I'm not sure what world you live in or your acuity rating but everything I have the good fortune to view on this wonderful planet is three dimensional and I don't need a set of Leica bins to convince me of such! I do of course own Zeiss Night Owles so perhaps I've led an overly sheltered life!
What I was testing in the above wee experiment should be seen as the ability of each instrument to resolve an image. The fact the circumstances dictated an introduction of what is best described as graded filtration (glass/window panes) can only lend a certain credabilty to my undertaking and findings.
The messgae is therfore very clear: Forget this marketing carp and save yourself circa $1000 in the process by trawling e-bay for a pair of Zeiss 7x45 Little Owles.
LGM
In the world I live in I think this is a Leica post and a quick look or experiment is completely irrelevant like drive a Bentley GT 10 meters in the city and try to talk about it.
Some comments and reviews of Night owls from very good reviews of bird forum.
1
I have the 10x56 Night Owls - bought them to compliment my collection rather than as a daily use bin.
I am very sensitive to CA, and the Night Owls have tons of it, some even in the sweetspot. It is downright distracting on a flying bird, with a bright orange leading edge and bright purple trailing edge.
Sharpness and contrast is OK, but even my P coated 7x42 and 8x30 classics are noticeably sharper and more contrasty. Sweetspot is small and edge degradation quite obvious. Don't believe the hype, as some will try to tell you these bins are still the equal of the FL / HT - they lag behind clearly in many catagories. Certainly, the N.O.'s lack the transparency of newer models.
2
I am pretty sensitive to CA as well and it definitely is there with these but for some reason it dis not bother me as much. Maybe its just me but the Zeiss binoculars I have looked through seem a bit less saturated and contrasty to me than the Leicas. Its not objectionable and i think could be considered more neutral than flat. Somewhat like the old ektachrome vs kodachrome for the pre-digi crowd.
I think they are nice to have as a collection piece and i actually like the weight but am wondering why they are priced so high. I think i was expecting something a bit more exciting. Maybe that will be with the 7x45s which hopefully will arrive today!
3
I have tried a couple of pairs 8X56 and they were optically the same as the 10x56. Considering the exit pupil and the 56 mm objectives, I was expecting a glorious, luminous image but, in reality, it is pretty dull and flat. Anyone using the Design selection to champion leaded glass is barking up the wrong tree, IMO.
As i say before if you like it keep it, in the world that i live we call that Self-belief.