Nikon EDG, flawless? (2 Viewers)

[Vespobuteo]

I checked EDG's directly against Zeiss FL's and Ultravids, and in my view, both the Zeiss FL's and the Ultra's were better looking from sunlight into shadow.
It's what ultimately made me put them back. Slightly milky compared to the other two, but that is waaay to strong a word, if you get my drift.
However, everything else was 'right up there' with the EDG's, including build etc.... wonderful bins.... but I would take Ultravids over them all day long.

Interesting, was it UV HD Plus?

 

[A2GG]

I Briefly looked through a 7x42 EDG once. It was like a huge window, really very nice. Sometime later I purchased a 7x42 Ultravid HD+ which I used for about 4 years. The Uvid was very good in dim lighting. My Nikon MHG 8x30 is not so good on gray/dark days or looking into dark shaded spots. My next binocular needs to be a bit brighter to have an option for dusk and gray/dim days.

Everything I’ve always read in reports here and reviews elsewhere say the EDG does everything well.

 

[Paultricounty]

Some have said that EDGs have high contrast. Would you agree, and could darker shadows be giving you a feeling of "lack of brightness" in these conditions?

Contrast is very high and very enjoyable. In good lighting there is absolutely no lack of brightness. To my eyes the brightness falls off on very gray days. This could be a product of the red skew ( more than any other bins I’ve tried) and how my eyes takes that in , kind of speculating there given the fact transmission is very good.

The more you use them, the more the comfort and calmness becomes very apparent. Never any blackout or kidney beaning, very accommodating to eye position and glare control is superb.


Paul

 

[Paultricounty]

I Briefly looked through a 7x42 EDG once. It was like a huge window, really very nice. Sometime later I purchased a 7x42 Ultravid HD+ which I used for about 4 years. The Uvid was very good in dim lighting. My Nikon MHG 8x30 is not so good on gray/dark days or looking into dark shaded spots. My next binocular needs to be a bit brighter to have an option for dusk and gray/dim days.

Everything I’ve always read in reports here and reviews elsewhere say the EDG does everything well.

A2GG where in northeast are you?

For those dim gray days I think you had it in 742 UVHD’s. That’s my go to for those gray days, I also will grab the Noctivids in 8x which are also very bright, I’ll have to do a side by side for curiosity. My all time specialty low light or even nighttime binos , are the Swarovski 7x42 Habicht’s, but that’s another animal. They are superior in low light than anything we’re talking about here.

Paul

 

[mwhogue]

Color balance on the EDG is slightly more to red (compared to Swaro for example).
Might affect how bright they appear.
Maybe they are tuned more towards optimal daylight viewing? ("skylight-filter" effect).

Contrast is very high and very enjoyable. In good lighting there is absolutely no lack of brightness. To my eyes the brightness falls off on very gray days. This could be a product of the red skew ( more than any other bins I’ve tried) and how my eyes takes that in , kind of speculating there given the fact transmission is very good.

The more you use them, the more the comfort and calmness becomes very apparent. Never any blackout or kidney beaning, very accommodating to eye position and glare control is superb.


Paul

Vespobuteo,

Agree. Comparing 7x42 EDG, FL and HD+, to me the Nikon shows a more saturated red especially.

Paul,

Agree regrading the EDG, especially the 7x42. "The more you use them, the better they get". And, glare control is the best I have seen.

I don't know whether one, the other or both characteristics may contribute to a perceived "darker" image of the EDG in some circumstances.

Mike

 

[A2GG]

A2GG where in northeast are you?

For those dim gray days I think you had it in 742 UVHD’s. That’s my go to for those gray days, I also will grab the Noctivids in 8x which are also very bright, I’ll have to do a side by side for curiosity. My all time specialty low light or even nighttime binos , are the Swarovski 7x42 Habicht’s, but that’s another animal. They are superior in low light than anything we’re talking about here.

