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Should I sell my 10X35 EII's? (1 Viewer)

Ray

I own a mint pair of these and E11 8 x 30 and honestly wouldnt want to part with them
However there is a caveat because they are not waterproof (sturdily built though) and for some eye relief can be an issue

The E11's in both 8 x and 10 x stand up to many much more expensive models whenever i have compared
They are not the prettiest bins to look at and holding them may not suit all but from what i've seen through my pairs they are right up there optically
They are becoming rarer so maybe hold on to them

Regards
RichT
 
No! Keep them. You will never be able to replace them with any roof prism binocular that is as good as they are at anywhere near the price you can sell them for. And, on 2nd thought, that would go for most porro's too!
Bob
 
Ray

I own a mint pair of these and E11 8 x 30 and honestly wouldnt want to part with them
However there is a caveat because they are not waterproof (sturdily built though) and for some eye relief can be an issue

The E11's in both 8 x and 10 x stand up to many much more expensive models whenever i have compared
They are not the prettiest bins to look at and holding them may not suit all but from what i've seen through my pairs they are right up there optically
They are becoming rarer so maybe hold on to them

Regards
RichT

Rich,

So what provoked this rhetorical question? Did it start raining at the Waddington International Airshow? As I recall, air shows and plane-spotting are primarily what you use them for.

Given that you live in the land of perpetual rain and occasional flood disasters, I don't think you should take a chance with such a poorly sealed binocular, but rather buy a 10x32 LX, which will solve your WP problem and give you a bit more ER. Then you can sell the E2s to me!

(I already bought two 10x35 E2s, but foolishly traded them for what I thought was a step up in each case - 820 Audubon the first time and 6x30 FMTR-SX the second.)

The Fujis were top notch optically, but the IF EPs and the brick-like ergonomics made them too unwieldy for practical use on dry land. I will forget all this in time and try to buy another pair (hopefully, for less $ than I paid for my second pair, yes had two samples of these too).

The 820 Audubon had good optics, but bad eye ergonomics and shoddy construction. I like my 804s much better.

My only gripe with the 10x35 E2 was blackouts, which were most noticeable whilst stargazing. If I let my eyes wander around the expansive FOV, the views would blackout. But overdevelopment near my home has solved that problem since the skies are too bright now to see deeper than Mag. 4 so I would use them for birding and plane-spotting (I live near an airport). Tried the 10x42 SE, nice views, great ergonomics, but the FOV felt too restrictive.

Yes, I'd be willing to help you out by taking these off your hands so you can watch your air shows in the rain. :)

Brock
 
Ray

I own a mint pair of these and E11 8 x 30 and honestly wouldnt want to part with them
However there is a caveat because they are not waterproof (sturdily built though) and for some eye relief can be an issue

The E11's in both 8 x and 10 x stand up to many much more expensive models whenever i have compared
They are not the prettiest bins to look at and holding them may not suit all but from what i've seen through my pairs they are right up there optically
They are becoming rarer so maybe hold on to them

Regards
RichT

OK Rich, I think you kinda get why I don't "want" to use them.

I DON'T WANT TO WRECK THEM!

Pretty lame reason but I seem to always grab my Pentax 8X43 SP's as they are pretty darn good and not fragile like the EII's. (the EII's blow away the SP's in all respects, FOV, even though the EII's are 10X, brightness, even though the EII's are only 35mm, and CA, the EII's have almost zero)

I keep them in a ziplock bag with some Humi-Dri than into the case and finally into the original box.....how anal can one person be? HECK, I haven't even put the strap on as of yet.

Now, should I sell them to someone that will use them and enjoy them?

Thanks as always,

Ray
 
Hmm... a trick question!

I just got around to buying a 10x35 EII about a month ago. A local dealer had reduced the price of a NIB refurbished pair to $179. How could I resist?... even though I don't like 10X or small exit pupils and already have the 8x30.
 
OK Rich, I think you kinda get why I don't "want" to use them.

I DON'T WANT TO WRECK THEM!

Pretty lame reason but I seem to always grab my Pentax 8X43 SP's as they are pretty darn good and not fragile like the EII's. (the EII's blow away the SP's in all respects, FOV, even though the EII's are 10X, brightness, even though the EII's are only 35mm, and CA, the EII's have almost zero)

I keep them in a ziplock bag with some Humi-Dri than into the case and finally into the original box.....how anal can one person be? HECK, I haven't even put the strap on as of yet.

