Nikon action vs action extreme (ex) (1 Viewer)

I had an rest day today, which i honnestly deserved ! and i went to the Fnac, a huge multimedia distributor in France.
I was hanging around, wondering how to spend some few €€ in stupid attractive multimedia stuff.
I suddenly fall into a place where are some binoculars, cameras, tripods.
Bing, some nikon binocular models!
I did try a 7x35 action vii, and a 8x40 action vii ex.
My try was a long 10 mins one (10 mins is very long when there is a salesperson looking at you and waiting that you are finished).

Optically

The action vii are better to my eyes: very very sharp at the center, and the sweet spot is very correct for their huge angle of view. The colours are extremely well close to reality (surprising for their price!). There are some visible flares. I detected a few CA on the sweet spot, and CA is quit important on the edges (lets say 2° extreme of the 9°), so that's good. 70 euros.

The action vii extreme are not that great optically.
I first saw a clear yellowish tint, as in the minox, and other chinese optics. Colours are not as good as in the normal action.
The sharpness is not as good as in the normal action. It is good, not extremely good. I say on the action, sweet spot sharpness is a 9/10 (excellentissimus for the price), and action ex is a 7.5-8/10 sharpness on the sweet spot. A noticeable difference.
The ex shows way less flaring that the normal action. I suspect their coatings to be better or more recent. The CA seems a few better controled in the ex, only a few and not at the center, but at the edges. The sweet spot is exactly the same.

Their body

The action vii is cool to be felt in the hands. The action ex is excellent in the hands.
Eyecups are not comfortable in both models. Maybe only a few better on the ex. I suspect the ex eyecups not to last long with repeated chinese clicks. I suspect the action eyecups to last very long with no moving parts.
I suspect the action body to be more fragile than the action ex.
The action ex seems extremely strong and robust. The action seem robust.
I would say the action could be used properly during 2-3 years. I would say the action ex could be used properly during 3-6 years. I am talking about robustness, shockproof, mechanisms.

I've tried the same models myself, but came away with different suppressions (this was in Moscow .

At least I think they were the same models, the Actions didn't have any Roman numerals on them so I don't know if they were the "vii" but physically they look identical and my neighbor's brother just bought the 7x35 Action for her last year.

I played with the 8x40 Action EX about 10-15 minutes.

Here's the way I sees it:

Ergonomics/Weight

The 8x40 EX is heavier and bulkier, with sharp lines at the edges of the prism housings. The more curvacious Action 7x35s fit my hands more comfortably, and it felt lighter (should be, it's smaller).

Eyecups

The rubber eyecups on the Actions were more comfortable than the plastic twist ups on the EX.

Focuser

The focuser turned more smoothly on the 7x35 Action, a bit rougher on the 8x40 EX.

Sharpness - Center and Edge

The centerfield sharpness seemed noticeably better in the EX. The Action was sharp but just average in that regard. The EX had that extra bit of resolution that you expect from Nikon optics. The EX was also brighter, larger aperture and FMCs.

The Action, which did not have FMCs, seemed a bit dull on an overcast days. Colors didn't "snap" like they did with the EX.

The Action has 'aspherical lenses [to] eliminate virtually all distortion" so the edges were better than the EX, and gradually falling off until getting somewhat blurry about 75% out but even then still useable for another 10-15%. The Action vii exhibited some "roll" while panning.

The EX's is very sharp in the center with very good color representation, but the image goes sour about 60-65% out and then gets progressively worse until you get to the "Ring of Fire" at the edges. However, much of the field curvature can be refocused. So you have your choice, fuzzy edges or fuzzy centerfield.

Looking at the two different approaches to the optical design, one could almost believe Zeiss's claim about sacrificing edge performance to optimize center sharpness (at least I would have if I hadn't tried the EDG, which defies their logic).

Summary

If sharp edges are your thang and you don't mind sacrificing a bit of centerfield sharpness and brightness, the Action vii's are recommended.

If you prefer, sharper, brighter views in the center and don't mind refocusing the edges, and can handle a bit more bulk and weight, the EX is for you (bit less nose room too).

(Read in a drawn out John Houseman voice): "My dear boy, you simply move the buurrd to the center".

