• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Birdfair 2019 (1 Viewer)

dwatsonbirder

Well-known member
With Zeiss announcing the exciting news of new rubber eyecups, and a teaser video of a new pair of Opticron IS bins, I wondered if anybody attending would be willing to post information on any new kit being released at this years birdfair?

I'm sure those of us who are unable to attend or don't have the funds for new kit will enjoy a vicarious saunter around the Rutland marquees...
 
How about a new monocular from Swarovski that takes the skill, challenge, fun and need for field experience out of birding?

Guess this is called progress, but it certainly is not for me!
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2019-08-16-14-29-35.jpg
    Screenshot_2019-08-16-14-29-35.jpg
    62.7 KB · Views: 304
Last edited:
A colleague has discovered 7 new species of birds, one of which bears his name (seriously). I guess when his Swaro monoc couldn't ID the bird, he knew that was a new species.
 
A colleague has discovered 7 new species of birds, one of which bears his name (seriously). I guess when his Swaro monoc couldn't ID the bird, he knew that was a new species.

Ha! :-O I think the merlin app is a great tool for beginners, but there is no substitution for time in the field. Perhaps a subject for elsewhere, but birders used to undertake an apprenticeship to learn species ID and ecology, but with the age of instant news and affordable digital cameras, this is something of a dying art. At a relatively youthful 32 (think I can get away with that?!) my generation were perhaps the last to do this, and if you should encounter a new birder nowadays they're as likely to be carrying a camera in place of a pair of bins.
I guess the lamenting of instant access to knowledge that has taken others years to aquire via field study and book learning is a sign of getting old!
 
The Opticron IS binos in the video seem to be a clone of Kenko IS binos:
https://kenkoglobal.com/product/vcsmart_14x30/#specifications
Hopefully those attending will soon post information on a really new kit launched at the BirdFair. But I'd guess there is not a lot of exciting news....

There seem to be 5 new IS binos of various makes, including the Opticron, which all seem suspiciously similar in size and specification and perhaps originate from the same factory. Maybe someone visiting the Birdfair can spot a few and report.

Stan
 
The Opticron IS binos in the video seem to be a clone of Kenko IS binos:
https://kenkoglobal.com/product/vcsmart_14x30/#specifications
Hopefully those attending will soon post information on a really new kit launched at the BirdFair. But I'd guess there is not a lot of exciting news....

More of a clone of the Viking Scout and Vixen Atera which likewise have the battery housing (AAA's) under the body rather than the Kenko's which have the CR batteries housed to the side of the body. All look to be from the same company, probably Kamakura.

It will be interesting to see what power(s), Opticron offer.
 
How about a new monocular from Swarovski that takes the skill, challenge, fun and need for field experience out of birding?

Guess this is called progress, but it certainly is not for me!

A new monocular from Swarovski would be weird, as they do not make one.

Ask Swarovski about the new EL models. They are due for one this year.

Watson, are you going to attend or are you just a wanna-be ?

Jerry
 
Jerry, as alluded to in my opening post, I won't be there. As somebody who suffers with agoraphobia, large groups of people crammed into marquees is a no-no. Hopefully others attending can provide first hand accounts. I note that Vortex is also demoing a new version of the Razor HD, appears to bare a passing resemblance to the Maven B2.
 
Last edited:
Daniel: Sorry, I missed that part, I'm sure the crowds do make things hard to endure.

I'm sure we will get updates on new products, we usually do from Lee and others.

Jerry
 
News from Bird Fair

Quick impressions from Bird Fair 2019.

Mud, mud, mud. Everywhere although the heavy rubber sheeting put down by the Fair has helped a good deal.

No new EL, no Noctivid 32 and no SF 32.

Opticron is showing an interesting image stabilised bino in 10 and 12x30.
Kowa's new BD II XD line has an impressive 6.5x32 which has an impressive 175m at 1000m field of view and promises to be great for butterfly and dragonfly spotting as well as those pesky small fast-flying birds in scrub and jungles.

Swaro were showing prototypes of a monocular that can interface with a birding app on your mobile phone. This is a work-in-progress and Swaro were noting comments and feedback on the haptics and ergonomics.

At long last Zeiss have upgraded the eyecups on SF and they feel every but the eyecups that they should have been from the outset. Owners of SFs with the old eyecups will be able to get the new ones free of charge.

Thats all folks.

Lee
 
10* field of view on that new Kowa 6.5x32 is amazing to say the least... The others are impressive as well. Not that I much care, but I do wonder if they are of Chinese or Japanese origin.
 
I thought the Kowa BDII 6.5x32 XD was the pick of the range on the stand too, but was surprised by the CA levels with the higher magnifications. There was a distortion issue with the 8x42 as well. Perhaps we should keep in mind that in the past, Kowa launch day samples have not always matched the production ones.

The Vortex Razor UHD 8x and 10x42s were very nice indeed. It wasn't possible to do any comparisons with the obvious competition, but the improvement mechanically and optically over the current Razor HD was notable. A number of people commented that they actually felt a lot lighter in the hand than their listed weight suggested.