Now, should I sell them to someone that will use them and enjoy them?

Thanks as always,

Ray

You forgot another reason not to use them. If you do, the rubber like leatherette covering will soon start to bubble and work loose. Lock-Tite makes a good rubber to metal cement that will fix this problem and at the same time give the binoculars the style and panache of a professionally well-used look!

What to do? Leave them on the shelf and admire them or put them to use? Have a drink and mull it over.B :)
Bob
 
Hmm... a trick question!

I just got around to buying a 10x35 EII about a month ago. A local dealer had reduced the price of a NIB refurbished pair to $179. How could I resist?... even though I don't like 10X or small exit pupils and already have the 8x30.

Looks like Rich didn't go for my little ruse, perhaps Ray will. :)

So...Henry, what DO you think of the 10x35 E2? Did it make you a 10x convert or will we see these show up on A-mart or eBay soon?

Brock
 
So...Henry, what DO you think of the 10x35 E2? Did it make you a 10x convert or will we see these show up on A-mart or eBay soon?

Brock

Brock,

I don't think I'm a likely convert to 10x. For me, glimpses of a little more detail are not worth the unpleasantness of struggling to hold the image still. Also, I bird a lot in close wooded settings where wide FOV and DOF are more important than magnification. Still, I won't be selling the 10x35. I like it better than I thought I would given the high magnification and small exit pupil. It's certainly all the 10x birding binocular I will ever need.

Henry
 
The Fujis [edit: 6x30 FMTR-SX] were top notch optically, but the IF EPs and the brick-like ergonomics made them too unwieldy for practical use on dry land.
Hi Brock,

I agree about the IF. But I really like the shape of the Fujinon. The big prisms fit perfectly into my hands. There is no other binocular which I can hold as well as the 6x and 8x30 FMTR-SX Fujinons. What exactly don't you like about the ergonomics? Just curious.

Best,
Joachim
 
Hi Brock,

I agree about the IF. But I really like the shape of the Fujinon. The big prisms fit perfectly into my hands. There is no other binocular which I can hold as well as the 6x and 8x30 FMTR-SX Fujinons. What exactly don't you like about the ergonomics? Just curious.

Best,
Joachim

Joachim,

The problem I had with the 6x30 FMT is that bulk of the prism housing is on TOP of the binoculars.

I have large hands but there was little on the bottom to support the binoculars so I found myself hanging on to them from up top and jutting my thumbs backward like I do with small roofs. And there were no barrels to speak of, only two stubs, so all I had to hold onto were the prism housings.

However, since the Fuji had IF EPs, I found I could turn the binocular upside down, and that made it easier to hold. The straps had to come off since they were in the way.

The diopters on the second unit I had were stiff and "sticky". So if I had kept them, they would have gone to Fuji for a greasing. The original owner used the Fujis for safaris in Africa so the grease may have dried out from the extreme heat, and the stiff focusers added to the difficulty of having to focus two EPs. They also had a very long close focus (24'?). Except for feeder birding, I found them impractical for birding, better for general use.

Having ranted about my dislikes, I should balance that by saying that the views through the 6x30 FMTR were among the finest I've seen through a binocular.

The 3-D effect was phenomenal. Looking at some sparrows on a bush, the view reminded me of those stereo slides in the old View Masters (not sure if that was before your time, but when I was a child, we had stereo slide cards that slid through stereo viewers - the cards were either long and rectangular and went straight through the views or circular and turned so you would eventually come back to the original slide).

The color and contrast in the 6x30s were also top notch, as was the "ease of view" with its exceptional depth of field and edge to edge (or close to) sharpness.

I deliberated a lot about whether or not to sell the Fujis because:
(1) I paid way more than I had expected to in a bidding war on eBay and wasn't sure I could make my money back,

(2) I knew that I would eventually miss using them, and if I wanted to buy another pair, I would have to pay through the proboscis again and probably have to wait a long time (took me five years of eBay alerts to finally find a second sample), and

(3) now that "sniper" software is available for eBay (an unscrupulous practice, IMO, it takes away the "level playing field"), there's little chance of me winning an auction for these bins unless I upgrade to DSL and buy the same software as my competitors (who by then will probably have something even more devious :).

