Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
interesting, Leica & Zeiss both make 7x42 binoculars and no 7x32 binoculars. Somebody must be buying them. At those prices the buyers probably aren't beginners. I wonder what these buyers know that we don't? chip
I think a lot of this is historical rather than logical.
It seemed for a long time that Zeiss (and perhaps others) though the 7x crowd were old post WW2 generation folks and the wave of the future was only 8x and 10x (for birders).
So you could see the 7x42 Dialyt hanging on for the longest time getting T* then P* but that last update in 1988 seemed to be though of as the last one. Call it the " 7x42 ClassiC" and we can go on to do the new Design Selection then Conquest and Victories in 8x and 10x. It will be the future. But it was curious how these always got compared to the older bins.
It wasn't until the Zeiss FL 7x42 that the low magnification people got some love again.
At least that's how I remember it.
I think it's true for all the alpha 7x42: there is a history there of a group of people who have used 7x bins for a long time and will continue to buy them. So the companies keep making them.
I do have a Promaster 7x32 which is an interesting design in itself. With a rather long focal length objective too, like a smaller version of the Chinese ED bins we have seen. I suspect the same designer is behind it using the same larger positive focuser lens very close to the objective). And for a non-PC turn of the millenium Chinese roof the view is good. Some silly design decisions make it perform badly with stray light (note to implmentor: shiny metal or paint is not good ).
It can be done but you have to go out on a limb to do it.
Or make bins for the military ... M24 7x28.