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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Some side to side testing and reviews (1 Viewer)

arran

arran

Well-known member
Hi all ,
Yesterday , I had some bins to compare in a local shop
Bins to be compared were
Zeiss SF 10x42
Sw SLC 10x 56
Habicht 10x 40
Leica 8x 42 HD and HD plus
zeiss HT 10x 54 and 10 x 42

The overall weather condition was bright and clear with some clouding.
I personnally looked at sharpness and contrast perception and comfort

I was totally desencouraged by the Zeiss HT bins , they were inferior in crispiness.Focus wheel was superior in my test bins
The Zeiss sf gave a very satisfying and comfortable view , however sharpness was inferior to the SLC 10x56.The bin is quite large but surprised me on its weight , the less weight is certainly a pro.
leica ultravid : best in dimension, however a double blind test could not reveal a difference with the plus version
In the end I was overwhelmed by the habicht , best in sharpness and extra 3 D effect , which was the first experience for me.3 m shortest focus distance is still OK.Focus drive is not as fluent as the other bins.
The sharpness was tested by placing a letter board at 30 m and the optical quality was tested by trying to read the smallest letters.

Overall

I will go the habicht 10 x 42 and slc 10x 56
Especially the SLC was astonishing , and although a bit heavier , still quite good to use as overall bin!
I was astonished that the slc scored better than the SF !!

May be some thought from the forum?
 
What are you going to use them for? Even by my standards, 42ozs, seems quite heavy for the slc 10x56. The Habicht is vastly lighter; W is 24ozs and W GA is 28ozs.

Rolstone
 
arran said:
Hi all ,
Yesterday , I had some bins to compare in a local shop
Bins to be compared were
Zeiss SF 10x42
Sw SLC 10x 56
Habicht 10x 40
Leica 8x 42 HD and HD plus
zeiss HT 10x 54 and 10 x 42

The overall weather condition was bright and clear with some clouding.
I personnally looked at sharpness and contrast perception and comfort

I was totally desencouraged by the Zeiss HT bins , they were inferior in crispiness.Focus wheel was superior in my test bins
The Zeiss sf gave a very satisfying and comfortable view , however sharpness was inferior to the SLC 10x56.The bin is quite large but surprised me on its weight , the less weight is certainly a pro.
leica ultravid : best in dimension, however a double blind test could not reveal a difference with the plus version
In the end I was overwhelmed by the habicht , best in sharpness and extra 3 D effect , which was the first experience for me.3 m shortest focus distance is still OK.Focus drive is not as fluent as the other bins.
The sharpness was tested by placing a letter board at 30 m and the optical quality was tested by trying to read the smallest letters.

Overall

I will go the habicht 10 x 42 and slc 10x 56
Especially the SLC was astonishing , and although a bit heavier , still quite good to use as overall bin!
I was astonished that the slc scored better than the SF !!

May be some thought from the forum?
Click to expand...

I had my habicht 10x40 GA out this afternoon. Everyone's different but I'm not at all surprised at your findings. the focus does ease up with use.
 
arran- Nice Review. I wish we had the 10x56 SLC available to be sold here in the US.

Just curious as to which 10x40 Swaro Habicht you tested- The traditional Leatherette one or the rubber armored one? I know the optics are the same.
 
Hi arran,

Good bunch of binoculars you tested!
From them the only ones I don´t know or ever seen are the Zeiss SF and the HT 54. I made a side by side "test" on all the others a little more than a month at a shop in London. Also, I have a Habicht WGA 10x40 and a Zeiss HT 10x42. Of my samples I must say, definitely, the HT 10x42 is, by a very, very small margin, but real, sharper than the Habicht. No doubt about that, as I said, in my samples.
I was very impressed by the SLC HD 8 and 10x42!!!!! Incredible sharps and contrasted! Not sharper than my HT but showing richer colours. And the SV 10x50 I saw, otstanding!!!!!
Anyway, I am extremely well served by my two present binoculars.
Thank you for your review!

PHA
 
stephen b said:
arran- Nice Review. I wish we had the 10x56 SLC available to be sold here in the US.

Just curious as to which 10x40 Swaro Habicht you tested- The traditional Leatherette one or the rubber armored one? I know the optics are the same.
Click to expand...

Stephen ,

It was the leatherette version
I find it to be more better in the hand than the gummi version , but this is just a question of subjective feeling
 
PHA said:
Hi arran,

Good bunch of binoculars you tested!
From them the only ones I don´t know or ever seen are the Zeiss SF and the HT 54. I made a side by side "test" on all the others a little more than a month at a shop in London. Also, I have a Habicht WGA 10x40 and a Zeiss HT 10x42. Of my samples I must say, definitely, the HT 10x42 is, by a very, very small margin, but real, sharper than the Habicht. No doubt about that, as I said, in my samples.
I was very impressed by the SLC HD 8 and 10x42!!!!! Incredible sharps and contrasted! Not sharper than my HT but showing richer colours. And the SV 10x50 I saw, otstanding!!!!!
Anyway, I am extremely well served by my two present binoculars.
Thank you for your review!

