[optics lover]

Yesterday I heard about Nikon 8-16X40 XL Zoom. At 30 ounces, they sound really good so I spent a couple hours on google trying to find some. There are none to be found. Is there another zoom in its weight class with glass as good as this unit?

[ceasar]

There are no good zoom binoculars and Nikon's are probably the best of a bad lot. They have narrow fields of view, even at low power, very short eye relief, are very dim and are useless at the high powers. And they break easily. Enough said!

Bob

[mooreorless]

Bob, Brock had the Nikon 8-16x40 XL Zoom and I had a chance to use it, it is in another league compared to the ones you are thinking about.. These cost about $600 new + or -.

If Brock sees this maybe he give the OP information about this binocular. There is a thread on the best of binocular forum on Cloudy Nights about zoom binoculars.

[birdazzLED]

The Brunton Zoom might be decent but it's very expensive.

[optics lover]

Originally Posted by ceasar

There are no good zoom binoculars and Nikon's are probably the best of a bad lot. They have narrow fields of view, even at low power, very short eye relief, are very dim and are useless at the high powers. And they break easily. Enough said!

Bob

5/17/11

The new “Can you read this?” optics chart came today. With the Minox 13X56I could read line 1 with ease but not quite distinguish line 2.

The Nikon 7-15X35, which to me are the best carry around binocular value on the market, I could read line 1 on 11X. When turned up to 15X I could barely, but could read line 2.

I couldn't read even the first line with the very delightful 19 ounce Vortex 6.5X32 binocular. I purchased them to replace the 30 ounce Nikon 7-15X35 to lighten my hiking load. But, by the end of the first few hikes I went back to the Nikon because of the ability to crank up the power. As you can see I was able to read line 2 with the Nikon on 15X but could not read line 2 with the Minox. That has to say something good about the Nikon. They have a place in the bino-buddy until something better comes along.

[ceasar]

The only one's I can find on Nikon's site are these 2 Action Zooms. (see link below) As you can see the FOV on both at the low power is extremely narrow (A non-zoom 7 x 35 porro prism would give you a much wider field of view) and the eye reliefs of both are very short.

I don't know what happened to the 8-16 x 40 XL Zoom. At $600.00 they would have to be much better than these 2 are. So if you can find one, get it.

http://www.nikon.com/products/sporto...5x50/index.htm

It depends on what you are comfortable with and what you will be using them for. They are not ideal for birding by any means.

Bobs

[ceasar]

I saw a picture of the Nikon 8-16 x 40 Zoom. It is clearly built on the chassis used for the classic 8 x 30 E2 and 10 x 35 E2. And it might (although I don't know this) use the same prisms. That probably explains it's high price. I don't know it's specs or why Nikon dropped it nor do I know the period when it was manufactured nor how many were made. Maybe it didn't sell or maybe it didn't work out as well a Nikon hoped but that is pure speculation on my part.

Bob

[RJM]

Is this the same Nikon zoom? The photo is a little fuzzy but it doesn't seem to indicate "XL" on the manual cover or tag showing a 68,000yen MSRP.

[ceasar]

It appears to be but it is smaller picture. The box shown is the same. The one I saw was closeup and in more detail and looked very much like the E2 binoculars even to the location of the SN on the cap at the front end of the hinge. And it doesn't say "XL" on the box or the binocular. I have removed those letters from my post in thread #7 above.
Bob

[henry link]

Here's a photo of the 8-16x40 XL zoom (that was the official US name) compared to a 10x35 EII. As you can see the chassis are not the same. No parts are interchangeable.

I'm not sure about the exact dates for the XL. It was introduced sometime in the mid 80's and dropped, at least in the US, sometime in the mid to late 90's. I bought mine for $299 from a Christopher's Ltd. close-out sale about 2000. It's listed at $529 in a 1990 Eagle Optics price sheet.

For my purposes it's more of an an interesting artifact than a useful binocular. It's the only really good zoom binocular I've seen. Image quality at 16X compares to a decent spotting scope. The main downside is a very narrow field, which combined with wide objective spacing, makes it nearly useless at close range and not much fun to use at any distance. Still, anyone who is happy with one of the inexpensive Nikon zooms should really like this one.

[ceasar]

Thanks for the photos Henry. That settles that!
Bob

[Simon S]

There are NO good zoom binoculars.
They are narrow in field when wide, soft and dim when at maximum zoom and suffer shifting collimation and focus shifts.
Buy a fixed Nikon Action 8x40, for birding and you will be happy.

[mooreorless]

Henry those two binoculars look in excellent condition! I thought about buying Brocks 8-16x40mm XL Zoom. Really decent for a zoom, Simon must of never tried these.