I rather liked the the new Meopta Optika 8x and 10x42. Impressive centre sharpness particularly caught my eye, but edges and CA were pretty good too. There were a couple of quibbles, particularly glare but I thought them pretty good for the money overall.

I'm a bit puzzled by the new Kite Lynx HD plus range. On paper it looks pretty good, and it's hard to spot any significant flaws, but they didn't quite hit the spot for for me. Maybe I was expecting too much.

The IS technology of the new Opticron x30s seems much better than the previous monocular, though the 12x30 took a second or two to hit it's stride, which was a bit disconcerting. These preproduction samples appeared to be sharper than the Viking equivalent that's been on the market for a while.

At the budget end of the market I thought the old Celestron Trailseeker was pretty good value. The new ED version strengthens the case.

Viking have revamped their range of ED models. The improvement in coatings as you climbed the price ladder from the Merlin, through the Kestrel to the Peregrine was the most obvious gain to me.

David
 
Last edited:
I thought the Kowa BDII 6.5x32 XD was the pick of the range ....
David

Thanks for the sticky beak David ..... with ~64.5°AFov (175m @1000m) , what was ER like on the 6.5x32 ? and was the field fully usable - ie. sharpish to the edge? How about the weight of them?
Thanks.


Chosun :gh:
 
Thanks for the sticky beak David ..... with ~64.5°AFov (175m @1000m) , what was ER like on the 6.5x32 ? and was the field fully usable - ie. sharpish to the edge? How about the weight of them?
Thanks.


Chosun :gh:

CJ.

The ER is listed as 17mm and with my new close fitting specs, I needed to twist out the eyecups a little. Perhaps 1.5mm? That would probably make something like 15- 15.5mm available? The field curvature was fairly shallow with relatively little softening at the edges in the 6.5x. The weight is listed as 535g.

David
 
Visited earlier today from about 11.30 to 16.00. Troub is right on the mud - bring either boots or proper outdoor shoes.

Since my last visit two years ago I'd been doing more and more observation from longer distances. When you are trying to follow a tiny black speck more than a mile away, even with braced elbows, wobble can be a problem (for me anyway). First port of call was therefore the Canon stand. I had tried the 10x42IS L on my previous visit and wanted to revisit it with the benefit of having done a lot more observation at long distance. My memory of the IS L was a binocular with very good, yet not quite alpha optical quality, but with truly unique qualities thanks to the image stabilization.

Unfortunately the viewing point did not have as sweeping a view as the main optics marque, but I was still able to test sharpness at distance on the branches/foliage of a stand of trees that were fairly far off. First thing to do was to see how it performed without IS. Tweaking focus and diopter produced a good sharp image. I had my old faithful Dialyt 10x40 P model to serve as a reference point and the Canon was slightly, but definitely sharper at distance, a little brighter, and generally showed more detail at distance. Sharpness at distance and detail at distance are the two most important things I look for in judging a binocular's optical properties. Most decent binoculars are more than sharp enough when your targets are within say 500m, and if you don't need to look much further out, lucky you. Observing at long distance, however, really makes apparent the differences between older binoculars and the modern stuff, and to a lesser extent, between sub-alphas and the top dogs.

The Canon image is objectively very good - I was able to have a good look through the Meostar 10x42 HD, Conquest 10x42 HD, and Monarch HG 10x42 later, and when returning to the 10x42 IS L later definitely felt that this was in more or less that ball park. Field of view seemed (and was, at 115m vs 110m) a little more generous than the Dialyt and edge performance was very good. Handling wise, the Canon felt distinctly different in the hand than a normal binocular, but I found no real difficulty adapting to it and finding a solid grip. It is heavier than my Dialyt and seemed a little less shaky.

Now to find some targets. Rutland isn't exactly a peregrine hot spot so distant house/sand martins over the lake had to serve as a proxy. Found a group of them, singled out the most distant, pressed the magic button, and just as it had the last time I'd tried this unique product, the magic happened. The tiny image steadied, the level of concentration needed to follow it dropped right off. Just an amazing, effortless view. Switched off the magic button to compare and contrast. Was fortunate enough to do this for nearly 20 minutes the first time (people were swarming all over the big white lenses but no one seemed interested in binoculars!) and about 10 minutes or so the second time.

This thing is unique. IS does things that no traditional binocular can. This binocular, while optically very good, does not have the kind of superlative optical quality that the top products from Swarovski/Leica/Zeiss do - but I am pretty convinced that in actual use it is almost certain to be a better instrument for observation.

Having gone on about its genuinely impressive qualities, I feel compelled to mention a couple of things that I was less impressed with. The focus knob is awkwardly located (at least in relation to hand position on the most comfortable/steady grip I found), and although I am sure it is waterproof and would withstand harder use than I would ever put it through, pantywaist urban birder that I am, its overall build quality reminds one more of a modern digital camera or similar high-end consumer item than a top-class, or even high-quality traditional binocular. But that, I suppose, is what comes with the technology.

Next: Meopta...
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top