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7x42 Ultravid (1 Viewer)

Edmund,

As Tom has already mentioned in post #28, I also noticed your comment in post #18 about cleaning "5 years of display case dust from the oculars."

If the binocular had been sitting around the shop that long with potential buyers looking through it I would consider it to be a Demo and I think it would warrant a professional cleaning from Leica.

I think you will notice a difference in brightness after that.

Bob
 
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Edmund,

As Tom has already mentioned in post #28, I also noticed your comment in post #18 about cleaning "5 years of display case dust from the oculars."

If the binocular had been sitting around the shop that long with potential buyers looking through it I would consider it to be a Demo and I think it would warrant a professional cleaning from Leica.

I think you will notice a difference in brightness after that.

Bob

We think alike!
Edmund
 
You do?
Care to elaborate?
If true, and whether they be Noctivids or 32mm Uvids, people here are interested in what you know.

Kevin:

I agree with you, the proclamation of error-nald of a new 7x Leica is suspect.

But he was right, these are just binoculars, and not important in the end.;)

Jerry
 
Kevin:

I agree with you, the proclamation of error-nald of a new 7x Leica is suspect.

But he was right, these are just binoculars, and not important in the end.;)

Jerry

Jerry

Such detachment. I now understand why you cancelled your order for those pretty but quite useless 407 13.

Edmund
 
I've been thinking about my UV glasses, and maybe they've been sitting in a display case with thermal cycling in a display case for 5 years or so the nitrogen leaked out, and the prisms lost some reflectivity.

I don't know how long the seals really last in real life. Maybe the Leica glasses only have a limited lifespan if the seals and the nitrogen aren't regularly topped up.

Porro prism designs don't have this issue because they don't need the high-reflection coatings.


Edmund
 
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On a totally unrelated note, do people here feel that at age 60+ one gets more out of an 8x42 than an 8x32 daytime? In other words is the UV 42 superior in practice to the 32?

Edmund

As I don't think anyone has answered this question (unless I've missed a post) I'll have a go but please bear in mind that the response is unscientific, just a personal perception with the usual caveats thrown in.

My age is now 63. Personally I still GENERALLY prefer the VIEW through 42s - and that includes in good daylight. But there is also the business of compromise and reconciling the different features of binoculars. On balance I prefer using 32s in good light despite the foregoing, because they are lighter to carry around. But then again 32s tend to be a lot fiddlier to get right at the ocular end...

I think you have to make your own comparison, weighing up what works for you and what aspect of performance, handling, etc is most important to you.

Others on this forum will have far more experience than I do. This is just my starter for ten.

Tom

Edit/addendum: I nearly missed your mention of UV in this reply. As it happens two of my favourite binoculars are the Ultravid HD Plus 7x42 and 8x32. Luckily the handling of both suits me well. I can't say one is better than the other but they are slightly different. Each is so good though that any possible shortcomings in image quality, real or imagined, can quickly be put aside. They are both tremendously fun to use is my instinctive verdict. Even the bigger glass is pretty compact for a 42, and the 32 is a real jewel if the small size works for you as well as it does for me in handling. A review by Tobias Mennle suggests that the 32 is slightly darker in rendering, bringing with it however an increase in colour saturation. This is not something I'd care to pronounce on myself. The image quality is superb in both. You mentioned of course in the relevant post the 8x42 (not the 7x which I note you own) and the size and weight of that is very close to the 7. I had a pair and once I had cleaned the lenses (back to the original discussion!) they were great too.
 
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Tom,

Outstanding post and well written. Must admit to being prejudiced as I love the UV HD + in 7x42, 10x32 and 10x50. Panning /scanning with the 7 is especially addictive at middle distance. My guess is this is due in part to the wide FOV and excellent DOF. My 7 may be a mechanical cherry in that its focus knob is better than the others and very nearly as good as EDG. It's a definite factor in making the 7 my favorite between the three.
 
Tom,

Outstanding post and well written. Must admit to being prejudiced as I love the UV HD + in 7x42, 10x32 and 10x50. Panning /scanning with the 7 is especially addictive at middle distance. My guess is this is due in part to the wide FOV and excellent DOF. My 7 may be a mechanical cherry in that its focus knob is better than the others and very nearly as good as EDG. It's a definite factor in making the 7 my favorite between the three.

Thank you for the kind comment, MWH. Yes, a lot of us love the 7s for the reasons you mention. And I love the 8x32 UVHD+ as it's just so compact. I wish Leica could produce a little 7x28 UVHD+ in the same size as the 8x32. Funny about your mechanical cherry -- much the same experience with me comparing the 8x42 UVHD non+ that I sold for the outstanding 7x42 UVHD+ I replaced it with. Sadly the 7s are out of fashion despite their many advantages; I wonder if the pendulum will swing the other way at some point.

Tom
 
Tom,

Outstanding post and well written. Must admit to being prejudiced as I love the UV HD + in 7x42, 10x32 and 10x50. Panning /scanning with the 7 is especially addictive at middle distance. My guess is this is due in part to the wide FOV and excellent DOF. My 7 may be a mechanical cherry in that its focus knob is better than the others and very nearly as good as EDG. It's a definite factor in making the 7 my favorite between the three.

