enough performance for accurate IDs, provided I do my part.

So, like a better established forum member, I've scored an immaculate pair of Dialyt 7x42 T*P* for half of the price of my target modern binoculars (HTs). I will not be taking them to the optics shop to try to identify their shortcomings against modern glass, I'll be taking them birding.

All the best,

Bob.

Click to expand...

Bobby Dids get a really nice pair of ClassiC 7x42 Zeiss binoculars to replace his 8x32 FLs, he sure dids, and I bet the view is more relaxing and less "compressed." Like Tero mentioned, 7x42s are less fatiguing on the eyes than 8x32s. I think it's the better depth of field combined with the 7x, which is easier to hold steady, providing the ergonomics of the bin suit your hands. Stephen Ingraham said the Dialyts were the best handling bins he ever used (at least up to that point, that was quite a while ago), while others find the long, tapered barrels awkward to hold. One size does not fit all when it comes to binoculars.

I'm curious why you never warmed up to the FL? Was it the "cold" image, or the ergonomics, or something else? Allbinos rated the the FLs #1 in the 8x32 segment although Arek hasn't reviewed the 8x32 SV EL or the 8x32 EDG, otherwise, I suspect they would knock the FLs out of first place, knowing Arek's preferences for sharp edges and low distortion.

Congratulations! on a nice find, they look in great condition. If in a moment of weakness, you ever decide to sell, let me know since the P* Dialyts are on my Bucket List.

Hello Bobby Dids,

A great binocular, upon which I have commented several times. I had mine out this week and never noticed its alleged shortcomings: poor close focussing and slow focussing. The bright, wide view entrances many, while its length seems to help find the right balance point.

To increase its longevity, you might want to acquire replacement eye cups and the "O" rings around the lenses of they eyepiece. I am not sure if those rings are either supposed to keep moisture out or protect from spectacles but I did have one come off. I did read of someone who lent the binocular to a friend who had very thick and concave spectacles, which scored the eyepieces. Remember you have bought a legacy item, so take good care of it.
Above all, use it and enjoy it.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:

Thanks Gentlemen!

Brock: I can't say why I didn't get on with the FLs, they are a very effective tool but the view is indeed a little cold. I guess I like things a little more idiosyncratic!

Pinewood: yes, I've already requested some spare eyecups but thanks for the tip off about the eyepiece o-rings. I'll try for a set of objective rubbers as well!

I spent many hours as a young sailor on the bridge of an RN warship peering through a set of zeiss 7x50s, wondering if the Navigator would miss one pair. I think that may account for the intangible pleasure I felt when I first got the 7x42s!

Bob - Have had both but kept the Dialyt. Of course the FL 8x32 and the Dialyt 7x42 are different "animals", but some of those differences are rather important as one ages. Balance as a function of length as Pinewood mentions is important. Here the Dialyt and its mass seems to work well. One less power may seem a disadvantage to some, but I have found that 7x is easier to keep steady. Six v. four mm exit pupils favors the Dialyt in poor light conditions and eye placement. Adjusting the right barrel of the Dialyt uses the time-honored friction fit. None of this push and pull motion and the complexity it introduces ergonomically and mechanically. And very important to us oldsters is the tactile feel of those massive ribs on our fingers. Until you are close to 80, you have not experienced the thinning of the skin on the finger tips and how slippery things become. You will.

Much is made about binoculars being water proof. Here the FL can make that claim. The Dialyt? Splash resistant to a high degree but not meant to be submerged. I kind of chuckle about all that. On the back of my Swiss Army watch is the claim it can keep functioning at a depth of 200 meters. I can't imagine myself ever being at such a depth, and if I were, I would be dead. Besides, how many birders are out there in the rain?

Some don't like the eye cups of the Dialyt. As a dedicated eye glass user, I do. They are robust and replaceable. And with a little bit of finagling, they will support Zeiss's 3x12 extender for a quick peek.

I predict the more you use your Dialyt, the more often you will gravitate towards it, particularly if sheer portability isn't an issue.

John

Thank you Bob for starting this thread, for me you have achieved your stated goal. I purchased my 7x42 Dialyts in 1997 and still enjoy using them. I still have my 30 year old 10x40 Dialyts but never found that using the lower magnification of 7x a disadvantage for bird watching.
I still use my 10x but only for watching ships or yachting when visiting my son in Portsmouth.

P* even. Cool!

Ron

I have two pairs of the 7 x 42 Dialyts. One of the best binoculars ever made. I use mine almost every day. They are about 25 years old and as good as ever. Not many top of the range models today outperform them in my opinion and in my eyes. My wish list is a pair of 6 x 42 Nautik. They are super rare (I have only ever seen 3 pairs on the internet) and I probably could not afford them. In the meantime, I will carry on with my 7 x 42s.

Just like Robert Wallace I got my 7x42 BGATP in 1997. The regular price was around 2,000 Deutsche Mark. I got them for 1,600 DM new.

A few month ago I felt a tendency deep inside me to sell these bins to get something newer but I always refused to take the last step: taking pictures and offering them in the electronic-bay.

These bins are a keeper and I wonder why the carry on making the 8x56 instead of the 7x42 at the Zeiss plants.

Bob, you did a mighty fine thing to save these bins-orphants and give them a new home.

To the eyecups: They are still the same. I wear specs and folded the eyecups back where they still remain.

There came an explanation to my mind, why they are still making the 8x56 and cancelled the 7x42 Classic.

The reason is: the German hunting scene.

In Germany and other European countries it is legal to hunt by nighttime, often restricted to predators and wild boar (sus scrofa).

The latter ones are sometimes leading to problems in the farmers world because of turning green meadows into brown mud and damaging crop fields especially corn fields.

In addition to large and light gathering rifle scopes the hunters need the same specs with their binos. And the Zeiss 8x56 Classic/Dialyt is still often used by them, even in the older version without P* or even T*-layers. Some hunters still use the old Hensoldt Dialyt but these are not so common anymore.