OK, HERE THEY ARE! GET YOUR PRE ORDERS IN! DON"T DISREGARD THE 8X32'S. THEY ARE 8.8 DEGREE"S AND 462 FEET FOV. SAME AS THE NIKON 8X30 E2! THE 6.5X32 HAS AN AFOV OF 65 DEGREE'S AND THE 8X32 HAS AN AFOV OF 70 DEGREE'S!OK, it’s September. Where are they? :-O
OK, HERE THEY ARE! GET YOUR ORDERS IN! DON"T DISREGARD THE 8X32'S. THEY ARE 8.8 DEGREE"S AND 462 FEET FOV. SAME AS THE NIKON 8X30 E2! THE 6.5X32 HAS AN AFOV OF 65 DEGREE'S AND THE 8X32 HAS AN AFOV OF 70 DEGREE'S!
Did you or anybody compare the 6.5x32 to the 8x32 BD II XDs? I was trying to decide which one to buy. Maybe buy them both and return the one you like least.I had a look through the 6.5 at Birdfair, and the ER was sufficient to give me full FOV with my eye glasses.
Did you or anybody compare the 6.5x32 to the 8x32 BD II XDs? I was trying to decide which one to buy. Maybe buy them both and return the one you like least.
It depends upon how much of a WA fanatic you are.I will be interested to know if the new Kowa BDII-XD series will actually have better optical performance than the old BD-XD Prominar series , or is it only an increase in the Field of View that sets the new series apart.
My wild guess is that Kowa have only changed the eye-pieces and kept the other optics and lenses from the old BD-XD series.
So the question is , if a person is satisfied with the field of view of the old BD-XD Prominar series will it be worth while to upgrade.
But the 6.5 x 32 does interest me .
I have an old series 8 x 42 BD-XD Prominar and I think that it is a very fine binocular.
Cheers.
I think we have a similar sense of wow. The 15x SLC does for me what the 12x EL does for you, which would have been my second choice. And on the other end, what a low mag bino needs to wow is a comparable AFOV, a proportional trade-off of magnification for real field, which almost never happens below 8x, and the 6.5x BD is no exception. (I'll be equally interested to hear about the new BD's construction. I keep being disappointed with that in this price range.)OK, HERE THEY ARE! GET YOUR PRE ORDERS IN! DON"T DISREGARD THE 8X32'S. THEY ARE 8.8 DEGREE"S AND 462 FEET FOV. SAME AS THE NIKON 8X30 E2! THE 6.5X32 HAS AN AFOV OF 65 DEGREE'S AND THE 8X32 HAS AN AFOV OF 70 DEGREE'S!
I don't think even a 10 degree 6.5x will WOW me but we will see. The most WOW binocular I have ever had is the Swarovski SV 12x50 which I still have and is my "Big Gun."
You and I agree. A 6.5x at 10 degrees is till only 65 degrees AFOV, whereas, the 8x at 8.8 degrees is 70.4 degrees AFOV so I bet the 8x will have more WOW factor. My SV 12x50's are 68.4 degrees AFOV using the simple method of calculation not the ISO. Your SLC 15x56 are 67.5 degrees AFOV. Still a 65 degree 6.5x is pretty good and it is going to have good DOF and be easy to hold steady but WOW factor I don't know. That is one thing that is nice about the BD it has a magnesium frame which is getting rare at the under $500.00 price point.. I will take a magnesium frame any day over polymer I don't care what the plastic nuts have to say.I think we have a similar sense of wow. The 15x SLC does for me what the 12x EL does for you, which would have been my second choice. And on the other end, what a low mag bino needs to wow is a comparable AFOV, a proportional trade-off of magnification for real field, which almost never happens below 8x, and the 6.5x BD is no exception. (I'll be equally interested to hear about the new BD's construction. I keep being disappointed with that in this price range.)
I will be interested to know if the new Kowa BDII-XD series will actually have better optical performance than the old BD-XD Prominar series , or is it only an increase in the Field of View that sets the new series apart.
My wild guess is that Kowa have only changed the eye-pieces and kept the other optics and lenses from the old BD-XD series.
So the question is , if a person is satisfied with the field of view of the old BD-XD Prominar series will it be worth while to upgrade.
But the 6.5 x 32 does interest me .
I have an old series 8 x 42 BD-XD Prominar and I think that it is a very fine binocular.
Cheers.
It is hard to say, but the exterior looks quite a bit more "upscale" to me, so that plus the wide angle viewing would be a fair improvement especially considering the lack of increase in price
Optically I thought the original BD XD was quite good, but with a narrow FOV.
All of the magnifictons look good on paper, but considering I've been using the 10x with Image Stabilization, the 6.5X seems a good complement.
Despite owning some variety of all the alpha models, I still think the 8.5x44 Genesis is my favorite - if only it had a wider field of view. It seems they will never update this model, unfortunately.
Why do you say that Dennis?...... That is one thing that is nice about the BD it has a magnesium frame which is getting rare at the under $500.00 price point.. I will take a magnesium frame any day over polymer I don't care what the plastic nuts have to say.
I took our youngest to our laboratory and showed him magnesium, it burned extremely well yielding a phantastic amount of light..
The fighter planes of our military and also quite a bit of weaponry consists of "plastic = reinforced carbon fibre" etc. Very strong, durable and in many occasions much better then metal.
The Victory FL's I have seen did not detiorate one bit since the time they were produced despite very intense use.
Prejudice is a very tough phenomenon.
Gijs van Ginkel