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Zeiss 7x42 or 8x42 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ken6217
- Start date
I followed along on this thread without saying anything because you were getting good advice from every quarter. I think you made the very best choice possible for your needs. Congratulations and enjoy them in good health.
You will love the EII's. That huge FOV will be nice for sports and the 3D view will help also. Just get them in the case when it rains!
Paskman
Well-known member
I bought the Zeiss 7x42's today. Well since I picked up the used 8x30 EII's, the 8x32 Zeiss was not in the running.
However if I did not buy the Nikon's, the 7x42 would have been the easy choice anyway. I tried the 8x32 and it did not work for me at all. I could not get a good image any which way I adjusted them or moved it around my eyes. The 7x42 were perfect, except it looked like I needed to wear sunglasses first looking through the 7x42's as they were so bright!
Btw, what is all the hoopla about the weight of the 42's? These are heavy? I'm no muscleman but these are light (to me). Of course when you carry around a Nikon D3 with a 24-70mm 2.8 lens that combined weighs 7 3/4 pounds, nothing is heavy!
Ken
However if I did not buy the Nikon's, the 7x42 would have been the easy choice anyway. I tried the 8x32 and it did not work for me at all. I could not get a good image any which way I adjusted them or moved it around my eyes. The 7x42 were perfect, except it looked like I needed to wear sunglasses first looking through the 7x42's as they were so bright!
Btw, what is all the hoopla about the weight of the 42's? These are heavy? I'm no muscleman but these are light (to me). Of course when you carry around a Nikon D3 with a 24-70mm 2.8 lens that combined weighs 7 3/4 pounds, nothing is heavy!
Ken
Ken,
Congrats on getting your fine binos. Owning an 8x 42mm FL myself, I must say that a well lit football game will be utter child's play for it.
These binoculars excel in the worst backlit situation where their excellent control of scattered light, and freedom from significant color error, provide excellent utility where lesser binoculars give a view that is slightly sickening. At deep dawn and dusk, their best-in-class transmission and choice of color bias enable performance that exceeds their modest size. Their precise and rapid focus allows one to track a surprise bird and identify it in flight. And they are engineered so that even in the bitterest cold, the focus works smoothly, and the eyepieces are comfortable to touch and surprisingly resistant to fogging.
I have a small collection of good binoculars and I use them all on a regular basis. Each is strong in some area, and all enjoyable. All but one are also somewhat frustrating, possessed of some glaring weakness. That one is the FL, the king, there is simply nothing about it that is annoying, and in most categories I find it superb. Okay, I guess it COULD be 27 oz lighter.
Enjoy the Zeiss,
Ron
Congrats on getting your fine binos. Owning an 8x 42mm FL myself, I must say that a well lit football game will be utter child's play for it.
These binoculars excel in the worst backlit situation where their excellent control of scattered light, and freedom from significant color error, provide excellent utility where lesser binoculars give a view that is slightly sickening. At deep dawn and dusk, their best-in-class transmission and choice of color bias enable performance that exceeds their modest size. Their precise and rapid focus allows one to track a surprise bird and identify it in flight. And they are engineered so that even in the bitterest cold, the focus works smoothly, and the eyepieces are comfortable to touch and surprisingly resistant to fogging.
I have a small collection of good binoculars and I use them all on a regular basis. Each is strong in some area, and all enjoyable. All but one are also somewhat frustrating, possessed of some glaring weakness. That one is the FL, the king, there is simply nothing about it that is annoying, and in most categories I find it superb. Okay, I guess it COULD be 27 oz lighter.
Enjoy the Zeiss,
Ron
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Ken,
60 tomorrow, but I can do a bunch of pullups and pushups, hooah! Of course a lot of the weight issue is perspective, and you are coming from a 7+ pound camera. Do you do 5000 foot climbs with it? I do with binoculars, saw some nice birds at 13,000+ feet just last weekend, including Rosy Finches. I'm happy with the weight of the 42mm FL myself, coming from a 3+ pound 7x50 military style Fujinon. I carry mine on a smooth nylon band, hung diagonally across a shoulder, so it hangs at my waist on the opposite side of my body, and dangles around less when I have to stoop and bend to get through rough and steep places.
Surely, even a 20 year old Marine finds "dangling stuff" odious. No other animal has to put up with this, unless some person has hung something off of them for their own convenience. It seems like I never set foot out the door without some kind of daypack, or binocular or something on me, and it gets a little old. But if something has to be dangling, let it be a 42mm Zeiss!
Ron
60 tomorrow, but I can do a bunch of pullups and pushups, hooah! Of course a lot of the weight issue is perspective, and you are coming from a 7+ pound camera. Do you do 5000 foot climbs with it? I do with binoculars, saw some nice birds at 13,000+ feet just last weekend, including Rosy Finches. I'm happy with the weight of the 42mm FL myself, coming from a 3+ pound 7x50 military style Fujinon. I carry mine on a smooth nylon band, hung diagonally across a shoulder, so it hangs at my waist on the opposite side of my body, and dangles around less when I have to stoop and bend to get through rough and steep places.
Surely, even a 20 year old Marine finds "dangling stuff" odious. No other animal has to put up with this, unless some person has hung something off of them for their own convenience. It seems like I never set foot out the door without some kind of daypack, or binocular or something on me, and it gets a little old. But if something has to be dangling, let it be a 42mm Zeiss!
Ron
brocknroller
porromaniac
I bought the Zeiss 7x42's today. Well since I picked up the used 8x30 EII's, the 8x32 Zeiss was not in the running.
However if I did not buy the Nikon's, the 7x42 would have been the easy choice anyway. I tried the 8x32 and it did not work for me at all. I could not get a good image any which way I adjusted them or moved it around my eyes. The 7x42 were perfect, except it looked like I needed to wear sunglasses first looking through the 7x42's as they were so bright!
Btw, what is all the hoopla about the weight of the 42's? These are heavy? I'm no muscleman but these are light (to me). Of course when you carry around a Nikon D3 with a 24-70mm 2.8 lens that combined weighs 7 3/4 pounds, nothing is heavy!
Ken
Ken,
I think all the "hoopla" about weight (using that word gives away your age
concerned the Swaro 7x42 SLCs, not the 7x42 FLs. This was beaten to death on a Swaro forum thread. The gripes with the full sized FL's ergonomics have been about their bulk (long A/K prisms) and "plasticy" feel. There were also some complaints about the focusers on the earlier production models.
The "perceived weight" of bins for me depends largely on two issues: (1) Weight Distribution. Closed bridge roofs tend to concentrate their weight more than porros, and (2) Adequate Thumb Support.
For example, I found the 36 oz. Nikon 10x42 HG more of a burden to hold for long periods of time than the 45 oz. CZJ 8x50 Octarem, because the Octarem's weight was distributed over a much wider area and the Octarem's prism housing was flat at the bottom so my thumbs could easily support the weight. The HG had no thumb indents, so my thumbs curled in between the barrels and I had to take more of the weight on my palms and fingers.
Brock
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