Leica Trinovid 10 x 42 question on purple fringing (1 Viewer)

Guyfly · Apr 11, 2014

Hi

I turned 50 yesterday and my family to my surprise have grouped together to buy me a new pair of binoculars.:t:

Lucky for me they bought some Leica Trinovid 10x42 from my local store in Preston

My question is, are these binoculars supposed to exhibit a little purple fringing, coming from an astro-imager back ground I was a little surprised to see this in a premium branded binocular? My 107mm APM triplet telescope (Chinese made)has none, neither does my cheap skywatcher 80 ED doublet, I am trying to relax about this before asking my wife for the receipt and returning back to the shop.

The worst effect is in leafless trees with grey/white clouds in the background, I can also see purple fringing on white drain pipes against red brick. I have noticed it on silver house TV aerials , and can see green on one side purple on the other when adjusting the angle to which I view it..

If I tilt my eyesight viewing up or down it a little it relieves it a little...

Do I have a duff pair or is this entirely normal?

The sharpness and neutral colour is staggeringly amazing..

Your advise would really be gratefully helpful..

Cheers
Guy

ceasar · Apr 11, 2014

Do you see it when you keep the object centered in the view or does it show up when you hold the binocular off axis or are looking at an object at the edges of the view while moving your eyes around?

Bob

Guyfly · Apr 11, 2014

ceasar said:
Do you see it when you keep the object centered in the view or does it show up when you hold the binocular off axis or are looking at an object at the edges of the view while moving your eyes around?

Bob

Thanks Bob

I see it through the centre, this afternoon I re checked against a grey lamp post, when I look centrally its apparent slightly both sides, when I mover my eyes to the right is gets worse on the right, when I move them left its gets worse left..

Cheers
Guy

ronh · Apr 11, 2014

Guy,
Thanks for what amounts to a critical report on a binocular that is not widely known here. Leica makes no claim to ED glass in the new Trinovid, and what you are seeing is typical for binoculars of that type, regardless how fine the construction and optical performance otherwise. Typical, I should say, when used critically by an experienced observer.

Having discovered color fringing in a binocular, one can certainly have a big field day looking at every high contrast edge that will show it, and it can be quite discouraging. I find that in normal birding use, however, the defect is not much of a problem. When the lighting is decent, the view can still appear splendidly clean at least to me, and when the lighting is so poor that it becomes annoying, well, the view of the bird wouldn't be much good anyway even with ED glass!

But sensitivity to it is highly variable from person to person, day to day, and setting to setting. If you are such a color hater that you went the ED triplet route in your astro scope, then maybe a normal glass binocular is simply not for you.

I find lateral color effects much more annoying in daytime viewing than in astronomy myself, and am not the world's pickiest person in this regard either. Call it willfull blindness if you like, that works fine. I use and enjoy both normal glass and ED binoculars, and at night I am satisfied with a 5" f/12 D&G achromat scope.

I would recommend that if after a few days you have not been able to fall into a relaxed and normal mode of observation in which the effect is forgotten, and you enjoy the many other things that there are to enjoy about a Leica binocular, you've gotta switch to something else.

Ron

Guyfly · Apr 11, 2014

ronh said:
Guy,
Thanks for what amounts to a critical report on a binocular that is not widely known here. Leica makes no claim to ED glass in the new Trinovid, and what you are seeing is typical for binoculars of that type, regardless how fine the construction and optical performance otherwise. Typical, I should say, when used critically by an experienced observer.

Having discovered color fringing in a binocular, one can certainly have a big field day looking at every high contrast edge that will show it, and it can be quite discouraging. I find that in normal birding use, however, the defect is not much of a problem. When the lighting is decent, the view can still appear splendidly clean at least to me, and when the lighting is so poor that it becomes annoying, well, the view of the bird wouldn't be much good anyway even with ED glass!

But sensitivity to it is highly variable from person to person, day to day, and setting to setting. If you are such a color hater that you went the ED triplet route in your astro scope, then maybe a normal glass binocular is simply not for you.

