Again I am surprised by the great series of posts since I last visited this thread. I only get to hit birdforum once a day because of an internet filtering program at work.
Note to self: avoid light bulbs when birding.
Tero, I genuinely laughed out loud at this comment. I will be sure to take note of that.
After all of the discussion on stray light and forms of reflections, etc... I want to again clarify what I am seeing with the Frontier EDs. The stray light is in the form of somewhat bright, circular "ring" around the outside of the field stop. The more I use the binocular the more I "feel" this is the result of poor baffling somewhere in the eyepiece or possibly close to the objective. Call that "instinct" rather than experience. If I had the internal binocular knowledge and experience of someone like Henry then maybe I could clarify further. The only other bin that I have owned and that I remember seeing it in was the Bushnell Discoverer 7x42.
Speaking of which, Kevin, if you see what I am describing in the Discoverer then you know what I mean when I try to describe it in the Frontier ED.
I do not notice any flare or glare but maybe an occasional "glint" when using the Frontier EDs. I have been toting them around daily at home and at work. I will be taking them out in the woods over the next few days.
tjej,
Yes, Kevin hit the nail on the head about the price increase. Still they are $21 under $500. My glass is half full.
Sancho,
I should have the Swaro EL 32s back in my possession shortly. I will compare the two directly and report more of my observations. I never compared the 32 mm EL with the Frontier ED but rather the Promaster ED model. My choice to sell both of the ELs was due to the fact that the optical performance of the Promaster was on par with the ELs (the sweet spot wasn't as large but the centerfield apparent sharpness was better). Brightness favored the Promaster EDs as did the lower level of color fringing. When comparing the 32 mm EL to the 42 mm EL I noted a higher level of color fringing and a slightly dimmer image. With that thought in mind I expect the Frontier ED to be noticeably brighter and sharper with less color fringing and a more neutral color tone in comparison to the 32 mm EL. The only characteristic I expect the EL to beat the Frontier ED in is the size of the sweet spot.
Also keep in mind that the full sized 42 mm Frontier ED actually has a 6 foot wider field of view in comparison to the 32 mm EL. Not significant in and of itself but when you consider we are comparing a 32 versue a 42 mm then I consider it significant as you then couple it with the larger exit pupil and brighter image for a very high comfort level.