Paul

NJ, unfortunately. Yes, I do miss the Ultravid and miss Leica in general. Leica is my fav brand. I prefer smaller, lighter weight binos now. Maybe I should have kept it, but I needed the money to buy something else. I may give the Trinovid HD 8x32 a try in the Fall and see how I like it. It's kind of heavy though. Uvid 8x32 doesn't have enough eye relief for me unfortunately.

 

[Rg548]

Interesting, was it UV HD Plus?

Yes it was.... I was most impressed with them

 

[Rg548]

NJ, unfortunately. Yes, I do miss the Ultravid and miss Leica in general. Leica is my fav brand. I prefer smaller, lighter weight binos now. Maybe I should have kept it, but I needed the money to buy something else. I may give the Trinovid HD 8x32 a try in the Fall and see how I like it. It's kind of heavy though. Uvid 8x32 doesn't have enough eye relief for me unfortunately.

Try Conquests perhaps. Such a superb value for money all rounder, very bright, and you can throw them off a cliff, and find them later.
Only gripe seems to be not so smooth eyepiece adjustment, but really, how often do you do that.
My 8x42's were really good. should have kept 'em. Always looking for the next best thing tho aren't we....

 

[tenex]

I didn't like that Nikon red bias at all when I encountered it in SEs. The coloration itself felt odd to me, and the word "dull" also came to mind -- I never analyzed why, just put them back down. I was pleased to hear (and confirm) that recent EIIs with the latest coatings no longer have this, and would be very curious about these (last?) EDGs still sold in Japan.

 

[Paultricounty]

NJ, unfortunately. Yes, I do miss the Ultravid and miss Leica in general. Leica is my fav brand. I prefer smaller, lighter weight binos now. Maybe I should have kept it, but I needed the money to buy something else. I may give the Trinovid HD 8x32 a try in the Fall and see how I like it. It's kind of heavy though. Uvid 8x32 doesn't have enough eye relief for me unfortunately.

NJ, lol. I have relatives in northvalle. I like the Leica brand as well. I agree 832 UV may not work for some due to eye relief. The Trinovid is nice glass , not quite up to the Ultravid level and I could not get passed the CA in that model. If you’re not too sensitive to the CA it’s still very nice glass.

Conquest is another option as someone here suggested as well as the Genesis , both in that price range. I had a brand new Genesis 8x33 on sale for a bit, had no takers maybe because of the sale going on at the time. Decided to keep them, maybe sell them down the line.

All around that 742 is a keeper for me.

Paul

 

[Paultricounty]

I didn't like that Nikon red bias at all when I encountered it in SEs. The coloration itself felt odd to me, and the word "dull" also came to mind -- I never analyzed why, just put them back down. I was pleased to hear (and confirm) that recent EIIs with the latest coatings no longer have this, and would be very curious about these (last?) EDGs still sold in Japan.

Ive had the pleasure to have bought and tried four SE’s in the last six months and have found the red bias (a little dull) in two of them. The latest coating has improved on that and has more a yellow rendition, similar to Leica’s. The latest E2’s are the same way, I believe the newest coatings start at around serial number 821xxx.

Im going back and fourth with Nikon UK over the last week or so about EDG’s. I’m being told they are still making them except for the 8x32 which are discontinued. Seems like they can only answer one question at a time in an email, so I’m waiting on how they would be serviced, considering Nikon USA says they are not servicing the discontinued line, very confusing , but not surprising because we’re talking about Nikon. Until I hear back I’m assuming if bought from a UK dealer they would need to be shipped back to NikonUK for service. Stay tuned for further info.

Paul

 

[dries1]

Reading Tenex's post about the SE, it is not surprising on how different folks perceive color in binoculars.

 

[tenex]

Ive had the pleasure to have bought and tried four SE’s in the last six months and have found the red bias (a little dull) in two of them. The latest coating has improved on that and has more a yellow rendition, similar to Leica’s

Surprised to hear that some of the last SEs got the new coatings. I thought they had already been discontinued. Did you record SNs?

 

[Paultricounty]

Surprised to hear that some of the last SEs got the new coatings. I thought they had already been discontinued. Did you record SNs?

