This is great to know. I have just bought the 7x42!
The Leica have arrived. They are in excellent to mint condition. The view is very good. Bright, sharp and wide. Slightly warm cast I think. A bargain for £340!
And if you have a boat, the Leicas can be used as an anchor if the seas get stormy!
Only joking.
But they are a bit heavy!
Lee
I have both but I preferred the Zeiss, which had phase coating. Although the Leica is waterproof and more compact, there is is something about the Zeiss that made me favour it. It has a wider field of view, a larger sweet spot and I thought it had less edge fall off. I do not recall any problems with chromatic aberration with either.
Leica BAs were also phase coated. In addition to the already mentioned waterproofness (Zeiss Classics were not), Leicas, starting with the BAs, also had sliding eyecups, Hard Coatings on the lenses, central diopter adjustment, and a far more compact design. The Zeiss of that era went through eyecups pretty fast if you folded and unfolded them, for glasses/non glasses use. I also knew two people whose prisms, on an 8x30 and 7x42 Classic, turned black from oxidation. I've never seen that on a Leica.
The Leica BAs were our first glimpse at the modern high end binocular that we recognize today.
Kevin
Your assertion that BAs were the first modern high-end binocular is not without merit and for years these, and then the BNs, were what you saw around many birders' neck in those times in the UK. Certainly Zeiss's Dialyt 7x42 was from an earlier era although the 10x40 was more modern. The BA was definitely the first aspirational bins, I mean the first one that a large part of the market wanted. I could use the word 'fashionable' with some justification but that would hint at something ephemeral, even trivial, which would not do the BA justice as it was an absolutely solid performer, in more ways than one.
However I think of both the BA and Dialyt 10x40 as being more transitional than ephochal. The BA because of it's weight and the Dialyt 10x40 as it was not really internal-focusing (and it ate eyecups like the 7x42). Both had optical performances that promised of things to come but I think the first truly modern high-end binocular was the original Swaro EL.
This really had everything going for it with competitive weight, excellent optics and handling all packaged in an external design as arresting as an Audi TT or Fender Stratocaster.
Lee
I had my Trinovid BA's for fifteen years before I moved up to the UV line, and the only sign of age was a slight fading of the rubber armor, which may have been caused in part by being stored in a hot car, and occasionally getting sunblock on it. The weight wasn't that much of a factor, since I used my 8x32 when hiking. I would be curious to see what a 15 year old EL looks like. Also, I never liked the styling of the TT myself. Just sayin.
I had my Trinovid BA's for fifteen years before I moved up to the UV line, and the only sign of age was a slight fading of the rubber armor, which may have been caused in part by being stored in a hot car, and occasionally getting sunblock on it. The weight wasn't that much of a factor, since I used my 8x32 when hiking. I would be curious to see what a 15 year old EL looks like. Also, I never liked the styling of the TT myself. Just sayin.
Mostly, I follow four rules: (1) don't clean the glass except when really necessary or when I have time etc to do it right, (2) keep it on a neck strap (in front, over shoulder, or bandolier style) or otherwise set the bin down on a hat/shirt/bag etc rather than directly on a rock or other hard scratchy surface, (3) don't get DEET on the bin, and (4) treat the rubber bits with ArmorAll once a year or so.
--AP
Kevin
Your assertion that BAs were the first modern high-end binocular is not without merit and for years these, and then the BNs, were what you saw around many birders' neck in those times in the UK. Certainly Zeiss's Dialyt 7x42 was from an earlier era although the 10x40 was more modern. The BA was definitely the first aspirational bins, I mean the first one that a large part of the market wanted. I could use the word 'fashionable' with some justification but that would hint at something ephemeral, even trivial, which would not do the BA justice as it was an absolutely solid performer, in more ways than one.
However I think of both the BA and Dialyt 10x40 as being more transitional than ephochal. The BA because of it's weight and the Dialyt 10x40 as it was not really internal-focusing (and it ate eyecups like the 7x42). Both had optical performances that promised of things to come but I think the first truly modern high-end binocular was the original Swaro EL.
This really had everything going for it with competitive weight, excellent optics and handling all packaged in an external design as arresting as an Audi TT or Fender Stratocaster.
Lee