Having recently acquired a pair of Swaro EL 8.5x42, I feel I´m spreading my Bino-Lurv awful thin these days, and did an amateurish ABC test today. (My promise to my Financial Manager to do some Asset-Stripping to fund the new purchase was a contributory factor....). The three contenders for "keeper-bins", then, were Swaro EL 8.5x42, Swaro EL 8x32, and Nikon EII 8x30. (In a perfect world I would have had a pair of FL´s and SE´s too, but I can´t find them in shops in Ireland to test). The astute among you will realise that this comparative study is pointless for the following three reasons:
1) They´re all old models. They´ve all been reviewed before by far more experienced Geeks than I.
2) It´s not a "like-with-like" study. There are two magnifications and three objectives in the mix. So perhaps the whole exercise is merely my brain trying to filter results in order to favour the 8.5x42 and justify my extravagance.
3) They are all metal tubes with glass in for seeing far-away things, and in a world where some folk are dropping ordnance on each other in disputes over territory or Gods, and others are desperate for food, water, or medicines for their children, my binocular-testing is almost criminally trivial.
4) In the field (well actually in the local woods and heathland), the actual differences between them involve of numbers of angels dancing on pin-heads.
(And if you´re very astute you´ll see that was four reasons.)
So here´s what I did: I pinned two pages to my shed door and set up a tripod at 12 metres. One page was (appropriately enough) a recent Credit Card Statement, with white and yellow-ish background and words and figures in various sizes. The other was a page from "Birdwatch" magazine, with text on both white and blue-grey background, and a photo of a Snow Bunting on Kilcoole Beach. I moved the tripod further away by degrees to compare and find which bins could resolve best. Then I took the three bins into local woods and out onto heathland nearby. Conditions were perfect: bright and clear to start, then a Warm Front approached, cloud thickened and it started to rain.
I won´t bore with tech-specs, all you get is my entirely subjective musings.
Of the two smaller bins, the EII was a little brighter and sharper in the centre. But the 8.5x42, unsurprisingly, were a tad brighter again. And much brighter in the woods, and when the clouds rolled over (and lastnight at dusk).
I was suprised that all three bins softened considerably away from the centre, with perhaps the greatest "Curvature" in the EII´s. None of them could be described as "Sharp to the Edges", as in the parlance.
The EL 8.5x42 resolved better, in all light conditions. I didn´t expect the extra 0.5 of magnification to make any difference, but it did. Considerably. I could easily read text and numbers on the do-it-yourself chart that I couldn´t quite make out with the EL 8x32, and that I struggled a bit with on the EII. (Now I know what all you 9x guys have been banging on about all these years...)
In the woods, the larger obs of the 8.5x were superb with shadowed areas in the undergrowth. (Strange feature: I thought the DOF of the 8.5 was better than the other two....but I thought lower-mag bins always had better DOF, no?)
I looked for CA again and again while reading the text, and while scanning the horizon, but couldn´t find it in any of the bins. Then, in the woods, when looking at a Mistle Thrush perched atop a tree waiting for the rain, bingo, lateral CA appeared as if by magic, and in all 3 bins. It was most pronounced in the EL 8x32, but it wasn´t a problem, a slight adjustment of angle or focus or a few eyelid-blinks and it disappears (for me).
I tried to find "flare" by moving all three towards the sun when it was bright and low in the East. But I couldn´t find any, and gave up for fear of blinding myself.
I´m an FOV-freak, and love the panoramic view of the EII´s. The 1.4-degree narrower FOV of the EL8.5x42 could take some getting used to, at least at close quarters in woodland when you need it to find the bird. But once you´re onto the bird, FOV becomes irrelevant.
As KevinC said wisely on another thread, one´s fave bin changes over time and by rotating bins you appreciate different qualities in all. If you own any of the above three, don´t obsess about them, go watch birds. I have an optics obsession/disease, and while it may keep me off Strong Liquor and Television, it´s a bit silly and all three of the above are superb instruments.
So which are Keepers? It´ll take a few weeks to decide. The EL 8.5x42, I imagine, will be a better "all-rounder". For the moment, when I look through the EL 8x32, I think "wow, great sharp wide view, fits my hand like a glove". Through the EII, I think "wow, wide, bright, sharp and punchy 3D-effect, but a bit awkward to hold". When I look through the EL 8.5x42, I don´t think anything....my heart goes all fluttery, and I feel I´m seeing the image all the way down to my solar-plexus. Let´s see how long the initial "in-love" phase lasts....
