Leica Ultravid 10x50 or 10x42 Birding (1 Viewer)

michaelboustead

Well-known member

• Jan 30, 2004

• #1

Does anyone have any experience with either of the above. You advise is requested.

Mike

 

S

Sleeper

Well-known member

• Jan 30, 2004

• #2

Mike

have a look through some of the posts in the threads referring to the Ultravids. I am sure you will find much opinion and ratings regarding the optics.

 

scampo

Steve Campsall

• Jan 31, 2004

• #3

They are light in weight - but optically it sems you have a pretty much equal choice: Swarovski EL, Nikon HG, Zeiss Victory II ...

 

Last edited: Jan 31, 2004

G

gorank

Well-known member

• Jan 31, 2004

• #4

The ultravids are excellent, but the eye relief may be an issue if you wear glasses, the
10x42 has 15.8 mm which is acceptable,
the 10x50 has 14.6 mm which is beginning to get on the short side,
so be sure to try them first!
I currently have the Leica 8x32 Trinovids with 14 mm eye relief, and that is not enough for comfortable viewing with glasses (for me).

 

Last edited: Jan 31, 2004

deboo

.............

• Jan 31, 2004

• #5

gorank said:

The ultravids are excellent, but the eye relief may be an issue if you wear glasses, the
10x42 has 15.8 mm which is acceptable,
the 10x50 has 14.6 mm which is getting on the short side,
so be sure to try them first..

Click to expand...

I had a look through the whole range of Ultravids at the Bird Fair last August.
I'm a 'speccy 4 eyes'! and had no problem getting superb views thru' them all.
I just could'nt justify the massive price hike on these bins.....I love 'em to bits, but I love my wife more....and she controls my credit card now!!

Dave.

 

scampo

Steve Campsall

• Jan 31, 2004

• #6

I'm not too convinced by figures such as 14.6mm - wearing my glasses, I can no more see the whole field through 16mm Swarovski eye relief scope than I can through a 14mm Nikon or Kowa eyepiece... It's down to the individual's eyesight and type of specs in my view - and their interest in whether or not they can see the whole FOV, too.

 

Last edited: Jan 31, 2004

G

gorank

Well-known member

• Jan 31, 2004

• #7

figures from Leica states that with glasses you get 83% FOV with the Ultravid 10x50, and 98% with the 10x42 model. I guess they have some kind of quality standard for rating this. I personally think that longer eye relief often helps to get a more comfortable view.

 

G

gorank

Well-known member

• Jan 31, 2004

• #8

scampo said:

I'm not too convinced by figures such as 14.6mm - wearing my glasses, I can no more see the whole field through a 16mm eye relief scope than I can through a 16mm scope eyepiece... It's down to the individual's eyesight and type of specs in my view - and their interest in whether or not they can see the whole FOV, too.

Click to expand...

try to hold on to the thread subject the leica ultravids...=)
oterhwise we could be ending up discussing Nikon gear...;-)

 

Last edited: Jan 31, 2004

scampo

Steve Campsall

• Jan 31, 2004

• #9

Ah well, some of us who post here are only human after all and suffer from typical human frailties...

Mind you, as others frequently point out, the usefulness of these threads is that they do often in idiosyncratic ways open up new areas of interest.

And I think it's worth saying that asking if Leitz Ultravids are a decent birding bino is rather like asking if the sun will rise tomorrow. Some of us do like a bit of confirmation of such things at times, it's true, and that's okay with me...

Now about those Nikons...

(-:

 

scampo

Steve Campsall

• Jan 31, 2004

• #10

A more comfortable view? Hopefully, the manufacturer will have put their comfortable rubber eyepiece ends at just the right point for the eye relief, whatever the mm spacing!

 

G

gorank

Well-known member

• Jan 31, 2004

• #11

scampo said:

A more comfortable view? Hopefully, the manufacturer will have put their comfortable rubber eyepiece ends at just the right point for the eye relief, whatever the mm spacing!

Click to expand...

Negative eye relief would not be comfortable though...even with a pair of nikons...=)

 

scampo

Steve Campsall

• Jan 31, 2004

• #12

:bounce: Negative eye-relief - now if I could just climb inside the view from a pair of Nikon bins - ooooh!