Hello, I'm a new owner of a demo model UV 8x42HD+. I was comparing it to my old UV8x32HD. I sat out with them for the first time early this evening through 1 hour before and past sunset here. I have two concerns after observing and comparing the 8x42's to my older 8x32s.
First, I really wasn't able to notice a significant difference in low light performance between the 42's and the 32's. I kind of think maybe the 42's were a touch brighter but honestly it was within the margin of error of maybe being just in my head. Even holding one barrel of each binocular to each eye simultaneously to view an early evening star, the ambient background sky light seemed indistinguishable in each eye. Detail in dark forested shadows also seemed negligible. I'm 35 and have no issues with my sight or night vision that I'm aware of. Is the difference between 32 and 42 (and HD and HD+ at that!) supposed to be this subtle?
The second issue is that earlier in the evening I was viewing a backlit woods, with the sun having set behind the trees. The view through my older 8x32's was OK, but in 8x42's there was significant glare or flare (not sure of the correct term, rings of light near the edge of the image). Are larger objective lenses prone to more flare? I didn't encounter this issue using the 42's in standard daytime terrestrial viewing elsewhere, but it was a big problem viewing my garden in the evening!
I guess I'm asking if these are problems with my 8x42 binocular or problems with me just getting used to an 8x42 format up from my 8x32. I was rather hoping for a bit better low light performance.
First, I really wasn't able to notice a significant difference in low light performance between the 42's and the 32's. I kind of think maybe the 42's were a touch brighter but honestly it was within the margin of error of maybe being just in my head. Even holding one barrel of each binocular to each eye simultaneously to view an early evening star, the ambient background sky light seemed indistinguishable in each eye. Detail in dark forested shadows also seemed negligible. I'm 35 and have no issues with my sight or night vision that I'm aware of. Is the difference between 32 and 42 (and HD and HD+ at that!) supposed to be this subtle?
The second issue is that earlier in the evening I was viewing a backlit woods, with the sun having set behind the trees. The view through my older 8x32's was OK, but in 8x42's there was significant glare or flare (not sure of the correct term, rings of light near the edge of the image). Are larger objective lenses prone to more flare? I didn't encounter this issue using the 42's in standard daytime terrestrial viewing elsewhere, but it was a big problem viewing my garden in the evening!
I guess I'm asking if these are problems with my 8x42 binocular or problems with me just getting used to an 8x42 format up from my 8x32. I was rather hoping for a bit better low light performance.