Do you ignore Leica ? (2 Viewers)

[Tobias Mennle]

Hi Sub, They are identical externally with the same brilliant focus/diopter system. The eye Relief doesnt work for everybody on the UV's I'm afraid. When I first tried the plus I had no UV for comparison, the improvement is a bit more transmission but for me at the cost of that lovely Leica richness

Had the 8x42 Plus for 6 weeks, and really, "richness" is a nice term to describe its image. Can´t imagine the older glass had more of that... Also about your remark about cooler colours. The Plus I had seemed to have warmer colours than most other 8x42s (both Zeiss and Swaros). And definitely the most saturated colours of all. Part of the magic seems to be the saturation over the whole colour spectrum. Anyway, a lovely glass, that Plus.

 

[Torview]

Hi Tobias,

You need to get an HD and Plus together I think to see the shift to cooler colours in the plus, its subtle but there to my eyes, obviously others may see differently, I felt the transmission was higher on the plus which could eke out a little more detail in deep shadow, (still not as much as the SF though to me).

I still am considering a plus though because that 7x42 keeps calling to me.

 

[Torview]

Ok I`v had a day off, so I went to Darts Farm at Topsham and the RSPB optics outlet there had the new HD+ in 7/8 & 10 x42 so I asked to try the 8 and 7.

I spent a good long time with each alongside my HD, I had`nt previously noticed but the plus has 3 click stops on the eyepieces now instead of just two, also they do appear to extend about 1mm further at the last position, (I held mine and a plus together) this was very useful to me.

With a more studied try the plus is definitely sharper, shows more detail in dark shadows, and I`v now changed my mind on the saturation, the plus showed richer greens and blacker blacks.

I now seriously want the 7x42, I was set on a 7 when I bought my 8 for a fabulous price which swayed my decision, however I now feel I must at some point change to the 7+ when I can justify the purchase.

 

[Tobias Mennle]

Ok I`v had a day off, so I went to Darts Farm at Topsham and the RSPB optics outlet there had the new HD+ in 7/8 & 10 x42 so I asked to try the 8 and 7.

I spent a good long time with each alongside my HD, I had`nt previously noticed but the plus has 3 click stops on the eyepieces now instead of just two, also they do appear to extend about 1mm further at the last position, (I held mine and a plus together) this was very useful to me.

With a more studied try the plus is definitely sharper, shows more detail in dark shadows, and I`v now changed my mind on the saturation, the plus showed richer greens and blacker blacks.

I now seriously want the 7x42, I was set on a 7 when I bought my 8 for a fabulous price which swayed my decision, however I now feel I must at some point change to the 7+ when I can justify the purchase.

... so does that mean the "lovely Leica richness" is there in the + ???

Seriously I want to try that 7+, too. Even more I´d love a 8x32+ for everyday use.

 

[brocknroller]

I bought Silverlines so I could find them in the dark when I use them in conjunction with my telescopes, and because the leather stays cool to the touch in summer. There's nothing inherently wrong with different color binoculars.

Even people with the tackiest tastes in style can appreciate good optics.

Well, you should know!

According to Leica's website, the Silverline Ultravids were designed for yachting. Given this, it's surprising they don't have hydrophobic coatings, or at least none are listed.

Not having a yacht, and pretty much having given up on stargazing now that I sold my 804 Audubon (tightest pinpoint stars I've ever seen through any bin), I would prefer the Blackline. You can't go wrong with basic black, it goes with everything. :smoke:

Like people, what counts with bins is what's inside rather than the color of their armor.

Brock

 

[ceasar]

Well, you should know!

According to Leica's website, the Silverline Ultravids were designed for yachting. Given this, it's surprising they don't have hydrophobic coatings, or at least none are listed.

Not having a yacht, and pretty much having given up on stargazing now that I sold my 804 Audubon (tightest pinpoint stars I've ever seen through any bin), I would prefer the Blackline. You can't go wrong with basic black, it goes with everything. :smoke:

Like people, what counts with bins is what's inside rather than the color of their armor.

Brock[/QUO

Brock,


For what it is worth, according to a Leica PDF in its website, the Silverline Leica Monovid monocular has AcquaDura coating on the outer surface of its lenses. See page 7 of 9 in the English Language PDF for the Silverlines in the link below. The binoculars do not have it.



http://us.leica-camera.com/Sport-Optics/Binoculars/Leica-Ultravid-Silverline

Camera Land still lists it.

Bob

 

[CloseFocus]

Well, you should know!

According to Leica's website, the Silverline Ultravids were designed for yachting. Given this, it's surprising they don't have hydrophobic coatings, or at least none are listed.

Not having a yacht, and pretty much having given up on stargazing now that I sold my 804 Audubon (tightest pinpoint stars I've ever seen through any bin), I would prefer the Blackline. You can't go wrong with basic black, it goes with everything. :smoke:

Like people, what counts with bins is what's inside rather than the color of their armor.

Brock

I had the Silverlines out in a pretty heavy rain, and they didn't fog up or require wiping, so the coating they have is up to the job. Maybe because silver isn't a popular color for a binocular, I saved a pretty big chunk of money by going with the Silverline instead of the Blackline. Speaking of style, I don't think those Swift Audobons will win any beauty contests : )

 

[Swarovski Man]

I bought a pair of 7x42 ultravids a few years back and when I took them out of the box they had several obvious scratches on one of the objective lenses. I sent them straight back. So much for German quality control !