Which bin would I prefer? The EDG.

Brock

Hola Brock
Was the ex a recent one? It is strange you did not notify a yellow tint.
And i wonder why i find the vii to be sharper than the ex.
The ex sharpness was, you know, sharp but you allways try to turn the focusing weel to search for the best sharpness, and you do not find it.
With the vii i did find the best sharpness very quickly and it was sharper.
However, you are right about brightness, exs are brighter like about 15% brighter imo. And yes the ex eyecups are a bit more comfortable, even i found them to be too hard and too plasticky. Same goes for the weel, stiffer on the ex.
Both of the models i tried were normally very recent, and i really think the coatings on the ex are better, a few better.
Both of the models were MC and not FMC.
I tried them inside the shop, not possible to go outside.
I ordered the 7x35 vii on the internet, im a damn addict haha

Giorgio said:

Hola Brock
Was the ex a recent one? It is strange you did not notify a yellow tint.
And i wonder why i find the vii to be sharper than the ex.
The ex sharpness was, you know, sharp but you allways try to turn the focusing weel to search for the best sharpness, and you do not find it.
With the vii i did find the best sharpness very quickly and it was sharper.
However, you are right about brightness, exs are brighter like about 15% brighter imo. And yes the ex eyecups are a bit more comfortable, even i found them to be too hard and too plasticky. Same goes for the weel, stiffer on the ex.
Both models i tried were normally very recent, and i really think the coatings on the ex are better, a few better.
I ordered the 7x35 vii on the internet, im a damn addict haha

Click to expand...

Ciao! Giorgio,

The EX wasn't a 2012 model, but I don't t think Nikon made any significant changes since it first came out, other than probably updating the coatings, which if anything, would make them more color neutral.

Mooreorless had the EX for a year or so after our friend Walter sent it to him, because Walter (aka Sailcat) fell off the edge of the earth while apparently using pre-Ptolemaic maps . I don't know when Walter bought it, but it looked new then. It might have been a couple years old, three or four years old now.

I only used it in bright sunlight. Slight tints or color biases are usually most noticeable on overcast days and at twilight. A heavy bias would show even during the day, but I don't know of any modern bins that have that much yellow color cast except Russian bins.

You're not an addict, at least not yet. You're still a "chippie". When you have a five bin a week habit like Frank, then you can check yourself into the John Cota Binocoholics Clinic in Iowa.

Ciao! Brock (no wonder Italians don't know if they're coming or going

Salut brock

The vii ex and the vii were both MC and not FMC, the nowadays produced actions cannot be FMC. I dunno from where u get the FMC ex, maybe a Moscva russian Polkovnik gave you the pair. Wish i could try this fmc model, im sure it must be excellent.
The yellow tint i found on the vii ex was not "extremely" yellow as you could find in old optics as old habichts. It is more a discreet yellow that you discover by looking through good optics rendering a perfect white image, then after looking through a chineserie. It is a yellowish close to the warm colours of leicas.
I can tell you that the vii ex i tried was not that sharp, and the colours were not as vibrant as in the vii.
And now that im home today, i just compared the habicht 8x30w and the 10x50 vii, the whiteness of the image is extremely close, and the actions are sharper to my eyes than the habicht lol. But the habicht is way brighter even for a 8x30, and displays less CA. Field curvature is more important in the habicht than in the vii.
The vii is, for my brain, monstruously good for the price: when i am looking through binoculars, i instinctively move the binoculars to make the things i watch appear in the sweet spot, so the bad edges is not a problem.
I guess if i was not moving the bins for a strict sweet spot watching, this pair of bins would be troublesome and already sold.
P.S. regarding the whiteness, seems the polish saw the same as i did:
http://www.allbinos.com/220-binoculars_review-Nikon_Action_VII_10x40_CF.html (4.8 whiteness score)
http://www.optyczne.pl/68-Test_lornetki-Nikon_Action_EX_10x50_CF.html (Odwzorowanie bieli Słabe. 3.2/5.0, sorry for the rough language lol, i let you google traduct this)
Made me discover that the polish version have more model tested that were not translated at allbinos.


Salut (no wonder french don't know if they're coming or going)