PHA
Click to expand...

PHA

The transmission of the HT is quite high compared to other bins and were specially developed for low light and hunting conditions as I was told
My test condition was overall sunny.It might be that in this case the HT got too much light and resulted in a kind of waze , more pronounced than the other bins.
In fact , this is a general issue seen with the HT of my friends as well
E.g.a friend of mine, having a SCL 10x 56 watching a peregrine falcon , sitting in a boggy area , was clearly visible at 300 m, on the other hand , his dad had the 10x 42 zeiss Ht , and under same light condition , this bin rendered a kind of more misty , veil- like image , resulting in less crispiness as a whole.
Always fun , comparing bins with friends in a nature reserve
 
arran said:
PHA

The transmission of the HT is quite high compared to other bins and were specially developed for low light and hunting conditions as I was told
My test condition was overall sunny.It might be that in this case the HT got too much light and resulted in a kind of waze , more pronounced than the other bins.
In fact , this is a general issue seen with the HT of my friends as well
E.g.a friend of mine, having a SCL 10x 56 watching a peregrine falcon , sitting in a boggy area , was clearly visible at 300 m, on the other hand , his dad had the 10x 42 zeiss Ht , and under same light condition , this bin rendered a kind of more misty , veil- like image , resulting in less crispiness as a whole.
Always fun , comparing bins with friends in a nature reserve
Click to expand...

The Zeiss 10x42 HT I had was extremely sharp, certainly more so than my Swaro 8x32 SV and my friends Swaro 10x42 EL Range. I agree that the HT doesn't do as well in bright conditions and can give that washed out look which gives an impression of low contrast. However, when the light level is low and you're looking into shadows, the HT excels. It's an excellent hunting binocular.

I'm going to try a recent production Swaro 8.5x42 SV and see how we get on out in the wilderness.
 
The same happens with my SF 8X42, I found the view overexposed on sunny days and when looking birds flying the view is dazzling bright.

The view during this condition of my brother SV10X42 or my Leica ultravid 8x42 BL IS BY FAR BETTER, more fine.

What to say.............those T coatings are very good with light transmission but maybe they are better when used during low light conditions, cloudy days etc etc
 
Hello,

I agree! The Zeiss, FL and HT excels in low light "hunting" condition. And the Habicht as well, indeed. ALL Habichts I have had, from the very early ones, yellow tinted view, to my last and actual one have been extremely good at dusk/down lights! I asked Gisjs not long ago about the measured light transmition of the Habicht, 8x30 and 10x40 and the numbers, around 94/95 % reflects what I see. One of the highest transmitions, on par with the HT. I can confirm that useing them in the field.

PHA
 
arran said:
Hi all ,
Yesterday , I had some bins to compare in a local shop
Bins to be compared were
Zeiss SF 10x42
Sw SLC 10x 56
Habicht 10x 40
Leica 8x 42 HD and HD plus
zeiss HT 10x 54 and 10 x 42

The overall weather condition was bright and clear with some clouding.
I personnally looked at sharpness and contrast perception and comfort

I was totally desencouraged by the Zeiss HT bins , they were inferior in crispiness.Focus wheel was superior in my test bins
The Zeiss sf gave a very satisfying and comfortable view , however sharpness was inferior to the SLC 10x56.The bin is quite large but surprised me on its weight , the less weight is certainly a pro.
leica ultravid : best in dimension, however a double blind test could not reveal a difference with the plus version
In the end I was overwhelmed by the habicht , best in sharpness and extra 3 D effect , which was the first experience for me.3 m shortest focus distance is still OK.Focus drive is not as fluent as the other bins.
The sharpness was tested by placing a letter board at 30 m and the optical quality was tested by trying to read the smallest letters.

Overall

I will go the habicht 10 x 42 and slc 10x 56
Especially the SLC was astonishing , and although a bit heavier , still quite good to use as overall bin!
I was astonished that the slc scored better than the SF !!

May be some thought from the forum?
Click to expand...

according to laws of physics, a larger lens will give better resolution,
so nothing sensational, see Dawes' limit,
what resolution in arc-seconds did you get?

"sharpness" or even perceived ditto, is really not a good term to use rating binoculars IMO,
look at the photos below, what view do you prefer? The sharpest? Not me…
contrast and resolution is better terms,

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Accutance_example.png
 
Last edited:
Hi Vespobuteo,

Agree. Although "sharpness" (a rather subjective definition) would be a combination of resolution and contrast.
As a personal experience, before the FL 10x42, bought in 2004, I had a Leica BA 10x42. An excelent piece with outsanding resolution but lacking the contrast and brightness the FL had. I sold the BA...

PHA
 
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