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Where are all the 8x32 SF reviews? After all the speculation... (2 Viewers)

On exit pupil and 32mm binoculars, i speak as a convert to the size. It is obvious the 4mm of the 8x32 is reduced from the 5mm+ of the 8x42 - the implications being less light (provided you are capable of a 4mm+ dilation of the pupil) and perhaps a trickier eye position.
However, the difficulty with reviews and eye position with 32mm is that often the correct position is a matter of familiarity and technique, which develops over time.
For someone used to larger EPs to go onto a 8x32 for a few hours in order to evaluate a review model - and then give it back - is perhaps tricky in this regard.
The binoculars i do own are various sizes. After using one model extensively, adapting to a change often takes a period of assimilation, after which hitting the sweet spot in regard to eye placement is not a problem.
I have never used 10x32mm, so this might be more difficult - i can't say.
However, 8x32mm has been my most-used format for some years - i may lose 20mins of light at the end of the day on gull roosts etc. but other than that, i can't say i've had a problem with eye placement - after a short adaption period, if i've been using something else previously.

I agree wholeheartedly Paddy.

I would think that those who do not wear spectacles would find no difficulty in using the exit pupil of 32mm binos since their eye sockets surely guide the eyecups into the right position. I hesitate to be dogmatic about this though as there surely is a huge variation in facial structures but the eye sockets are surely better guides than the featureless glass of spectacle lenses that give no help in positioning and allow the eyecups to skid around if you aren't careful.

On the question of 10x32s, I only experiemented with this format fairly recently and found them no problem at all despite being a spectacle wearer.

On the question of 32mms binos in general, I find them plenty bright enough during the day and seldom use binos at dusk, except when reviewing.

Lee
 
Lee, post 123,
There is a saying in Dutch, that someone who is very much annoyed "sees green of annoyance". But that does not apply here I suppose.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
I notice that one member on Post 5 of this thread https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=4074651#post4074651 reports a 'blueish tint' for SF32.

It only demonstrates that we each see things a little differently.....

I wonder if there is a way to measure it. I tried by shooting a color chart through the binoculars and setting the same white balance, exposure...
One would need a lot of binoculars to calibrate the process though.

Another solution would be to use a spectrometer (which I have) like allbinos does but once again, not 100% sure one can easily detect a slight tint.
 
I wonder if there is a way to measure it. I tried by shooting a color chart through the binoculars and setting the same white balance, exposure...
One would need a lot of binoculars to calibrate the process though.

Another solution would be to use a spectrometer (which I have) like allbinos does but once again, not 100% sure one can easily detect a slight tint.

The difficulty is that much of what we think we 'see' with our eyes has actually been edited by our brain, and our brains don't always edit in exactly the same way..........

Lee
 
On exit pupil and 32mm binoculars, i speak as a convert to the size. It is obvious the 4mm of the 8x32 is reduced from the 5mm+ of the 8x42 - the implications being less light (provided you are capable of a 4mm+ dilation of the pupil) and perhaps a trickier eye position.
However, the difficulty with reviews and eye position with 32mm is that often the correct position is a matter of familiarity and technique, which develops over time.
For someone used to larger EPs to go onto a 8x32 for a few hours in order to evaluate a review model - and then give it back - is perhaps tricky in this regard.
The binoculars i do own are various sizes. After using one model extensively, adapting to a change often takes a period of assimilation, after which hitting the sweet spot in regard to eye placement is not a problem.
I have never used 10x32mm, so this might be more difficult - i can't say.
However, 8x32mm has been my most-used format for some years - i may lose 20mins of light at the end of the day on gull roosts etc. but other than that, i can't say i've had a problem with eye placement - after a short adaption period, if i've been using something else previously.
My experience also. Blackouts at first with the SF 32s. Then not a problem. Just took practice.
 
