Nikon SE Porros –*similarities and differences (1 Viewer)

Nikon SE Porros – similarities and differences

I have a Nikon 8x32 SE that lives up to its reputation as a fine and practical instrument.

I’m wondering how the 10x42 compares, especially in regard to being able to compensate for my myopia (slightly over –6D) at infinity. The 8x32 can (barely) focus at infinity for me. Would the 10x42 differ in this regard? What about the 12x50?

If we know the eyepieces and focusing mechanism are identical (are they?), then I suppose there will be less focusing beyond infinity in the binoculars with longer focal length objectives.

There may be some sample variation too, of course.

Thanks for any info about this.

Hi,

my SE 10x42 are very nice in every aspect except water proofing and as made some owners of teutonic alphas jealous. Unfortunately I can't say anything about its ability to focus to infinity for you - my eyes are still ok without glasses.

Speaking of which, you should be able to use the SE with glasses just fine - eye relief is really long.

Joachim

Dorian Gray said:

I have a Nikon 8x32 SE that lives up to its reputation as a fine and practical instrument.

I’m wondering how the 10x42 compares, especially in regard to being able to compensate for my myopia (slightly over –6D) at infinity. The 8x32 can (barely) focus at infinity for me. Would the 10x42 differ in this regard? What about the 12x50?

If we know the eyepieces and focusing mechanism are identical (are they?), then I suppose there will be less focusing beyond infinity in the binoculars with longer focal length objectives.

There may be some sample variation too, of course.

Thanks for any info about this.

Click to expand...

Dorian,

I have all three versions of the SE, which are 8x32, 10x42 and 12x50. I just took them out of their storage and examined them closely. The prism housings, which include the focusing mechanisms, on all three versions, have the same width and breadth.

Their lengths are all slightly different. I assume that this is (and I will stand corrected if my assumption is wrong) because these small differences in length are needed to fine tune the focal lengths of the objectives to F4 when the objective tubes are screwed into place on the binoculars.

I don't really know if these differences in their length could have any affect on their focusing past infinity.

I have no way of knowing if their oculars are the same but all three have diopter corrections that go from +4 to -4 and I can't see any differences between, or among, these eye pieces.

Hope this helps some,

Bob

Thanks for your replies, jring and ceasar, despite my delay in coming back to this thread.

My question about comparative focus beyond infinity in the three SEs remains, but perhaps it’s not easy for others to answer.

Ceasar: you say the three have the same +4 to −4 dioptre range at the oculars. But is the gradation the same? That is, do the right oculars on the 8x32 and the 12x50 rotate through the same number of degrees to go from zero to −4 dioptres? (I’m guessing the thread pitch is the same for cost reasons, so perhaps this would indicate how much movement the respective binoculars take to focus.)

Which leads to one more question, if you have time: does the bridge on all three travel about the same distance in and out across the focusing range? This screw may also have the same pitch, so you may be able to simply compare the number of turns the focusing knobs make throughout the range.