Some ramblings on 8x32 (1 Viewer)

I've spent a while looking for an 8x32 with good close focus. I tried a bunch of $400 USD or under and the Meopta Meopro HD 8x32 was the best for me. It has 3.3 ft (1m) close focus, which is fantastic, a pretty quick focus (about on par with Conquest), and really fits my eyes well with minimum blackout issues. The downside is it does not control flare well.

I do not wear glasses, but I have a hard time fitting binoculars to my eyes if I want to rest the eye cup fully around my eye and not tilt. My eye sight is 20/20 left and 20/10 right. I seem to mostly have a problem with the right eye and blackouts.

I stepped up in price range and tried the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32, Leica Trinovid HD 8x32, and Kowa Genesis 8x33. I did not try the Meostar because the close focus goes out to 5.6ft, which is too far for me. Same for the Zeiss T FL and Swaro EL, those get out to 6.6ft (2m).

The Trinovid has a fantastic 1m close focus, but I found it does not fit my eyes well (no glasses, but hard-to-fit). I have to have the eye cups all the way out in the 4th detent where they can be removed, and sometimes they come out with the rainguard I have to work them a bit to fight blackouts and have to keep the lower part of the eyecup off my face. I am also not convinced it is as sharp as the Conquest, but that may be an effect of having to work them to keep my eyes aligned. So despite loving the close focus, I don't think they will work for me. Also, the focus is kind of slow.

The Conquests really feel good in the hand and have a precision to them. They do focus about 2x as fast as the Trinovids, which I've seen others mention before but did not realize how big a difference that is. They fit my eyes much better than the Trinovids and I can lightly rest the eyecups all the way around my eyes for a nice immersive view. At 4.9 ft (1.5m), it is a good close focus.

The Kowa do not feel quite as good in hand as the Conquest, but they actually fit my eyes better, about as well as the Meopro. I can fully rest the eyecups around my eyes and I do not feel like I'm squinting through them. It is a very relaxed view. The Conquest have a sleek, precise feel, the Genesis are a bit more cushy soft feeling and the focuser isn't as nice. I will say that the Genesis grip position is very good: the index finger aligns perfectly with the focuser. Even for my large hands, the closed bridge is not a problem. The Genesis have the same 4.9ft (1.5m) close focus as the Conquest, but the focus speed is more like the Trinivods.

I need to spend some more time in the field with the Genesis and Conquest to decide if eye comfort or focus speed is more important to me. I'm leaning to the Genesis. If only they focuses faster!

Marc

If it's important to you, focus speed will really matter a lot in the field. I choose my HD's over my HT's many times just because I know I need that faster focus and will be frustrated [and miss stuff] with anything slower.

I've never been able to consider any Swarovski due to glacial-slow focus-speed.

I think Zeiss has a longer eyecup for the conquest. If you contact them they should send one out to you.

coopershawk said:

I think Zeiss has a longer eyecup for the conquest. If you contact them they should send one out to you.

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Oh, that is interesting. I'll try that!

I've had a very good experience w/ Zeiss service so far on my HTs (I'll write about that in a separate post once they finish the service).

If close focus matters to you then fast focus speed would be a huge help in the field, getting on nearby subjects but being able to get onto distant birds and back again, without missing anything or wearing out your fingers pumping a slow focus wheel. Like James, in suitable habitats, I use Conquest HD 8x32 instead of SFs as the focus is twice as fast. I have a Genesis 8x33 and its a close-run race between it and the Conquest until you consider focus speed and if you do this there is no contest.

Lee

Troubador said:

If close focus matters to you then fast focus speed would be a huge help in the field, getting on nearby subjects but being able to get onto distant birds and back again, without missing anything or wearing out your fingers pumping a slow focus wheel. Like James, in suitable habitats, I use Conquest HD 8x32 instead of SFs as the focus is twice as fast. I have a Genesis 8x33 and its a close-run race between it and the Conquest until you consider focus speed and if you do this there is no contest.

Lee

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Yes, I've seen you mention that difference in other posts (maybe in comparison to the Trinovid HD). It didn't fully sink in until I tried them. I find that with the Trinovids going from 1.5m to 40m (approximately) takes me about 8 finger pushes (or pulls as the case may be), whereas the Conquest are about 3.5. Considering I only get maybe 2 - 3 pushes per second, that is actually a long time. The other thing I noticed is that for each push, I'm of course picking up and re-setting my index finger which leads to more shake and less stability. With the Conquest, I'm leaving my finger on the focuser a lot more.

Marc

For me, the best thing about the Conquest's fast focus is it's weighting and precision - I've had many fast focus bins that are simply too imprecise to be useful, lots of refocusing and frustration.

The HD's are fast, smooth and hit the mark consistently. It would be ideal, for me, if Zeiss could use the same system on all their bins.

marcsantacurz said:

Yes, I've seen you mention that difference in other posts (maybe in comparison to the Trinovid HD). It didn't fully sink in until I tried them. I find that with the Trinovids going from 1.5m to 40m (approximately) takes me about 8 finger pushes (or pulls as the case may be), whereas the Conquest are about 3.5. Considering I only get maybe 2 - 3 pushes per second, that is actually a long time. The other thing I noticed is that for each push, I'm of course picking up and re-setting my index finger which leads to more shake and less stability. With the Conquest, I'm leaving my finger on the focuser a lot more.

Marc

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Marc

Glad you appreciate this characteristic of Conquest HD. If you find yourself faced with needing a really big focus movement from, say, a butterfly a few yards away to a hawk in the distance, it might help to shift your grip a little so that you can alternate your first finger and middle finger on the focus wheel as if your fingers are 'running' on it. This way you can minimise the pause between each movement of the focus wheel and when you get used to doing this you can perhaps get rid of the pause all together so you achieve a much much faster refocus. For the final focus adjustment you might want to slip your hand back to its normal grip and use your first finger for fine adjustment and also to steady up the bins.

Lee

If you really want to experience a "fast" focusing binocular try to get one of the discontinued Nikon 8x32 or 10x32 HGLs. Even better, their focusing was extremely smooth and very well damped. These Nikons were noted for that. One got used to using them very quickly.

The EDGs which replaced them have somewhat slower focusing but they are just as smooth and well damped!

Kimmo Absetz commented on the fast focusing of the 10x32 HGL in his review of 10x42 and 10x32 binoculars in "Alula" magazine a number of years back. Unfortunately these reviews can no longer be found on the internet.

Bob