[RJM]

Thanks Henry Steve, et all. This is a new one for my database. Can you provide any other specs? I read Brock's CN post from 2003 and he seems to say this bino maintains its TFoV throughout the zoom range. Tell me it ain't so!

Ironic a minty one pops up on auction here the same day it gets discussed. But even it is the cat's meow I don't think it has much to offer me since I already have a 12x50SE and 18x50IS and an 8x, 40° AFoV bin certainly doesn't appeal!

[ceasar]

Optics Lover,
Have you considered these "Switch Power" binoculars on sale at Cabelas Bargain Cave. They don't zoom. They come in 7x/12x by 32 and 10x/17x by 42. They are made by Leupold. Look for them at cabelas.com. Go to hunting and look under optics for them.

Bob

[Tero]

If you need 20x or more, you need a smsll scope. I had a 12x pair of binoculars for a month, it was useless and actually broke, so I did not have to keep it. But it afforded no more birds than 10x.

Also, see IS binoculars.

[looksharp65]

Originally Posted by ceasar

Optics Lover,
Have you considered these "Switch Power" binoculars on sale at Cabelas Bargain Cave. They don't zoom. They come in 7x/12x by 32 and 10x/17x by 42. They are made by Leupold. Look for them at cabelas.com. Go to hunting and look under optics for them.

Bob

Originally Posted by Tero

I had a 12x pair of binoculars for a month, it was useless...//... it afforded no more birds than 10x.

I really can't understand why they don't make them in 6x+10x or 6,5x+10x or possibly 7x+10,5x. So much more useful, IMO...

[henry link]

Originally Posted by RJM

Thanks Henry Steve, et all. This is a new one for my database. Can you provide any other specs? I read Brock's CN post from 2003 and he seems to say this bino maintains its TFoV throughout the zoom range. Tell me it ain't so!

Ironic a minty one pops up on auction here the same day it gets discussed. But even it is the cat's meow I don't think it has much to offer me since I already have a 12x50SE and 18x50IS and an 8x, 40° AFoV bin certainly doesn't appeal!

Rick,

I'll do better than specs. Here are some real measurements:

Eye Relief - 17mm @ 8x, 15mm @ 12x, 14mm @ 16x (measured from the rim of the rolled down eyecup, add 2mm for ER from the eye lens glass)

AFOV - 40 degrees @ 8x, 53 degrees @16x (true angle including distortion, measured with tripod head panning scale). So, it ain't so.

The FOV is certainly narrow at every magnification, but edge sharpness is really excellent. There appears to be virtually no field curvature or off-axis astigmatism across the 40 degree field at 8x with very slight pincushion. The image stays absolutely sharp to the edge. 16x is almost as good with slightly more pincushion.

Construction quality is first rate. Collimation is by eccentric objective rings and there's a deep grooved baffling cone behind the objectives reaching almost to the prism shelf, which is molded along with the prism housing as one piece. One fly in the ointment is the zoom lever which is held in place by two tiny screws. Those screws can loosen with use and they are inaccessible without removing the eyepiece.

Steve,

Those two stay in good shape because I can't find much use for them.

Henry

[Paskman]

Originally Posted by henry link

Steve,

Those two stay in good shape because I can't find much use for them.

Henry

Henry

If you can't find much use for the EII's I'll look after them for you

Paul

[henry link]

Paul,

I imagine I could find quite a few volunteer caretakers for the EII's ;-) My excuse for keeping them is an occasional urge to give 10x another go.

Henry

[RJM]

Thanks much, Henry. Interesting to learn there is at least one "craftsman" quality zoom from Nikon. Glad I am not a collector!

FWIW, my 10x35 EII doesn't get the luv it deserves either. The funny thing is, I think if I was forced to sell all my bins it would be the last one to go. Just fit's me like glove.

[Paskman]

Originally Posted by RJM

Thanks much, Henry. Interesting to learn there is at least one "craftsman" quality zoom from Nikon. Glad I am not a collector!

FWIW, my 10x35 EII doesn't get the luv it deserves either. The funny thing is, I think if I was forced to sell all my bins it would be the last one to go. Just fit's me like glove.

Funny that you used that expression. My 8x30s do as well. I look at all of the rubber covered, ergonomically designed roofs around these days and yet the binoculars that fit my (small) hands best are the most old fashioned, least ergonomic looking pair. Just goes to show about the old adage of trying before you buy; I bet there are loads of people that look at them and then move onto the roofs, without trying the EIIs, who would be amazed if they just picked them up and held them. And that is before they get wowed by the view! Still their loss, our gain.

Paul