I find lateral color effects much more annoying in daytime viewing than in astronomy myself, and am not the world's pickiest person in this regard either. Call it willfull blindness if you like, that works fine. I use and enjoy both normal glass and ED binoculars, and at night I am satisfied with a 5" f/12 D&G achromat scope.

I would recommend that if after a few days you have not been able to fall into a relaxed and normal mode of observation in which the effect is forgotten, and you enjoy the many other things that there are to enjoy about a Leica binocular, you've gotta switch to something else.

Ron

Thanks Ron for those settling words, perhaps I should relax and take them for a trip to the reserve for a field test and be less impetuous.

I just rang the shop and they are quite happy to work with me to resolve it. They have 8x32 Ultravid HD on the second hand ‘demo shelf’ I might borrow them for a comparison.

A2GG · Apr 14, 2014

Guyfly said:
Thanks Bob

I see it through the centre, this afternoon I re checked against a grey lamp post, when I look centrally its apparent slightly both sides, when I mover my eyes to the right is gets worse on the right, when I move them left its gets worse left..

Cheers
Guy

Hi Guy,

I have the new 8x42 Trinovid (and love it) and yes, there is color fringing seen through my bins too, but it is mostly apparent on the edges and not right in the center. However, I have noticed it faintly in the center on one or two occassions. It's only apparent in those ripe situations when CA should likely reveal itself and I've also noticed , at times, that it doesn't show up at all when I think it should.

I don't really notice it much when not looking for it and the bird or subject in the center view always looks clean and sharp to me. This model does not have ED/HD glass as others have mentioned. If it's very bothersome then perhaps look at the Ultravid or another brand with HD/ED glass. Some people are very bothered by CA/fringing, but I'm not one of them. However, each person has their own pet peeves when it comes to optics.

~ Beth

Guyfly · Apr 14, 2014

Thanks for the responses, I took the bins back to Wilkinson camera Preston on Saturday, the sales guy agreed that for £1,000 I should really expect more..

ceasar · Apr 14, 2014

Guyfly said:
Thanks for the responses, I took the bins back to Wilkinson camera Preston on Saturday, the sales guy agreed that for £1,000 I should really expect more..

Here's hoping you find one. Let us know when you do. Try to stay within 1,000 Pounds but don't be upset if you have to go higher.

You could consider Swarovski's 10x40 Habicht. It's a porro prism binocular and they don't seem to be as prone to show CA as roof prisms do. See link below for it's specs.

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/swarovski.pl?page=swarovskihabicht10x40

Bob

PHA · Apr 15, 2014

Hello Guy,

Agree with ceasar! I have a Swarovski Habicht 10x40 WGA, one of the last versions, and a FABOULOUS Zeiss HT 10x42. I like both very much! And, as ceasar says, the colour fringing control is, practically, as good in the S Habicht as in the Z HT. I have had 4 S Habicht 10x40, the early ones from the 70´s to the new and actual one. Plus 2 Habicht 8x30. For me, these S Habichts are ones of the great binoculars of all the times. Costing half the other tops modern binoculars.
Good luck!

PHA

Guyfly · Apr 15, 2014

Thanks

Thanks for all the advise and to the PM's I received.. :t:

Woodcreeper · Apr 15, 2014

Hello Guy!

As the product specialist for the birding and nature markets in the US I'm often asked the difference, optically, between the new Trinovid and Ultravid HD lines. Optically they are almost identical with one lens element difference, the HD element in the Ultravids. Given the effect CA is having on your experience, I would suggest giving the Ultravid HD a try, especially if they have a screaming deal on a demo. Unfortunately, CA is an effect of sharpness, so a very sharp image of highly contrasting objects will most certainly produce some CA even in the best binoculars. The HD element in our Ultravids does a great job of removing as much as possible.

Please let us know what you ultimately decided.

Cheers

David

Leica Trinovid 10 x 42 question on purple fringing (1 Viewer)

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