Referring to the SE’s , John Robert’s here on BF had a break down of the different runs by serial numbers. Search through the Nikon SE discussions, John gets deep into this SE information. What I was referring to is information gathered here, a few reviews and personal inspection of outer coatings on the objectives and oculars and how the image compared. From posts that I read there was a coating change in the 550xxx and up run, but it’s very possible that that coating started in numbers just below 550, I have a 504xxx that I believe has the latest coatings before they were discontinued. I also observed with a 501, 503 and a 550. The 550 has the same greenish looking coating as my 504. The other ones were more bluish.

Paul

 

[Vespobuteo]

Referring to the SE’s , John Robert’s here on BF had a break down of the different runs by serial numbers. Search through the Nikon SE discussions, John gets deep into this SE information. What I was referring to is information gathered here, a few reviews and personal inspection of outer coatings on the objectives and oculars and how the image compared. From posts that I read there was a coating change in the 550xxx and up run, but it’s very possible that that coating started in numbers just below 550, I have a 504xxx that I believe has the latest coatings before they were discontinued. I also observed with a 501, 503 and a 550. The 550 has the same greenish looking coating as my 504. The other ones were more bluish.

Paul

If you haven't seen it, Gijs has a comparison with the SE here:

https://www.houseofoutdoor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TEST-NIKON-8X32-SE-EN-NIKON-8X30-EII-VERGELEKEN-MET-8X30en-32-mm-kijkers-van-Kite-Meopta-en-Swarovski-dd-nov-2017.pdf

As far as I know he never tested any EDG:s though.

 

[kimmik]

Looking at the spectrum (allbinos) this is the best i've seen both flat, high and extends well into the violet and deep red.

In theory should be best colour, maybe even above leica?

The NL for example drops from 650nm onwards, thus limiting color accuracy in the reds.

 

[mwhogue]

Looking at the spectrum (allbinos) this is the best i've seen both flat, high and extends well into the violet and deep red.

In theory should be best colour, maybe even above leica?

The NL for example drops from 650nm onwards, thus limiting color accuracy in the reds.

Thanks for this. As much as I like Leica UVHD+ "colors" (7x42, 10x32, 10x50) I like EDG colors (7x42, 10x32) even more.

Mike

 

[Upland]

I just picked up a like new pair of 8x32 for $900. Love them.

 

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I once had a pair of Swarovski EL 8x32's, Zeiss FL 8x32's and Nikon EDG 8x32's and I decided I would keep the best pair out of the three. So I compared them closely under different lighting. I liked the EL the best because it had the flattest field, sharpest edges and most neutral colors. The EDG was second because it had less sharp edges although still pretty sharp, a smaller FOV and a slight red tint, which made it appear less bright than the EL. The FL was third because it had the most field curvature with the softest edges, and it had a slight green tint. The EDG was a good binocular, although kind of big for it's class, but when the EL came out it left it in the dust. The EDG is long in the tooth now and is no longer supported at all by Nikon, and the newer alpha's like the SF and NL are definitely superior with their much bigger FOV's and sharper edges. If Allbinos were to test the NL 8x32 and the EL 8x32, their 8x32 ranking would be the same as the 10x42 ranking. 1)NL 2)SF 3)EL 4)EDG 5)FL. But that is pretty good to be ranked 4th in that group of binoculars so if you can pick up an EDG for $900 it is probably a pretty good purchase, although I would still prefer an EL 8x32 optically and because Swarovski still supports them, but you would have to spend at least $1200 to get a good EL 8x32. I think if I was thinking about an EDG 8x32, I would wait and see how the new Zeiss SFL 8x30 performs. It will have a bigger FOV than the EDG with probably equally sharp edges and excellent colors like the EDG, and it will most importantly be much smaller and lighter, although it may cost a bit more, but it would be worth it to have the support of Zeiss on your side.

 

[Upland]

Had both the ELs and EDG. Outside of brightness I prefer the EDG. Much more immersive than the EL and Way better with glare which is my pet peeve. Not to mention a much smoother focuser. To each their own.