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Nikon 8x32mm Premier SE has been discontinued by the manufacturer??? (1 Viewer)

Although they have been discontinued, I wonder how many are left sitting in a warehouse in Japan? <B>

Were this true, Amazon Japan ought to be lit up like a tree like it was recently with 8x30E IIs, but there is nothing. However, if either B & H or Adorama can get a few pair, there may be evidence for your scenario.

What are the five stages of mourning? Denial ...

David
 
Although they have been discontinued, I wonder how many are left sitting in a warehouse in Japan? Got to get rid of that pre-made prism housings inventory that Bob keeps speculating about. :)

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

<B>

It's likely that Nikon used them all up by now and that's why they discontinued them.

Bob
 
The sales numbers for the SE and the EII have to be quite low, and that is
why they are reaching the end of cycle. Some have reported purchasing
from a dealer who wiped the dust to sell one that had sat for 5 plus years.
I have found that myself on 2 different purchases I have made.
There was not a big demand for premium porros.
Nikon's largest seller in the midrange and maybe the leader in the mid market worldwide has been
the Monarch, a very good binocular, priced well, and with the Nikon name which means quality.

The optics lovers on this forum, can know and appreciate the superior optics,
but that is a small number.

Jerry
 
Were this true, Amazon Japan ought to be lit up like a tree like it was recently with 8x30E IIs, but there is nothing. However, if either B & H or Adorama can get a few pair, there may be evidence for your scenario.

What are the five stages of mourning? Denial ...

David

De Nile is a river in Egypt. An 8x32 SE 551xxx was listed for sale a couple months ago, that's a new production run, and if the serial numbers are sequential, which puts the "serial" in serial number, after all, only contrairians would think otherwise, Nikon could have made 999 of them before they decided to pull the plug. You don't start up a production line and make 10 binoculars.

So there's likely a new batch out there somewhere, either in a warehouse or at various "bricks and motar" stores in Japan and Hong Kong. If they don't sell, the stores will probably put them online. I can't imagine the store owners allowing them to stay on the shelves for years in this day and age when they can sell them on eBay or elsewhere if they don't have an online store.

My point was that we don't know how many are left unsold at various stores or that haven't shipped yet for backorders.

I wouldn't take the fact that Amazon Japan doesn't have any for sale right now to mean that Nikon has completely sold out. Amazon USA only deals with one store for SEs - Optics Planet - if they have them, Amazon has them, if they don't, Amazon doesn't.

B&H still lists them on backorder:

B&H Photo

Adorama still has them listed for $749:

Adorama

Clifton Camera in the UK appears to have them in stock:

Clifton Camera

<B>
 
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I just received my pair of 12x50... mostly for astronomy, from B&H today. I have been back ordered on the 10x42's at Adorama for weeks. I hope they get delivered. I already have two pairs of the 8x32. I was worried a few years ago from reading this and other forums about blackouts, but I have been lucky I guess, because I have never experienced it. I am also farsighted and maybe that helps....?
 
I have a pair of 502xxx 8x32 that I bought from a gentleman BF member. They are stunning. I used to have a pair of 550xxx, sold them, so can´t compare. The model I have at the moment is as sharp, clear and bright as SV and EDG equivalents (yes, I have compared them in the field). If you have a pair of SE´s, barricade yourself in the house and fight the bailiffs.
 
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Wow! I haven't checked in with BF in awhile. Figured this thread was just another SE panic. But checking with my sources here in Tokyo and the the death of the SE is TRUE! Could only uncover one 12x50SE left with my usual suspects.


Was also surprised to learn CN forums are MIA now too!
 
I just received my pair of 12x50... mostly for astronomy, from B&H today. I have been back ordered on the 10x42's at Adorama for weeks. I hope they get delivered. I already have two pairs of the 8x32. I was worried a few years ago from reading this and other forums about blackouts, but I have been lucky I guess, because I have never experienced it. I am also farsighted and maybe that helps....?

Does the serial # start with 350? If so, it would be the latest model with Eco-Glass and the latest coatings.

Brock
 
Yes - the serial numbers start with 350. I was worried about the shake but so far they seem easy to use handheld.

Thanks. Now I've just got to come up with $799 before they are all sold!

I can hold them fairly steady for stargazing since I lie in a chair and let the weight rest on my face. For daytime use, I can' them as steady unless I'm looking up high in the trees or for BOP in the sky. If I hold them out straight in front of me, I get shaky images. They also show a good bit of CA even w/out high contrast background such as a hawk against a blue sky. If I keep the bird perfectly centered, no CA, but it's hard to keep a circling bird centered.

Also, unlike the 8x and 10x SE where the balance point is on the prism housings, with the 12x SE, the balance point is on the seam between the prism housing and barrels, so I have to move my hand farther down the bin or keep one hand on a barrel and one on the prism housing.

My favorite astro bins. On a good night, I can see more detail than with a Chinese 15x70, they are that good.

Brock
 
I know what you are saying about the balance point. I have noticed the same thing. I can't wait to use them at night. If I can get a pair of the 10x42, I will be set for awhile buying binoculars......
 
Someone on the Irish 2nd-hand website is adverts.ie selling a pair of Nikon SE 12x50 at a knock-down price, if anyone´s interested. No idea of the seller.
 
A recent vintage 8x32 SE is currently being offered on CNs Shop&Swap site for $475US by a Canadian seller.
Perhaps the SEs will see a new life as sought after second hand items
 
Someone on the Irish 2nd-hand website is adverts.ie selling a pair of Nikon SE 12x50 at a knock-down price, if anyone´s interested. No idea of the seller.

And I can buy a minty one for £360 in the neighbourhood. I'm sorely tempted but don't have the funds, neither have I any real use for it except for to satisfy my curiosity.
 
No wonder your username is SUPPRESSOR! You need a lot of CA suppression if you can see CA in the 8x32 SE, assuming that's the model you're referring to. Even the 10x isn't bad, and I'm sensitive to CA. The 12x50, OTOH, does show noticeable CA while looking at BOP flying overhead and in high contrast situations. But I used the 12x mainly for stargazing where it was a "stellar" performer.

To my eyes, CA in the 8x in the centerfield is not present in most situations, and only noticeable in the 10x against high contrast backgrounds typically found in the winter, but still not bad at all compared to the LX/HGL roofs.

You must have had a hard time with roofs before they started using ED glass. I noticed more CA with non-ED internal focus roofs than porros, which I think is why they added the ED glass to roofs. The internal focuser element is great for sealing out the rain but you pay for it with increased CA. Like so much about roofs, you have to keep making modifications to compensate for their inferiority to porros.

<B>

Well the fact was my pair of 8x32se showed more CA than the 7x42 dialyt I had before them and the 7x42 dialyt I replaced them with.
Still we know how much you like the 8x32 se as you never cease in telling us, though a few days ago you had them up for sale.I thought you had come to your senses,but,alas it was not so!!
suppressor
 
Well the fact was my pair of 8x32se showed more CA than the 7x42 dialyt I had before them and the 7x42 dialyt I replaced them with.
Still we know how much you like the 8x32 se as you never cease in telling us, though a few days ago you had them up for sale.I thought you had come to your senses,but,alas it was not so!!
suppressor

Suppressor,

I don't doubt you, a good quality 7x bin should show less CA than an 8x bin, particularly a long roof (due to the A/B prisms) with no internal focus such as the 7x42 Dialyt .

That's not surprising. I see less CA when comparing the SE against the Nikon 7x35 WF.and the Vixen 7x50 Foresta (though its triplet objective may also be a factor), But in your original post, you just wrote the SE had "CA and lots of it," without qualifying as compared to what. Compared to a Nikon 8x32 HG/L, I think you'd find the SE to be a much better CA SUPPRESSOR.

Even unqualified, I don't doubt what you saw. Perhaps you're used to ED roofs or are more sensitive to CA than even I am, however, if you read reviews of the 8x32 SE, you will find that most reviewers/users find the SE good to very good in controlling CA. It's well made and unlike modern roofs, which have more CA because of their internal focusing elements, the SE doesn't have that problem to overcome. You are the first person I've heard complain about the CA in the 8x SE, so it surprised me. I also couldn't resist goofing on your username since it fit perfectly in the discussion. ;)

I was thinking about what you wrote when I took the 8X SE out on Saturday and was watching at least 50, probably more, crows on a snow covered field. I was looking south, with a treeline at the edge of the field positioned against a bright, cloudy sky.

In the central portion of the FOV, I didn't see any CA on the crows or the trees. About 60%-65% from center, I started noticing CA (purple on one side of the FOV, green on the other). I thought that many bins would be out of focus or certainly souring by 60%-65% out, and that perhaps the reason you see "lots of it" is because you could focus on objects both in the centerfield and edges at the same time, which makes it easy to compare the CA suppression from center to edge.

I then looked at the same scene with my 8x30 EII expecting to see more CA in the same area, but it was close to the same amount at 60%-65% as the SE, BUT I could see much more edge because of the wider FOV so therefore more CA, which worsens the farther I looked off axis. The fall at the edges is gradual so it didn't take much tweaking to get the edges in sharp focus.

In the past, I have written that the EII showed more CA than the SE. Now I realize that's because of the wider FOV not because it shows more CA on axis or up to 65% off axis. So certain features of bins such as field flatteners or wide fields of view can lead one into thinking that there's more CA than there actually is.

As to me deciding not to sell the SE, at least for now, it had nothing to do with "coming to my senses" (that is, I think what you're implying is that I was selling it to buy an ED roof, because the SE has "lots of CA"), but was purely a financial decision, which I mentioned in one of my posts. The reason I changed my mind was because the SE has been discontinued so replacing it later might be difficult and/or costly.

If you see too much CA in the SE, then stay away from the HGL series, it really could use ED glass. Although you have a few users such as Bob who don't see CA, but generally most who have used the Premier/HGL series have reported seeing anywhere from mor than average CA to "lots of CA."

The SE is not everybody's cup of tea for other reasons, the image blackouts probably chief among them, but to me, they still provide the best bang for the buck, the best ergos in an 8x32 (other than the original 8x32 EL, which are equally comfortable to hold), and a better 3-D effect than any 8x30/32 roof I've tried.

So if I never cease in touting them, those are the reasons. I was also hoping that by turning others on to the joys of the SEs and EIIs, that they would buy them, which would encourage Nikon to keep making them, but I see I failed at that mission!

However, unlike some Swaro fanboys who think their bins are perfect, I recognize the limitations or flaws of the SE, EII, HGL, EDG, and other Nikons Ive owned or tested, and I have discussed those shortcomings on BF.

No bin is perfect. There is always something that one user likes that another users abhors, and we are a good example. One reason I like the SE is that to my eyes, it does a good job of controlling CA. I only see it in the most extreme conditions.

So no harm or foul. To quote a famous sailor: I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam.

Brock
 
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Still available here!

Nikon 8 x 30 SE & 10 x 42 SE still available here.
Listed as in stock at £ 479.00 for the 8 x 32

cliftoncameras.co.uk
 
Suppressor,

I don't doubt you, a good quality 7x bin should show less CA than an 8x bin, particularly a long roof (due to the A/B

-------------------- Perhaps you're used to ED roofs or are more sensitive to CA than even I am, however, if you read reviews of the 8x32 SE, you will find that most reviewers/users find the SE good to very good in controlling CA. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you see too much CA in the SE, then stay away from the HGL series, it really could use ED glass. Although you have a few users such as Bob who don't see CA, but generally most who have used the Premier/HGL series have reported seeing anywhere from mor than average CA to "lots of CA."

-----------------------------

Brock

Wow! "a few users such as Bob who don't see CA,.............."

It's hard to tell how many people this affects because those who don't see it have no reason to comment on it.

If they are like me they can see an insignificant thin purple line along the top edges of mountain ridges and the same with an insignificant green line just below the top of the ridge, but that's about it and that is normal AFAIK and it doesn't bother me. In fact I don't even see that it unless I look for it. I can't see it on the denuded branches of trees in winter or on crows in snow. But then I'm not looking for it either.

I don't have any idea how many people are like me but I'll bet most of them don't write about it.


Bob
 
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Wow! "a few users such as Bob who don't see CA,.............."

It's hard to tell how many people this affects because those who don't see it have no reason to comment on it.

If they are like me they can see an insignificant thin purple line along the top edges of mountain ridges and the same with an insignificant green line just below the top of the ridge, but that's about it and that is normal AFAIK and it doesn't bother me. In fact I don't even see that it unless I look for it. I can't see it on the denuded branches of trees in winter or on crows in snow. But then I'm not looking for it either.

I don't have any idea how many people are like me but I'll bet most of them don't write about it.

Bob

Bob,

After you were born, they broke the mold. ;)

I was mainly referring to you not being bothered by the CA in the 10x32 HGL. If you can tolerate that much CA, you have a high tolerance for it.

<B>
 
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