(Now if that isn´t a pile of subjective a..se, what is?)
1) They´re all old models. They´ve all been reviewed before by far more experienced Geeks than I.
2) It´s not a "like-with-like" study. There are two magnifications and three objectives in the mix. So perhaps the whole exercise is merely my brain trying to filter results in order to favour the 8.5x42 and justify my extravagance.
3) They are all metal tubes with glass in for seeing far-away things, and in a world where some folk are dropping ordnance on each other in disputes over territory or Gods, and others are desperate for food, water, or medicines for their children, my binocular-testing is almost criminally trivial.
4) In the field (well actually in the local woods and heathland), the actual differences between them involve of numbers of angels dancing on pin-heads.
(And if you´re very astute you´ll see that was four reasons.)
So here´s what I did: I pinned two pages to my shed door and set up a tripod at 12 metres. One page was (appropriately enough) a recent Credit Card Statement, with white and yellow-ish background and words and figures in various sizes. The other was a page from "Birdwatch" magazine, with text on both white and blue-grey background, and a photo of a Snow Bunting on Kilcoole Beach. I moved the tripod further away by degrees to compare and find which bins could resolve best. Then I took the three bins into local woods and out onto heathland nearby. Conditions were perfect: bright and clear to start, then a Warm Front approached, cloud thickened and it started to rain.
I won´t bore with tech-specs, all you get is my entirely subjective musings.
Of the two smaller bins, the EII was a little brighter and sharper in the centre. But the 8.5x42, unsurprisingly, were a tad brighter again. And much brighter in the woods, and when the clouds rolled over (and lastnight at dusk).
I was suprised that all three bins softened considerably away from the centre, with perhaps the greatest "Curvature" in the EII´s. None of them could be described as "Sharp to the Edges", as in the parlance.
The EL 8.5x42 resolved better, in all light conditions. I didn´t expect the extra 0.5 of magnification to make any difference, but it did. Considerably. I could easily read text and numbers on the do-it-yourself chart that I couldn´t quite make out with the EL 8x32, and that I struggled a bit with on the EII. (Now I know what all you 9x guys have been banging on about all these years...)
In the woods, the larger obs of the 8.5x were superb with shadowed areas in the undergrowth. (Strange feature: I thought the DOF of the 8.5 was better than the other two....but I thought lower-mag bins always had better DOF, no?)
I looked for CA again and again while reading the text, and while scanning the horizon, but couldn´t find it in any of the bins. Then, in the woods, when looking at a Mistle Thrush perched atop a tree waiting for the rain, bingo, lateral CA appeared as if by magic, and in all 3 bins. It was most pronounced in the EL 8x32, but it wasn´t a problem, a slight adjustment of angle or focus or a few eyelid-blinks and it disappears (for me).
I tried to find "flare" by moving all three towards the sun when it was bright and low in the East. But I couldn´t find any, and gave up for fear of blinding myself.
I´m an FOV-freak, and love the panoramic view of the EII´s. The 1.4-degree narrower FOV of the EL8.5x42 could take some getting used to, at least at close quarters in woodland when you need it to find the bird. But once you´re onto the bird, FOV becomes irrelevant.
As KevinC said wisely on another thread, one´s fave bin changes over time and by rotating bins you appreciate different qualities in all. If you own any of the above three, don´t obsess about them, go watch birds. I have an optics obsession/disease, and while it may keep me off Strong Liquor and Television, it´s a bit silly and all three of the above are superb instruments.
So which are Keepers? It´ll take a few weeks to decide. The EL 8.5x42, I imagine, will be a better "all-rounder". For the moment, when I look through the EL 8x32, I think "wow, great sharp wide view, fits my hand like a glove". Through the EII, I think "wow, wide, bright, sharp and punchy 3D-effect, but a bit awkward to hold". When I look through the EL 8.5x42, I don´t think anything....my heart goes all fluttery, and I feel I´m seeing the image all the way down to my solar-plexus. Let´s see how long the initial "in-love" phase lasts....
(Now if that isn´t a pile of subjective a..se, what is?)
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