So true, sadly enough.
The binoculars may be optically superb, but who would subject a work of art to daily use/abuse? Yet the glass is just a dust catcher if it is not used.
Not sure what the answer is. When someone does, please post it. o
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Ultravid 8x42 BL? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Hermann
- Start date
So true, sadly enough.
The binoculars may be optically superb, but who would subject a work of art to daily use/abuse? Yet the glass is just a dust catcher if it is not used.
Not sure what the answer is. When someone does, please post it. o
dwever
Well-known member
So true, sadly enough.
The binoculars may be optically superb, but who would subject a work of art to daily use/abuse? Yet the glass is just a dust catcher if it is not used.
Not sure what the answer is. When someone does, please post it. o
The answer is not to confuse a tool with a jewel.
Diamonds can cut glass and it is said that an emerald can open a woman's heart.
These jewels can, therefore, have utility.
Any idea about what a sapphire can do?
Lee
So true, sadly enough.
The binoculars may be optically superb, but who would subject a work of art to daily use/abuse? Yet the glass is just a dust catcher if it is not used.
Not sure what the answer is. When someone does, please post it. o
A "work of art" is a stretch with these. They are fancy Blacklines and Silverlines. They even share the same eye cups.
Are they handsome? Yes. Will they bring compliments to the owner when they are taken on a birding tour? Yes. If that is not their real purpose they are a waste because without the superb optics they are a fraud. The owners ought to be able to proudly state; "These are the finest Ultravids that Leica has made!"
If all they are supposed to do is sit in a glass case and be admired there is really no point in putting the leather coverings on the objective tubes so they will stay tight while under use--like on the Blacklines and the Silverlines.
Under those circumstances looks are the only important quality that they need.
Bob
Well said, a special edition glass ought to be specially good, not merely extra fancy.
It still leaves a gap though, as it just feels wrong to bring a fancy leather covered/gold plated glass out into the grime of routine birding. Sort of like birding dressed in coat and tails, absurd both to do and to watch.
Yet people buy this stuff, so there must be some deeper appeal. Maybe the same impulse that creates demand for $50,000 gold inlaid shotguns?
If I had one I would use it. It isn't a garish binocular at all, in fact it looks like it is made to be used. Understated class describes it best IMO. See the 1st link below.
I won't pay the price asked without getting up to date equivalent optics with it. It costs $1500.00 more than I paid for my Blackline Demo 2 years ago and about $900.00 more than a new Blackline costs.
https://us.leica-camera.com/World-o...ews/Global/2016/Leica-Ultravid-Safari-Edition
Here are 2 good reviews of the Blackline on Eagle Optics. The first one is very interesting--it compliments Leica's servicing of the binocular for replacing the leather covering without being asked to do so.
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binocula...l-binocular-leather?tab=customer_reviews#tabs
Bob
CloseFocus
Well-known member
I wouldn't call a binocular fancy just because it has leather armor, or even because it wasn't black. I prefer the tactile feel of leather over rubber, especially on a hot, muggy or sunny day. And the idea that binoculars have to be either black or green (depending on what brand you're talking about) just goes to show that even birders feel peer pressure to fit in with the crowd.
Well, some of the difference goes to pay for the Aneas canvas+leather case, which is probably very nice (and can be purchased by itself from B&H for about $320).
In some cultures (India), sapphires are considered to bring bad luck (which is why the cameo of M. Night Shyamalan buying his fiancée a sapphire engagement ring in "The Sixth Sense" rings so false).
Makes for very good scratch-resistant covers on Swiss watches and some Leica cameras.
Never underestimate the power of green. I am a middle-aged, far from svelte balding guy, and yet I manage to elicit compliments from random people on the street when I wear my English racing green leather jacket, something that has never happened to me otherwise. Quite unsettling, really. And not even on St Patrick's Day.
As for optical quality, they are state of the art circa 2006. I don't think the improvements made in the last decade, at least by Leica, are earth-shattering.
Continuing my habit of dragging up old threads...
For a while now, I've been looking for a really good copy of a Trinovid BA 8x42 or, preferably, a BN 8x42, but none I've seen have taken my fancy. But, while Googling for reading material about Leica instruments from the last 25 years, I stumbled across a listing for an Ultravid 8x42 BL, which I believe (alongside the BR) was the successor to the Trinovid BN, and has continued with the same pre HD and HD+ optics, not dissimilar to the BA and BN, until it's discontinuation in recent years. Eye relief is listed as 15.5mm, so as a glasses wearer I have no idea if it will fit me, it'll be borderline for sure, but at the right price, I think this could be a fun gamble, and would be intriguing to compare the optical qualities/characteristics of this 20 year old design with current alphas.
Do any members here own/use a BR or BL? And any opinions regarding the available eye relief for glasses wearers?
Thank you! 🙂
For a while now, I've been looking for a really good copy of a Trinovid BA 8x42 or, preferably, a BN 8x42, but none I've seen have taken my fancy. But, while Googling for reading material about Leica instruments from the last 25 years, I stumbled across a listing for an Ultravid 8x42 BL, which I believe (alongside the BR) was the successor to the Trinovid BN, and has continued with the same pre HD and HD+ optics, not dissimilar to the BA and BN, until it's discontinuation in recent years. Eye relief is listed as 15.5mm, so as a glasses wearer I have no idea if it will fit me, it'll be borderline for sure, but at the right price, I think this could be a fun gamble, and would be intriguing to compare the optical qualities/characteristics of this 20 year old design with current alphas.
Do any members here own/use a BR or BL? And any opinions regarding the available eye relief for glasses wearers?
Thank you! 🙂
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That's how I ended up here too. Very nice looking binocular and a match for my favorite Ultravid 8x20BL.
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