 

[PeterPS]

I know many people love Leica bins, but I am not one of them: every time I tried Leica I got blackouts...despite a smallish ER, the eyecups do not extend enough for me. Moreover, Leica appears to have QC problems---among others they have ranked very low in the Allbinos endurance test.

 

[Vespobuteo]

Had the 8x42 Plus for 6 weeks, and really, "richness" is a nice term to describe its image. Can´t imagine the older glass had more of that... Also about your remark about cooler colours. The Plus I had seemed to have warmer colours than most other 8x42s (both Zeiss and Swaros). And definitely the most saturated colours of all. Part of the magic seems to be the saturation over the whole colour spectrum. Anyway, a lovely glass, that Plus.

the "leica colors" are famous, mostly in the photography world,
some find them "horrible", like in the M9:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/m9/color.htm
I wouldn't say horrible, but unique or a bit twisted maybe…
perhaps they use the same coatings in their binos?

in photography I prefer how Fujifilm cameras renders colors,
skin tones for example looks very natural,

when it comes to binos, color fidelity is the most important,
I prefer more neutral but still rich colors,
as the Zeiss SF of Swaro SV,
but the main problem with leica is the eye piece and short eye relief,
just not working for me,
so it seems that leica want's me to ignore them?
:smoke:

 

[Hermann]

I bought a pair of 7x42 ultravids a few years back and when I took them out of the box they had several obvious scratches on one of the objective lenses. I sent them straight back. So much for German quality control !

Interesting. Here we have a poster who's got a total of 4 postings and who uses the nick "Swarovski man". That poster uses his third (or fourth) posting to attack one of the major competitors of Swarovski.

Great stuff.

Hermann

 

[fazalmajid]

Rockwell is a troll who will make outlandish claims to drive affiliate marketing commissions from Adorama (well in the 6 figures). There's nothing wrong with the M9 or M240 colors (the M8, on the other hand, was a disaster due to IR sensitivity, specially with synthetic fabrics).

The reason why one buys Leica binoculars is very simple: they are invariably the smallest, lightest and most compact alpha binoculars in their class. You pay for it in reduced eye relief and FOV, but a Nikon EDG 8x32 is almost as large as an Ultravid 8x42 BL and I know which one I'd rather have (have, in fact).

In terms of haptics, Leica binoculars are unbeatable (admittedly I haven't handled the new Zeiss Victory SF, but I don't like double-bridge designs which is why I never warmed to Swarovskis).

----
Zeiss Victory HT 8x42
Ultravid HD 8x32
Ultravid BL 8x32
Ultravid 10x50 BR
Ultravid 8x20BL

 

[NDhunter]

Interesting. Here we have a poster who's got a total of 4 postings and who uses the nick "Swarovski man". That poster uses his third (or fourth) posting to attack one of the major competitors of Swarovski.

Great stuff.

Hermann

Hermann:

That poor soul, has a total of 4 posts, all negative. :-C

I do hope nobody cares about those posts.

Jerry

 

[Hoferwill]

Ultravid be

hi everyone, I'm kinda new to BH and I recently acquired a used but absolutely spotless ( like new) 10x42 Ultravid BR. I think they are excellent binos but was very disappointed to see that they are out of collimation, there's some specks or some sort of stuff INSIDE of the ocular lens. The focus is nice and tight but almost too much friction that when you focus it seems like I can't operate smoothly and the wheels jump from position to position cause of too much friction. Thing is I'm wondering (I'm from Canada) where the best Leica spot might be that I can contact to tackle these problems. I'm hoping to get it done free of charge since these bino's are almost mint yet. Out of collimation with no apparent abuse? Not even one scratch on them. A number or email would be really appreciated. Thanks am awaiting a reply.

 

[Al Downie]

Out of collimation with no apparent abuse? Not even one scratch on them.

A drop onto a carpet could cause that, easily, without any visible evidence of a bump.

Regarding the original question, I've also heard many retailers saying that they can't shift Leica now - some because the competition is too stiff; some because the after-sales service is terrible compared to Swarovski. I went into a shop last week *determined* to buy an Ultravid 7x42 HD+, and the seller was as helpful as could be. In the end I surprised myself by buying a used SLC 8x42 HD instead, because to my eye it was better than the Leica and easier to use, so I still haven't satisfied my urge to buy a 7x model, or another Leica model. After comparing the 7x to the SLC, I'm now wondering if I'd get more use out of the 8x32 Ultravid as a travel companion. I loved my old Trinovid BNs, and the new UVs look amazingly compact.

 

[Torview]

When I was at Cley spy last week they had two mint 8x42 sf' somebody had traded against two 7x42 HD+‘s !

Looks like they have one left fr 1499 quid.

 

[breydon]

Can I just say I love my 7x42 Ultravid HDs not + makes me smile every time I look through them.Superb

 

[xbted52]

Just spent the entire yesterday trying out nearly a dozen pairs of glass from the Big 3. The result: I have a pair of 7x43 Ultravid Plus on their way! The view is magic! Leica definitely wasn't ignored by me!!!

 

[Torview]

Just spent the entire yesterday trying out nearly a dozen pairs of glass from the Big 3. The result: I have a pair of 7x43 Ultravid Plus on their way! The view is magic! Leica definitely wasn't ignored by me!!!

There is something truly special about the 7x42 HD+, the others in the range are crackers but the 7 is a gem.

Enjoy.

 

[breydon]

Just spent the entire yesterday trying out nearly a dozen pairs of glass from the Big 3. The result: I have a pair of 7x43 Ultravid Plus on their way! The view is magic! Leica definitely wasn't ignored by me!!!

Yes my friend. The search is over :t: