Zeiss SFL 10x40 specific tests or reviews please (1 Viewer)

[Megaloblatta]

Update: SFL 10x40 review is progressing nicely.

Lee

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about CA. Most seem to say that CA is negligible in the centre and only noticeable on the edges, but tenex above says that they "have a fair amount of CA if that bothers you, much like Leicas." That would be a deal breaker for me...

 

[tenex]

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about CA. Most seem to say that CA is negligible in the centre and only noticeable on the edges, but tenex above says that they "have a fair amount of CA if that bothers you, much like Leicas." That would be a deal breaker for me...

I didn't mean to suggest that I see CA in the center in either case; that's rare in higher-end bins. As I recall, it began around 60% of the way out... though that's hardly what I would call just "the edges".

 

[tbcash80]

Update: SFL 10x40 review is progressing nicely.

Lee

Hi - would love to hear any early impressions (particularly v SF 10 x 42).

Thank you.

 

[pm42]

Hi - would love to hear any early impressions (particularly v SF 10 x 42).

It's here: Zeiss SFL 10x40: A Field Review

 

[tbcash80]

👍🏼

 

[thelouisianabirdnerd]

Looking forward to that review.

Does all this mean that an SFL 8x30 is in the pipeline, or can Zeiss still be persuaded to put another x40 into the lineup ... a very fabulous, no-brainer, immediate order 7x40 maybe?

I do have insider knowledge, but as of this moment, I have not heard anything about an SFL with 30 lenses. I hope they expand on the SFL line in the future! I was surprised by the Nikon P7 that has an 8x30 model, but it is on the lower end, so you get what you pay for. But swaro has 8x30 cl companions?

 

[MiddleRiver]

I do have insider knowledge, but as of this moment, I have not heard anything about an SFL with 30mm lenses. I hope they expand on the SFL line in the future! I was surprised by the Nikon P7 that has an 8x30 model, but it is on the lower end, so you get what you pay for. But swaro has 8x30 cl companions?

Based on my own personal experience, I would not consider the 8x30HG 'lower end' tho it is modestly priced (relatively speaking). But yes, an SFL 8x30 would be very interesting!

 

[ariban]

From what I have seen, the SF 8x32 handles CA better than the SFL 10x40. It is a pair worth its price. Having said that, the SFL 10x40 performs very very well and had to force myself to see CA - at the edges. The centres are lovely. From a practical birding point of view, the SFL 10x40 performed beautifully.

The smaller cousins should be just as good…
BTW my CL Companion shows CA. Yet I love the view. Is it possible to have an optic with zero CA?

 

[mfunnell]

BTW my CL Companion shows CA. Yet I love the view. Is it possible to have an optic with zero CA?

Well, I'd expect that zero might be a bit of an unattainable ideal...but close-enough for (my) practical purposes certainly is. I see next-to-no CA on-centre and a fair way towards the edges in my 10x56 and 7x42 FLs. There's maybe, perhaps, possibly, only slightly more in my 8x32 FLs - but if so, I find the difference from the bigger models is so small as to be almost imperceptible.

As far as the 10x40 SFLs go, their performance isn't quite up to the standards set by those noted above. I received my 10x40 SFLs this afternoon and have had a short opportunity to look through them and compare them to a couple of my other 10x bins (those 10x56 FLs and a 10x35 EII). I used my standard "torture test" target, in quite bright sunshine, for the comparisons. The CA comparison showed the SFLs are not as good as the big FLs (I'd not expected them to be) but better than the EIIs (which I really like, and don't regard as having any kind of CA problem).

Right at the centre of view, the SFLs showed no perceptible CA. Off axis, a very small amount of CA creeps in - but only if I looked really, really, really hard for it against my torture test target. There's an increased amount of CA towards the outer edges of the field - but nothing that's at all a problem or worry for me. I'm very satisfied with my SFLs performance as regards CA (and in lots of other areas too: I'm sure I'm going to like these SFLs).

...Mike

 

[mfunnell]

To expand on the above a bit, I was checking my 10x40 SFLs for glare against the morning sun (they performed very well) when a brush turkey wandered along my driveway, and was back-lit by the sun. Looking through the SFLs, with the bird filling most of the view, I could see a touch of CA around the outer feathers of the back-lit bird. I then looked through my 10x35 EIIs and saw much the same thing. I also checked with my big 10x56 FLs and could see no CA around the bird. This strikes me as a more "real world" test than my static "torture test" target, and indicates to me that for practical purposes the 10x40 SFLs show "about the same" level of CA as my 10x35 Nikons. Which is fine.

...Mike