Going on from Lee's point about 'it's what you see' and the amount of re-balancing your brain might do: test outcomes, no matter how neutral and lab-based they may be, may prove 5% more in the green, or the red/yellow, or the blue.
I wonder sometimes if by testing, we are trying to prove we don't like it, or we do like it, or we disagree with the colour palette selected by the manufacturer - but ultimately, the concept of familiarity (and thus 'training your brain') may come in to it, with hours and hours of field use.
In the end, that's what it is going to come down to.
With the FL 32mm, i'm told it favours the green, rather than the blue - well, if that helps to cut the heat shimmer when looking over a large reed bed in summer, i'm in favour of it. I certainly don't 'see' it, although a test might prove it is actually there.
 
Hence the interest of measuring to avoid such individual variations.

Of course, but the results of such measuring will not necessarily predict what any one person will see, and those who see an 'excess' of red or blue or green will continue to see this.

Lee
 
I wonder if there is a way to measure it. I tried by shooting a color chart through the binoculars and setting the same white balance, exposure...
One would need a lot of binoculars to calibrate the process though.

Another solution would be to use a spectrometer (which I have) like allbinos does but once again, not 100% sure one can easily detect a slight tint.
What if you took a picture of a white piece of paper and then took a picture of the same white paper through the binoculars and compared the two side by side. Wouldn't it show the green tint?
 
I wonder if many 8X42 SF owners will switch over to the 32, (If they were me they would get both). Personally I prefer 8X42 on a regular basis - larger EP, just as I will put up with the extra weight of a quality 10X50 over a similar 10X42. As they are more frequently available, I will definitely check out the SF 8X32 next year.

Andy W.
 
An interesting aspect is the price. The price in Germany (the EU too?) of SF 8x32 is 2200eur or more, of SF 8x42 is 1900eur and ....of Swaro 8.5x42 is 1700eur or more. I haven't checked but I would guess that the prices in the US are similar---maybe someone can check that. Faced with these price differences what would you buy? The Swaro seems to be a likely choice, no wonder that they take the lion's share of the premium market. The real dilemma is choosing between the SF 32mm and 42mm.
 
What if you took a picture of a white piece of paper and then took a picture of the same white paper through the binoculars and compared the two side by side. Wouldn't it show the green tint?
Not a bad idea if I fix the white balance before, easier to interpret than my Gretag Macbeth color chart.


Faced with these price differences what would you buy?
I bought the SF 8x32 because I can get top quality, big FOV and having only 600g to carry.
Over the years, I sold or returned a Trinovid 8x50, a Canon 12x36III and an Ultravid 7x42 because of their weight and size. I liked them a lot but simply did not used them often enough to keep them.
 
I wonder if many 8X42 SF owners will switch over to the 32, (If they were me they would get both). Personally I prefer 8X42 on a regular basis - larger EP, just as I will put up with the extra weight of a quality 10X50 over a similar 10X42. As they are more frequently available, I will definitely check out the SF 8X32 next year.

Andy W.

Andy,

I have both so won‘t „switch over“, but as much as I like the 8x32, I find the image in the 8x42 not only brighter, but also „calmer“ when panning, and edge sharpness is better. Just my 2ct.

Canip
 
Andy,

I have both so won‘t „switch over“, but as much as I like the 8x32, I find the image in the 8x42 not only brighter, but also „calmer“ when panning, and edge sharpness is better. Just my 2ct.

Canip
"Calmer" is a good description of a 42 mm compared to a 32 mm and a 56mm is calmer than a 42mm. A bigger aperture is like a car with more HP versus one with less HP. The bigger aperture doesn't have to work as hard to give you a good image.
 
"Calmer" is a good description of a 42 mm compared to a 32 mm and a 56mm is calmer than a 42mm. A bigger aperture is like a car with more HP versus one with less HP. The bigger aperture doesn't have to work as hard to give you a good image.

But you have to work harder to carry a bigger aperture bino all day and every time you lift it up. And despite the fact that I always wear spectacles with all the possibilities this brings for misalignment of the binos in relation to my eyes, I have never felt that using a 32mm or even a 25mm is any more stressful, or 'less calm' than a 42mm.

Lee
 
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