Bob I'd be surprised--and pleased! However pl. see post #19 (yesterday) in this other thread about the new Retro Trinovid (in 7x35). That may be the first actual report in this forum on these mystical instruments?
The 7x35 version likely will be using more costly wide field eye pieces.
I think that the Retro Trinovids should be better than the Trinovid HDs but I was questioning whether they would be better "in some ways" than the Ultravids.
I'm noticing different descriptions of when this glass was made... Some say "2011-15 Trinovid", others just "2015", which is when I first saw it and got mine, thinking it was new and excited about that, and surprised to see it discontinued the following year. Had it really been made since 2011, and I just wasn't looking yet?
I doubt that. The old 7x35 had exactly the same field of view.
Hermann
I'm not sure they even *need* to be better than the Trinovid HDs. I think their main selling points will be size, weight and shape, and, unless Leica made a terrible mistake, the quality of the focuser. The "classic" Trinovid was at the time one of the lightest, smallest and most elegant roofs on the market, and the focuser was smooth, very precise and held up for decades without any problems whatsoever.
I fooled around with one of those old Trinovids just last weekend, a 10x40 my mother used as her only binocular for something like 15 years in all kinds of weather, until she retired it in favour of the Leica 8x32 BA. That old Trinovid, made in 1981, is still perfectly collimated with no dirt or dust inside, and the focuser is, well, just what it was like when she got it as a present from my late father.
Hermann
If I were you I would wait a while before deciding on which one to get.
Jerry
I've got a 2015 Trinovid 10x42. They were on the market for almost 4 years. Made in Leica's Portugal plant with traditional low dispersion glass types. As a consequence of that it's not the brightest in low light and CA is quite easy to find. Feels very robust build wise which has always been a Trinovid strong point in the past.
I must not have been paying attention, and took them for new when I first noticed them in 2015. They're surely not FL, though I'm not really bothered by CA and have to look for it. But how would you know they're not ED, which would surprise me in any higher-end glass today? Leica never says anything about that.
I have had both binoculars (HD and 2012 version) the same time in my possession. And believe me, the 2012 version is optically (much) better than the HD.
I don't know WHICH I'd RATHER have. :brains:
Optically.....I just can't tell a lot of difference either way.
1. I DO appreciate that the Trinovid HD is a little lighter and a little smaller overall. Actually, that's the primary reason I bought it.
2. I also think the case/strap thing of the Trinovid HD is a waste. Bought a case for it from Cabela's.
3. I DO appreciate the central diopter adjustment of the previous Trinovid, the best in the business.
4. I honestly USE the Trinovid HD more....mainly because of it's weight/size.
5. Anyone is in a no-lose situation if having to pick between these two IMO.
Chuck, Have you tried the 8x32 Trinovid HD? Same FOV as the 8x42 in a smaller package. Admittedly, less than class leading in that category, but a nice handling bin nonetheless, imho.
-Bill