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

Your Favourite, Not Your Best, Bins? (1 Viewer)

All three excellent reasons for favourites. Still see plenty of Dialyt 7x42s over here. Amazing to think they were the target to beat when Gerold Dobler was given the go-ahead all those years ago at Swarovski to create the best birding binoculars ever, and they are still going strong today.

Lee

Hmmm. The 8.5x44 Swift Audubon design was intended to be the "best birding binoculars ever," and it derived from ornithologists' recommendations back in 1958. Where else might the idea of an 8.5X birding glass have originated?

The 804ED is still my favorite Porro, the one I love.

Ed
 
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Hmmm. The 8.5x44 Swift Audubon design was intended to be the "best birding binoculars ever," and it derived from ornithologists' recommendations back in 1958. Where else might the idea of an 8.5X birding glass have originated?

The 804ED is still my favorite Porro.

Ed
(7+10)/2
 
Hmmm. The 8.5x44 Swift Audubon design was intended to be the "best birding binoculars ever," and it derived from ornithologists' recommendations back in 1958. Where else might the idea of an 8.5X birding glass have originated?

The 804ED is still my favorite Porro, the one I love.

Ed

The old saying 'there is nothing new under the sun' perhaps applies. In Swaro's case the inspiration supplied by certainly the Dialyt 7x42 and (possibly) 10x40 probably means the old 7+10 divided by 2 formula was used.

My first bino was an Audubon.

Lee
 
Yeah, but whadda you know; it's obviously Andrea! And you call yourself a BIRD watcher. :cat:

Billy Bob

BB

Thats one vote for each of the Corrs sisters. I think we can congratulate ourselves on our great taste and discrimination.

Well, at least I can.....

Lee
 
Although I use my Swarovski 8x32 bought two years ago as my default birdwatching binocular, I still have a soft spot for my Zeiss 7x42 T*P* Dialyt. I use this occasionally but prefer a lighter binocular and because the dilated diameter of my eye pupil is less than 4mm, I cannot take advantage of the 6mm exit pupil. Nethertheless I will nominate the Zeiss as my favourite for purely sentimental reasons.
 
At Common Raven:

I still have and use, on occasion, an Eagle Optics Platinum Ranger 6x32. I bought it about 14 years ago. I remember the 1st time I used it. I took my son to the tax accountants office to pick up our tax papers. It was drizzling rain and I was parked up against a green hedge with small red berries and a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew in to feast on the berries. I watched them closeup through my car's window shield with the binocular.

Bob

Thank you for taking the time to share. I remember the very first time I used them too, on a local trip here in Long Beach. The wide field of view and low power made it easy for my son (10ish at the time), to follow birds in flight. Now, given their long history with me and the pleasure using them I certainly would say I love my pair.
 
At Common Raven:

I still have and use, on occasion, an Eagle Optics Platinum Ranger 6x32. I bought it about 14 years ago. I remember the 1st time I used it. I took my son to the tax accountants office to pick up our tax papers. It was drizzling rain and I was parked up against a green hedge with small red berries and a flock of Cedar Waxwings flew in to feast on the berries. I watched them closeup through my car's window shield with the binocular.

Bob

Thats a lovely memory Bob.

Lee
 
Although I use my Swarovski 8x32 bought two years ago as my default birdwatching binocular, I still have a soft spot for my Zeiss 7x42 T*P* Dialyt. I use this occasionally but prefer a lighter binocular and because the dilated diameter of my eye pupil is less than 4mm, I cannot take advantage of the 6mm exit pupil. Nethertheless I will nominate the Zeiss as my favourite for purely sentimental reasons.

On this thread, sentimental reasons are quite good enough.

Lee
 
I've owned quite a few binoculars now, but I still haven't found anything better than my SLC 7x42. It's an absolute pleasure to use, and in the 7 years I've owned it I've seen well over 1000 species with it. I've used it in the tropics of Central America and South-East Asia, the deserts of North Africa, the forests of Eastern Europe and the wet and wild West coast of Canada and it has never let me down.
It is looking worse for wear than when I bought it, but I suppose that is to be expected. It brings a smile to my face every time I lift it to my eyes, and the combination of massive depth of field, huge exit pupils and curvy structure make it a pleasure to use.
Sure it is not the latest and greatest, it doesn't have field flatteners or even ED glass, but it is more than functional, and with the money saved on not upgrading each year I can afford to travel the world and see some amazing birds - and surely that is what it is all about.
 

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Bausch and Lomb Elites - not the best but my 1st alpha and we saw many, many new species together....I remember driving in the car, these needed to be propped up on the seat so I could steal glances at them.......insane...
 
Thank you for taking the time to share. I remember the very first time I used them too, on a local trip here in Long Beach. The wide field of view and low power made it easy for my son (10ish at the time), to follow birds in flight. Now, given their long history with me and the pleasure using them I certainly would say I love my pair.


I usually took my E.O. Platinum Ranger 6x32 with me in my Fishing Vest when I went Fly Fishing in the Catskill mountains on the Beaverkill and Willowemoc Rivers and the Upper Delaware River just in case I ran into flocks Cedar Waxwings which frequented those streams. Belted Kingfishers were always fun to watch. Eastern Kingbirds frequented the banks of those rivers too. I once watched a Mink come down the opposite bank of the Delaware River with a Trout in its mouth. I watched Little Green Herons and Blue Herons and Great Egrets and Bald Eagles and Ospreys with it.

Good times and great memories from a largely unknown binocular!:king:

Bob
 
Bausch and Lomb Elites - not the best but my 1st alpha and we saw many, many new species together....I remember driving in the car, these needed to be propped up on the seat so I could steal glances at them.......insane...

James, I used to do the same with my Swarovski ELs (early non-SV). Compared with my old BGAT Dialyts they looked so incredibly modern I couldn't help stealing glances at them...

Lee
 
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