I know. I miss those technical discussions. It seems like me and Henry Link are the only members left with any technical expertise. Most of the threads are I have $200 to spend, so what is the best binocular for me.
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Glare Monsters! (3 Viewers)
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Please be more detailed: to take that in the account and to do what?
Hello @Mono, @delia todd
Can this part of the thread be moved to a new thread, please?
It is a very important debate but has nothing to do with glare.
Maybe beginning with the post #141 ?
I hope no one is against such movement.
Can this part of the thread be moved to a new thread, please?
It is a very important debate but has nothing to do with glare.
Maybe beginning with the post #141 ?
I hope no one is against such movement.
Conndomat
United States of Europe
difficult topic...
I'll come out as a non-specific bird watcher, I see myself as a nature watcher, for me that includes moving and still nature, stars, animals in general but also birds, especially birds of prey, but also everything that is of interest, perhaps randomly but that too enjoyment.
According to this profile I would probably be out and would have to go to the astronomers who would throw me also out if the time came.
Even if there is a lot of nonsense written here, I would fear that the general transfer of knowledge would dwindle somewhat if you only accept people who deal exclusively with birding and how is that supposed to work? Should the new users first fill out a knowledge test about ornithology?
Andreas
Hermann
Well-known member
I asked in good faith. It seems to me it is a lot of über alles in your post. But not in the original sense.
Let's get this thread back on topic. At this point in the thread, let's summarize what to look for in a binocular to avoid glare and list some of the binoculars members have found to be glare resistant and glare prone. We will add to this list as more glare resistant and glare prone binoculars are noted.
Glare resistant Binoculars
1) Most Zeiss FL's, especially the 8x56 and 10x56
2) Most Swarovski SLC's, especially the 8x56 and 10x56
3) Most 8x56's (Big EP)
4) Most Leica's (Well Baffled)
5) Most Zeiss SF's 42 mm, especially the 10x42 (SF 32 mm are not as glare resistant)
6) Fujinon HC 8x42
7) Opticron Aurora 8x42
8) Most EDG's especially the 7x42
9) Canon 10x42 IS-L
10) Swarovski Habicht 7x42
11) Meopta Meostar 7x42 SLC
12) Nikon EII 8x30
13) Swarovski Habicht 10x40
14) Leica Noctivid's
15) Most Zeiss Conquest HD's, especially the 8x56 and 10x56
16) Leica Trinovid HD 8x32
Glare Prone Binoculars
1) Nikon M7 8x30
2) Swarovski Habicht 8x30
3) Hawk Frontier EDX 8x32
4) Swarovski EL 8x32
5) Kowa 8x25 SVII
6) Swarovski NL's
7) Zeiss 10x42 HT
8) Nikon HG 8x30
Important things that control glare in Binoculars
1) Good Baffling (Leicas are known to be well baffled and blackened inside)
2) WA can be worse than narrower FOV binoculars because of the binocular design
3) Large EP aids glare control because it never reaches your eyes
4) Binocular design failures, especially reflective surfaces in the light path
Glare resistant Binoculars
1) Most Zeiss FL's, especially the 8x56 and 10x56
2) Most Swarovski SLC's, especially the 8x56 and 10x56
3) Most 8x56's (Big EP)
4) Most Leica's (Well Baffled)
5) Most Zeiss SF's 42 mm, especially the 10x42 (SF 32 mm are not as glare resistant)
6) Fujinon HC 8x42
7) Opticron Aurora 8x42
8) Most EDG's especially the 7x42
9) Canon 10x42 IS-L
10) Swarovski Habicht 7x42
11) Meopta Meostar 7x42 SLC
12) Nikon EII 8x30
13) Swarovski Habicht 10x40
14) Leica Noctivid's
15) Most Zeiss Conquest HD's, especially the 8x56 and 10x56
16) Leica Trinovid HD 8x32
Glare Prone Binoculars
1) Nikon M7 8x30
2) Swarovski Habicht 8x30
3) Hawk Frontier EDX 8x32
4) Swarovski EL 8x32
5) Kowa 8x25 SVII
6) Swarovski NL's
7) Zeiss 10x42 HT
8) Nikon HG 8x30
Important things that control glare in Binoculars
1) Good Baffling (Leicas are known to be well baffled and blackened inside)
2) WA can be worse than narrower FOV binoculars because of the binocular design
3) Large EP aids glare control because it never reaches your eyes
4) Binocular design failures, especially reflective surfaces in the light path
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Paultricounty
Well-known member
Dennis this is a pretty good list imo. Im thinking that 8x32SF should be on the glare prone side. I had them out today with the EL , 8x32UV and 8x42 MHG. The EL was better than than SF, the little UV was the best.
Paul
I agree, thanks!
When you use a binocular for a while and go to another one, you immediately notice the differences. The CL 8x30 is not too bad for glare, but no doubt the Trinovid HD 8x32 is better. Leica's seem to be really well baffled. Thanks!
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henry link
Well-known member
Was that a joke?
CharleyBird
Well-known member
Drink all over my keyboard,
🤣
🤣
tenex
reality-based
And often even Henry's has paled in comparison with yours... it must get so lonely...
I gather that the real aim here is to understand what makes some models more susceptible to glare than others:
#1 and 4 are essentially the same, and very well known. #3 has emerged recently as a good addition, if I recall correctly, thanks to Henry... though it really only helps birders who like 7x, given the desire for relatively compact bins. #2 seems dubious, since your list of good performers includes E II 8x30 with a very wide FOV, and the glare monsters include Habicht 8x30 which is quite narrow... can someone remind us why it has a glare problem?
As to those lists, it would be good to have careful side-by-side comparisons of glare in different models, rather than just anecodotal reports that this or that one is a glare monster, or not.
All I do to test for glare is use the binocular as the sun is setting and look right under the sun. You can separate a glare resistant binocular from a glare prone one pretty quickly. Do they show glare or not? I have tried that test with most of the binoculars on the lists, and I agree with most of the results.
Experienced users reports on which models are glare resistant and glare prone is very valuable and useful information because a lot of times we all see similar problems. The main purpose of this thread was to compile a list of glare resistant and glare prone binoculars so if you don't like glare, you would have a place to start in choosing your binocular.
It is not the intent of the thread to try to understand what causes glare, although we have talked about it in relation to what models are glare resistant and what models are glare prone. To try to single out all the different types of glare and what causes them and what binocular suffer from them would be impossibly complicated.
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John A Roberts
Well-known member
. . . or seemingly to make even the most fundamental distinction between different types of glare.
Nine pages in, and anyone who’s battled on so far, would still have no real idea of the different afflictions
that the various 'Monsters' have - and importantly to what degree.
And so how is anyone helped in making an informed decision about a binocular that seems otherwise acceptable?
A primary distinction can be made between:
• veiling glare (an overall effect, where the whole image appears washed out);
• specular glare (a localised effect, where there are bright reflections in particular parts of the image), or;
• some combination of the two.
e.g. see: Lens flare - Wikipedia
John
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I don't consider glare as much of a problem with the NL Pure as you do. Still, it's strange that such an imperfection exists with a top model like NL Pure. It's like one could wonder if the brands had an agreement not to totally outcompete each other, but always have some flaw, so all of them keep their fans.
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