Dorian Gray
Well-known member
'Evening ladies and gents,
I recently ordered the Bushnell Legend 8x42 roofs as a Christmas present for my father, whom I suppose would be best described as a casual birder. He has long wanted a decent binocular, and as he particularly enjoys walking in the rain, a waterproof roof-prism design seemed the best way to go. I understand there is severe competition in this price-range, so you might wonder why I chose this particular binocular. Well, the UK-US price disparity was even greater for this model than others from Minox, Nikon, etc., so it became the obvious choice once I'd made the decision to buy from a US dealer.
Anyway, I've become curious as to what's inside the thing. Bushnell seem to consider this a jealously-guarded secret, for they reveal nothing whatsoever about the matter in their brochures or websites. This is frustrating, but I've quickly learned that the entire binocular industry is bizarrely unwilling to impart information to prospective customers.
With the exception of Nikon who provide public access to the press-photo section of their website (though why aren't these photos made obviously available to the consumer?), it's nearly impossible to even find a decent product photo of any of the major brands (Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, etc.). Leica make good PDF brochures available for download, though the product photos are woefully small and therefore inadequate for getting an idea of the "look and feel" and "fit and finish" of the binoculars. Swarovski's website looks like something straight from the nineties, is littered with mistakes, and generally smacks of poor quality: a peculiar state of affairs for a brand that places so much emphasis on quality. Zeiss's website is adequate, though the product photos are woeful as usual, and technical info on binoculars is drastically limited in comparison to Zeiss' other products (such as camera lenses).
Nobody seems to think it worthwhile to let consumers know the optical arrangement of any binocular. Optical performance parameters are described in subjective terms such as "unparalleled brightness", "outstanding sharpness" and other meaningless bumf. Not a single binocular manufacturer in Europe, Asia or America provides MTF charts, which are common-place for camera lenses. This leads to our present reliance on internet gurus (known to most of you, no doubt) for basic information on optical performance. Most brands don't even tell us how many lens elements and groups are in their binoculars, much less show us a diagram of the arrangement.
So: short of taking my dad's gift to bits, how can I find out the number of elements and groups, and the focal length of the objectives (and therefore the f-number). And why are binocular manufacturers so unwilling to reveal these basic data, considered essential by every camera lens manufacturer (including Zeiss and Leica)?
I recently ordered the Bushnell Legend 8x42 roofs as a Christmas present for my father, whom I suppose would be best described as a casual birder. He has long wanted a decent binocular, and as he particularly enjoys walking in the rain, a waterproof roof-prism design seemed the best way to go. I understand there is severe competition in this price-range, so you might wonder why I chose this particular binocular. Well, the UK-US price disparity was even greater for this model than others from Minox, Nikon, etc., so it became the obvious choice once I'd made the decision to buy from a US dealer.
Anyway, I've become curious as to what's inside the thing. Bushnell seem to consider this a jealously-guarded secret, for they reveal nothing whatsoever about the matter in their brochures or websites. This is frustrating, but I've quickly learned that the entire binocular industry is bizarrely unwilling to impart information to prospective customers.
With the exception of Nikon who provide public access to the press-photo section of their website (though why aren't these photos made obviously available to the consumer?), it's nearly impossible to even find a decent product photo of any of the major brands (Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, etc.). Leica make good PDF brochures available for download, though the product photos are woefully small and therefore inadequate for getting an idea of the "look and feel" and "fit and finish" of the binoculars. Swarovski's website looks like something straight from the nineties, is littered with mistakes, and generally smacks of poor quality: a peculiar state of affairs for a brand that places so much emphasis on quality. Zeiss's website is adequate, though the product photos are woeful as usual, and technical info on binoculars is drastically limited in comparison to Zeiss' other products (such as camera lenses).
Nobody seems to think it worthwhile to let consumers know the optical arrangement of any binocular. Optical performance parameters are described in subjective terms such as "unparalleled brightness", "outstanding sharpness" and other meaningless bumf. Not a single binocular manufacturer in Europe, Asia or America provides MTF charts, which are common-place for camera lenses. This leads to our present reliance on internet gurus (known to most of you, no doubt) for basic information on optical performance. Most brands don't even tell us how many lens elements and groups are in their binoculars, much less show us a diagram of the arrangement.
So: short of taking my dad's gift to bits, how can I find out the number of elements and groups, and the focal length of the objectives (and therefore the f-number). And why are binocular manufacturers so unwilling to reveal these basic data, considered essential by every camera lens manufacturer (including Zeiss and Leica)?