I have been using my SF8x32 extensively in a wild, coastal environment for a few weeks and have some observations to report that are additional to those in my original review at the head of this thread.
I have been surprised that there have been some criticisms of the quality of the eyecups and although I complained long and hard about the build-quality of the eyecups originally fitted to SF42, I can find no cause for complaint here. I could agree, that given the amount of extension the eyecups provide, that an extra position, making five, would have been nice, but like Chuck I discovered that the eyecups remain reliably in place when positioned just above the official click-stops, resting on top of it, so to speak. This has given me a bit of fine-tuning and now I have them resting just on top of the fully-down position. This gives me the full field of view and no kidney beans, and after many hours in the field in all conditions, the eyecups have not moved from this position.
The case has been easy to use, comfortably taking the binos and strap/ocular cover, as well as the objective covers when I tried them out. The recent rainy weather proved that the ocular cover is easy to fit and remove quickly, and the ability to attach it at both sides means just sliding it down the straps automatically adjusts it to suit one’s IPD and so fit over the eyecups.
The wide field of view has been a welcome feature while scanning the sea for diving birds and animals re-surfacing from their dive. One can easily do this with the naked eye if the sea is glassy-calm, but once the surface is disrupted by wavelets casting brief shadows and catching brief highlights, looking for small dark shapes among them is far easier with a binocular, especially if it has a wide field of view to allow a larger area to be surveyed. In fact the combination of such a wide field and generous eye relief is a neat achievement. I also noted that when scanning over the huge land- and seascapes that the wide field of view is not only comfortable and realistic but also gave some 3D effect. Now, I have to confess that when this was reported by other members I rather thought it was a little fanciful having never noted any 3D effect from 8x binoculars. However, on several occasions I was struck by the perceptible distance between objects in the foreground and objects further away. It maybe that I have to thank Meopta’s 7x42 MeoStar for educating my vision to notice this but as an example: a Grey Heron flew across the field of view, dipping down slowly towards the coast and as it approached the gap between a nearby hill top and one on the opposite side of the bay I clearly perceived the depth between the two hills and as the Heron glided down between them and through this gap the effect was really quite remarkable. So, my humble apologies to those who have already reported this.
Since glare has been a topic of much recent discussion on Birdforum, I kept a special look-out for it and never encountered any in normal viewing despite the low sun at this time of year. I did try to provoke it by looking directly at a blindingly bright reflection of the low sun off the sea and did see a small crescent of non-image-forming light at the bottom of the field of view. This was not an opaque ‘milky’ effect and the image could still be seen. So glare did not present itself during normal viewing and neither did chromatic aberration, neither in the centre field nor at the edge, and although the astigmatism present in Zeiss’s previous premium 8x32, the Victory FL, attracted some criticism, I couldn’t find any here.
Scanning the sea about 300yds away each day, I regularly saw one, sometimes two, Long-tailed Ducks. Usually it was an immature but occasionally there was an adult female present. These are delightful ducks and I have often wondered how they attracted the name ‘Old Squaw’ in the USA, a name which is no longer in use. Anyway the SFs did a neat job of imaging the differing tones of grey.
There were Great Northern Divers / Common Loons present every day, and in one period of settled weather with good light it was satisfying to see that the winter plumage dark head of one individual wasn’t black or dark grey at all but a beautiful mid-brown. Maybe this was a first winter bird.
We were visited most early mornings and evenings by Brown Hares and the SFs did a fine job of imaging their complex pelt. One wild morning there was no sign of the Hares nearby so I used the wide field of view to quickly scan the neighbouring rough pasture and open moor. Glimpsing something different about one tuft of vegetation, I skidded the binos’ panning to a halt, back-tracked, and there, only just visible above the grass bent over by wind and rain, was a Hare’s back, flattened ears and the top of its head and its eyes. They are truly beautiful and charismatic animals.
Out on the sea we were lucky to watch a female Otter and well-grown youngster cruise slowly across the bay and later, there was a truly extraordinary display provided by the sea and weather conditions. For about 10 minutes, the small wavelets on the surface caught and reflected the colours of the sky overhead that had patches of blue, some white clouds and pink from the low sun, and whole surface of the sea became a dancing kaleidoscope of briefly sparkling pinks, blues and whites. The effect was magical and all the more enjoyable for the SF’s wide field of view capturing so much of it with such sparkling clarity. And then it faded, but it was something I will never forget.
A few days later we were sitting half-hidden in a hollow on a hillside when a female Merlin came down the gully just below us, skimming only inches above the vegetation. It reached the nearby coast and swung round a rock pinnacle and set off back the way it had arrived, only to see us and veer off. As it briefly paused in mid-air I caught it with the SFs just as a huge ocean breaker erupted skywards behind it and momentarily it had a sparkling white background. What a view, and what a lovely little falcon.
Back at our cottage, our constant companions were Jackdaws who perched on the roofs in pairs and kept a close eye on us. From a distance they can looks simply black but close up through the SFs their plumage is more subtle than that, lightening from the dark mantle to a distinguished silver-grey on the back of the head and nape with a dark black face. Their pale eyes and the whole effect gives them an appearance of sophisticated gravitas that is immediately confounded when they swagger around and call with a distinct hint of mischief.
By now you will have understood that I enjoyed the SF 8x32s enormously and the only thing I would personally change would be to up the available eyecup positions from 4 to 5.
Lee
