I was thinking of getting a pair of Bushnell 7x26mm Elite e2 Compact Binoculars.How do they compare with Leica and Zeiss compacts.
It is bulkier because it has single hinge construction and objective lenses that are 6mm wider than the Leica and Zeiss, both of which have double hinge construction allowing them to be folded into a smaller package to carry around.
Bob
Hiya Bob
Just a minor additional bit of info. Don't forget the Zeiss Victory Compacts that have a single hinge (bit still fold up) and some people find easier to handle than the double hinge bins. The baby Victories probably suit right-handed people better, straight out of the box, but lefties can use them alright just not as instinctively.
Lee
It is bulkier because it has single hinge construction and objective lenses that are 6mm wider than the Leica and Zeiss, both of which have double hinge construction allowing them to be folded into a smaller package to carry around.
Bob
Hiya Bob
Just a minor additional bit of info. Don't forget the Zeiss Victory Compacts that have a single hinge (bit still fold up) and some people find easier to handle than the double hinge bins. The baby Victories probably suit right-handed people better, straight out of the box, but lefties can use them alright just not as instinctively.
Lee
You are right. I have the 8x20 Victory.
However, Zeiss also sells an 8x20 Conquest which has 2 hinges and costs almost two hundred dollars less than the 8x20 Victory. It has roll down eyecups and comes with a leather case.
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/zeiss/zeiss-conquest-8x20-b-t-binocular-leather-case
OP didn't specify which one he was talking about. Even Cabelas has confused them in their catalogs, although they have it correct on their website now.
Bob
You are right. I have the 8x20 Victory.
However, Zeiss also sells an 8x20 Conquest which has 2 hinges and costs almost two hundred dollars less than the 8x20 Victory. It has roll down eyecups and comes with a leather case.
Bob
Absolutely right Bob. I have never tried to bendy Conquest though having been put off by a double hinge Leica pocket some years ago.
Just wondered if a single hinge jobby might suit better :smoke:
TroubaLee
I wouldn't worry about hinges. They all work fine assuming they're tensioned correctly. And I've seen loose single hinge as much as double hinge. The real question is size. That's why they're called "compacts." How small is compact, for you. That's the real question.
The 8x20's are all undoubtedly "compact," but they also carry handicaps, and one or two hinges has little to do with that. We're talking brightness and exit pupil primarily. That's just physics; live with it or...get a bigger "compact," in which case the debate shifts to size and weight.
Not that hard, really. You just have to choose. That's why I've had a tough time of it.
By the way, you can't convert the double hinge compacts to single hinge by only using one side unless your IPD is quite narrow, around 55mm as near as I can tell. Not good for me. I'm about 64mm.
Mark
Mark,
If the double hinged 8 x 20s objective tubes flap up and down on the hinges 180 degrees like the older Trinovid BN and the Zeiss Conquest do it is difficult to use them like a single hinge binocular like the Zeiss Victory.
But if the tubes have stops at 90 degrees like the 8x20 Leica Ultravid, Nikon LX L and Swarovski 8x20 and 25CLP do one can use them in a single hinge fashion from either side. If you are right handed simply extend the right tube as far out as it will go (It will stop at 90º) then look through it with your right eye and then open up the left tube far enough to accommodate your IPD on your left eye. My IPD is 68 and there is plenty of room for a wider IPD. In effect it makes them work like the Zeiss Victory's work.
Bob
Ah, now I get it. But aren't you still basically using them like dual hinge compacts anyway? You still open both sides, just to varying degrees. So why not just take them out, open them however they will, and use them that way? They only go in the case fully folded.
Mark
I guess I still don't get it. My ideal compact would be an 8x28 reverse porro of alpha caliber. Make it light (10 ounces or less), compact, single hinge, waterproof, and 360' FOV.
Name your price, Absam.
Mark
Hi Mark
My twin hinge Leica didn't have loose hinges as such, I personally didn't get on with two barrels. Whenever I focussed them, tried to adjust the dioptre, twisted myself round to view excessively left or right or just up, I seemed to alter the IPD. Blame it on me.
...
Lee
No, BIG difference in size between roof and reverse porro. Reversing the porro objectives makes things much smaller.
You're absolutely right about the Pentax. Too big. I tried it for a week and sent it back. Not really a "compact."
Mark