I also don't like the way that eBay now hides the identity of the winners. It used to be you could contact the winner to make an offer after the auction in case he wasn't happy with the binocular (I would always offer to do the transaction online to protect both of us so it's not like eBay lost out). End rant. :)

Then when I saw an 8x30 E2 for sale, I bought it and sold the Fuji. I put Bushwackers on the barrels to make the short bin easier to hold. The DOF is very good, though not excellent like the Fujis, sharpness is about the same, relatively speaking (being higher magnification the E2s resolution is higher), color and contrast are also very good, and the close focus and center focus make the E2 much more useful for birding.

If the E2 were WP and as robustly built and ergonomically designed as the 8x32 SE, I think I would never need to look for another birding binocular.

But when it's humid, the rubber armoring buckles so I switch to the SE, and if rain is forecast, I switch to the 8x32 LX, which is robustly built and sealed, and has slightly better contrast and noticeably better color saturation than the porros, but it lacks their DOF.

Be nice to have it all in one package. I'm looking forward to trying the new full sized Nikon EDG bins.

Brock
 
Brock,

Thanks for your explanation. When I come home later, I will try to hold the 8x30 FMTR-SX upside down. I never thought about this. But as I said I am very happy anyway with their ergonomics. If the 8x30 EII would be waterproof I would buy them immediately. Center focus is certainly a big advantage.

Joachim
 
Rich,

So what provoked this rhetorical question? Did it start raining at the Waddington International Airshow? As I recall, air shows and plane-spotting are primarily what you use them for.

Given that you live in the land of perpetual rain and occasional flood disasters, I don't think you should take a chance with such a poorly sealed binocular, but rather buy a 10x32 LX, which will solve your WP problem and give you a bit more ER. Then you can sell the E2s to me!

(I already bought two 10x35 E2s, but foolishly traded them for what I thought was a step up in each case - 820 Audubon the first time and 6x30 FMTR-SX the second.)

The Fujis were top notch optically, but the IF EPs and the brick-like ergonomics made them too unwieldy for practical use on dry land. I will forget all this in time and try to buy another pair (hopefully, for less $ than I paid for my second pair, yes had two samples of these too).

The 820 Audubon had good optics, but bad eye ergonomics and shoddy construction. I like my 804s much better.

My only gripe with the 10x35 E2 was blackouts, which were most noticeable whilst stargazing. If I let my eyes wander around the expansive FOV, the views would blackout. But overdevelopment near my home has solved that problem since the skies are too bright now to see deeper than Mag. 4 so I would use them for birding and plane-spotting (I live near an airport). Tried the 10x42 SE, nice views, great ergonomics, but the FOV felt too restrictive.

Yes, I'd be willing to help you out by taking these off your hands so you can watch your air shows in the rain. :)

Brock

Hi Brock

Nice to hear from you

Funnily enough i took 2 pair of Nikon bins to the Waddington air show 10 x 35 e 2 and 10 x 42 Se
Once again it rained on and off and once again i preferred the E2 10 x to the Se 10 x
Its all about field of view and comfort for me
Hell Brock i dont think i could part with the E2's 8 0r 10
I know the LX and LXL etc are waterproof but i kind of love these less then aesthetic porros


One last thing yet again for about the 4th or 5th time i didnt see the elusive Vulcan Bomber fly

One day !

Regards

PS If i ever do come to sell will bear you in mind they are both mint and i keep them out of the UK rain as soon as i see the clouds looming

Take it easy
RichT
 
OK Rich, I think you kinda get why I don't "want" to use them.

I DON'T WANT TO WRECK THEM!

Pretty lame reason but I seem to always grab my Pentax 8X43 SP's as they are pretty darn good and not fragile like the EII's. (the EII's blow away the SP's in all respects, FOV, even though the EII's are 10X, brightness, even though the EII's are only 35mm, and CA, the EII's have almost zero)

I keep them in a ziplock bag with some Humi-Dri than into the case and finally into the original box.....how anal can one person be? HECK, I haven't even put the strap on as of yet.

Now, should I sell them to someone that will use them and enjoy them?

Thanks as always,

Ray

Hi Ray

The thing is if a different well sealed binocular gives you a good enough view then thats a comfort in itself
The E2's will become rarer in time and possibly achieve some of the kudos the SE's have
I think looking after them a little is worthwhile for the view alone and after all they dont cost a fortune relatively anyhow

Its what feels comfortable and useable
Thats as simple as it goes these days for me

Regards
RichT
 
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