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new bins vs old bins ? (1 Viewer)

Ingle1970

Well-known member
England
Are todays binoculars really better than they have ever been ? .Obviously they are lighter and made of exotic materials , and nitrogen purged , but have the optics taken a significant leap ? . the reason i ask is i consider the zeiss 7*42 classic , yet to be bettered , does anyone agree / disagree ?.
 
The optical design of the Zeiss 7x42 Classic has most of bells and whistles of current roof prism binoculars despite its age. High transmisssion Abbe-Koening prisms, phase coating, and multi-coatings. Check the information I left on your thread "Best bins?".
 
Ive just changed my Ziess 7x42s for Leica Ultravid 8x42s these were 15 years old and when i looked through a new pair at the Bird Fair last year i could see they had made internal improvements the image looked slightly sharper,and slightly less flare.If buying new then image wise there's not likely to be much in it,but they are an old design eg rubber eye cups,narrow focusing wheel, and worst of all the diopter focus always moves so i had to stick mine down with tape.This design was good in the late 80s but Ziess should have revamped this model.Dont know why they still dont optically they are as good as any thing on the market.
 
Ragna said:
Ive just changed my Ziess 7x42s for Leica Ultravid 8x42s these were 15 years old and when i looked through a new pair at the Bird Fair last year i could see they had made internal improvements the image looked slightly sharper,and slightly less flare..

Zeiss introduced phase-corrected 7x42s not long before I bought mine in 1992. Perhaps that accounts for the optical improvement you saw compared with your earlier model. To me they're still the most birder-friendly bins tho I think the very best bins of the new generation, eg Ultravids, have a slightly better image in the area of colour and contrast.
 
Ziess 7 x 42: they are still the best for me and have given a lot of pleasure and trouble free birding over the years despite a lot of use in difficult conditions.

Don't be fooled by the marketers and advertisers


i did a kwik subjective test this afternoon of the Nikon HG, Swarovs 8x and my old Zeiss......guess which had the clearer, brighter image......
 
I dont disagree the 7x42 Ziess are excellent binoculars and often looked through mine and thought you cant better these.But i still think that they should have upgraded the points i mention.Dogfish yes iam sure they have made internal improvements to the coatings over the years and this is why i noticed the difference in the new pair
 
Modern bins better? Roof prisms YES!

ingle1970 said:
Are todays binoculars really better than they have ever been ? .Obviously they are lighter and made of exotic materials , and nitrogen purged , but have the optics taken a significant leap ? . the reason i ask is i consider the zeiss 7*42 classic , yet to be bettered , does anyone agree / disagree ?.

At Focus Optics, Corley near Coventry, West Midlands you can
compare a huge range of different makes of bins from the cheapest
to the most exotic. I've got a mid-range pair of Eschenbach 8X32
roof prism bins. They are very good, good contrast, clear, sharp image.
I compared them to some second hand Leitz roof prism bins about
20 years old - before they changed their name to Leica.
I was very disappointed with the Leica bins - although beautifully made,
they were not as bright as my cheaper bins and not as sharp.
However, when I compared my Eschenbachs with new Leica,
Swarovskis, Nikon roof prisms etc. you could see a big difference.
These high end binoculars are all superb - so bright with tremendous
sharpness and clarity. So, yes, I think there have been huge
improvements in roof prism binoculars over the last 20 years.

As for porro prism binoculars, well for decades you have been able
to buy superb examples. Yes, they can be bulky and heavy but
don't believe all the tosh out there about having to pay £1000
to get anything half decent. Some (not all, you have to be careful)
of the Russian stuff can be very good indeed. And most of the fairly
modern Carl Zeiss Jena bins are excellent. I have a pair of mint
Carl Zeiss Octarem 8X50 bins - these are among the best porro
prism bins you can get. They are a match in image quality
to many of the more modern and more expensive roof prism
bins - however, they are BIG and heavy!! On e-bay people
are paying silly money for Carl Zeiss Jena bins - keep your
eyes peeled and you can buy them for peanuts at car
boot sales or in second hand shops.

soaring eagle

P.S. The link below gives a review of 3 roof prism binoculars.
Zeiss Dialyt 10X40B (approx 20 years old, but top of the range then).
Docter 10X42B/CF (expensive German roof prism)
TS 10X42 (current roof prism made in China and costs less then £100)
The Docter comes out on top, but not by much.
The TS performs very well in most areas and out-performs the
Zeiss in most areas. I've seen the Zeiss Dialyt bins go for over
£300 on e-bay and the Docter bins for even more.
Who says you have to pay hundreds of pounds to get
good roor prism binoculars?

http://de.geocities.com/holger_merlitz/dialyt10x40.html
 
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