Well my 7x42HD+ isn't so fortunate as yours. It's focus knob is nowhere near as smooth as my 8x42 Trinovid (2012-15) and not like my 8x32 EDG.
I had a thought about Leica's decision in using a titanium rod on the UV not being a particularly good idea. While titanium is a great material I would think any weight saving would be negligible on this component with no other advantages over stainless steel plus titanium suffers from galling whereby stainless should perform much more smoothly also considering it's a greaseless system.
 
Well my 7x42HD+ isn't so fortunate as yours. It's focus knob is nowhere near as smooth as my 8x42 Trinovid (2012-15) and not like my 8x32 EDG.
I had a thought about Leica's decision in using a titanium rod on the UV not being a particularly good idea. While titanium is a great material I would think any weight saving would be negligible on this component with no other advantages over stainless steel plus titanium suffers from galling whereby stainless should perform much more smoothly also considering it's a greaseless system.

I don't know whether this is an additional reason or not, but I think titanium expands and contracts less with temperature change than steel. That could give a more consistent performance in temperature extremes.

My 7x42 HD+ has a very good focus wheel, but I agree that the 8x42 Trinovid feels better.
 
I don't know whether this is an additional reason or not, but I think titanium expands and contracts less with temperature change than steel. That could give a more consistent performance in temperature extremes.

My 7x42 HD+ has a very good focus wheel, but I agree that the 8x42 Trinovid feels better.

Who knows? The use of titanium components sounds cool if nothing else.
I'm not sure whether the expansion/contraction thing would come into play at any reasonable operating temps for a pair of binoculars?
I think my 7x42 focus is likely just sample variation more so than the titanium but perhaps a steel rod would run more smoothly given the friction on my sample. It's not a show stopper and is still well usable but the Trinovid is much smoother and requires less force while in comparison to the EDG is a totally different feeling again.
 
So Leica St Honoré very nicely phoned after 10 days to tell me that after-sales see nothing wrong with my UVHD, I asked them to check the watertightness and nitrogen fill before sending them back, given the number of years they might have been in a display case, and to provide a written note to say that they've been checked. They said they would send the factory an email. Let's see how it goes. On the phone Leica are extremely user-friendly and very interactive.


Edmund
 
Edmund,

I hope they return soon and in a nice clean order. The 7x42 is a very nice binocular indeed.
Please let us know how you get on with them upon return.
 
I don't know whether this is an additional reason or not, but I think titanium expands and contracts less with temperature change than steel. That could give a more consistent performance in temperature extremes.

My 7x42 HD+ has a very good focus wheel, but I agree that the 8x42 Trinovid feels better.

Better, yes! But marginally so. That's the price one pays for the perfect central diopter adjustment. Personally, I'll take the slightly less smooth focus for a central adjustment that is the easiest in the market to adjust and stays put when set.
 
That's odd thinking to me - I might use my diopter once a month, if that, while I use my focus hundreds of times a day. I'll take the smooth focus for $100 Alex.

I have 15 bins with all manners of diopters, none of which have any ''movement'' issues, apart from having to make incremental changes once in a blue moon.
 
I have very nice smooth focus on my HD+ and had similar smooth focus action with the 2012 Trinovid I used to own. I haven't had any changes in the 3+ years yet with the HD+ focus thankfully; still working well.

I also got lucky with the Swaro CL I just purchased (old version). It's smoother than the other one I had originally (6 yrs ago). That one had a couple of gritty spots in it.
 
That's odd thinking to me - I might use my diopter once a month, if that, while I use my focus hundreds of times a day. I'll take the smooth focus for $100 Alex.

I have 15 bins with all manners of diopters, none of which have any ''movement'' issues, apart from having to make incremental changes once in a blue moon.

Matter of taste I suppose. We're NOT talking about a focuser that isn't smooth to start with which an UVHD+ IS which is kind of the implication. The Trinovid HD diopter has a tendency to move. Case closed. The EDG diopter is quirky to set. The HT is harder to set than most central diopter adjustments. A step back from the excellent FL. The FL, UV series, and SV are in a class of their own as far as setting the diopter CORRECTLY and easily.

I own both the Trinovid HD AND a couple of UVHD+s so it's a no-brainer comment for me to make as well as many other binoculars of many different makes. Some diopter adjustments don't say put as well as others.
 
Better, yes! But marginally so. That's the price one pays for the perfect central diopter adjustment. Personally, I'll take the slightly less smooth focus for a central adjustment that is the easiest in the market to adjust and stays put when set.

Chuck, I was referring to the 2012-15 Trinovid, not the HD. The difference in the focus compared to the UVHD+ is very marginal, but with the nod to the Trinovid (with the stainless steel instead of the titanium rod). However, I totally agree with you that a central locking diopter that doesn't need constant checking is worth trading a little extra smoothness in the focuser for. One gets used to such small differences (given, as you say, that the focuser is very good), but a diopter which moves is a constant PITA! ;)
 
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