looksharp65
Well-known member
A few impressions from Skärfläckans Dag (Avocet's Day) at Getterön, Varberg, Sweden
First, let me try to explain my goals for the day.
The first was to sell my LowePro Photo Trekker Classic, which sadly gained no interest.
The second was to lay my hands on a number of different binoculars to get a first and general impression from them.
I also intended to try a Pentax XW10 on a PF65-EDAII but there was only an XW20.
The two eyepieces I regularly use are the BST Explorer Dual ED 12 mm and 18 mm.
The 8 mm is not good on the Pentax 65, so I would have liked to see what the scope would perform with the XW10.
Shortly, the XW20 has a wider AFOV of 70 degrees, compared to the Explorer's decent 60 degrees.
Color rendition is warmer and more vivid or sparkling than the Explorer.(similar to my Nikon MC zoom)
But considering the XW series is supposed to be among the world's finest eyepieces and the Explorers sell at £36,
the difference was quite small. However, I do expect the XW10 to press the most and best out of the scope.
The Explorer 8 mm simply does not do justice to it.
I also compared my standard setup, the 65 scope with the Explorer 12 mm (32,5x) to a PF-80ED with my 18 mm Explorer (28x)
Unfortunately I didn't have much time to assess the details, but the 65 held its own against its larger sibling.
Admittedly, this was not the ideal day for trying optics - the sun was shining very brightly and the air was saturated with pollen.
Like I said, I didn't have much time to get into details with the binoculars.
It was apparent that the Zeiss Victory models were brighter and more sparkling than the Conquests.
The 8x32 FL and 10x32 FL were in a class by themselves, being rugged and very compact as well as bright.
Especially the 10x32 caught my interest as it was usable with spectacles - not perfect but fine.
In contrast, the Swarowski EL 10x32 was useless for me, I estimate I could see about 50% of the FOV.
(Does anyone know what the Kowa Genesis/Prominar XD 10x33 is like?)
The Victory FL handled glare extremely well too. When I moved it towards the sun,
I made a guesstimation that if I turn it just a little bit more, I might be blinded for the next few days.
The Swaro ELs are beauties, but I didn't find out what way to make use of the thumb indents.
Another sad and peculiar thing with all of the Swarovskis I tried was that the focus knob was not smooth at all.
My impression was that it felt VERY cheap. Think of oiled plastic, rather than greased brass, so it moved with small "jumps".
The Swarovision 50's were two animals different from each other. Previous reports seem unanimous that they are equal.
Probably they are, optically spoken, but the 12x50 seemed to have much shorter eye relief,
and of course it was too hard to handhold it steadily. Thus, it's not meant for me.
But the 10x50 was...paradise. It was a bad decision to look through it and realize I will never own it.
It's like unhappy love.
First, let me try to explain my goals for the day.
The first was to sell my LowePro Photo Trekker Classic, which sadly gained no interest.
The second was to lay my hands on a number of different binoculars to get a first and general impression from them.
I also intended to try a Pentax XW10 on a PF65-EDAII but there was only an XW20.
The two eyepieces I regularly use are the BST Explorer Dual ED 12 mm and 18 mm.
The 8 mm is not good on the Pentax 65, so I would have liked to see what the scope would perform with the XW10.
Shortly, the XW20 has a wider AFOV of 70 degrees, compared to the Explorer's decent 60 degrees.
Color rendition is warmer and more vivid or sparkling than the Explorer.(similar to my Nikon MC zoom)
But considering the XW series is supposed to be among the world's finest eyepieces and the Explorers sell at £36,
the difference was quite small. However, I do expect the XW10 to press the most and best out of the scope.
The Explorer 8 mm simply does not do justice to it.
I also compared my standard setup, the 65 scope with the Explorer 12 mm (32,5x) to a PF-80ED with my 18 mm Explorer (28x)
Unfortunately I didn't have much time to assess the details, but the 65 held its own against its larger sibling.
Admittedly, this was not the ideal day for trying optics - the sun was shining very brightly and the air was saturated with pollen.
Like I said, I didn't have much time to get into details with the binoculars.
It was apparent that the Zeiss Victory models were brighter and more sparkling than the Conquests.
The 8x32 FL and 10x32 FL were in a class by themselves, being rugged and very compact as well as bright.
Especially the 10x32 caught my interest as it was usable with spectacles - not perfect but fine.
In contrast, the Swarowski EL 10x32 was useless for me, I estimate I could see about 50% of the FOV.
(Does anyone know what the Kowa Genesis/Prominar XD 10x33 is like?)
The Victory FL handled glare extremely well too. When I moved it towards the sun,
I made a guesstimation that if I turn it just a little bit more, I might be blinded for the next few days.
The Swaro ELs are beauties, but I didn't find out what way to make use of the thumb indents.
Another sad and peculiar thing with all of the Swarovskis I tried was that the focus knob was not smooth at all.
My impression was that it felt VERY cheap. Think of oiled plastic, rather than greased brass, so it moved with small "jumps".
The Swarovision 50's were two animals different from each other. Previous reports seem unanimous that they are equal.
Probably they are, optically spoken, but the 12x50 seemed to have much shorter eye relief,
and of course it was too hard to handhold it steadily. Thus, it's not meant for me.
But the 10x50 was...paradise. It was a bad decision to look through it and realize I will never own it.
It's like unhappy love.
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