No! It’s ironic timing for me to address this as I’m having to use range finding bins in Alaska so much I’m not using my NVD’s since of course they don’t give distance and angle. But no, I would not go back. The NVD’s stand atop anything Leica has produced in optical performance, industrial design and manufacturing quality control. The one caveat might be for someone who wears XS or S gloves. I take XL gloves, and the ergonomics are great.
Having spent the last week or so in Sportsman’s Warehouse in Alaska picking out an RF alpha binocular (I bought the new Zeiss for the combination of superior optics and electronics), I was reminded in the non-ranging optics case just how marvelous the NVD is among the alphas, particularly in the 8x NVD’s I bought from Eagle.
But more than that, I spent considerable time in Africa with trade show demos and one new version of the 7x42, 8X42, and 10x50 all in UVHD+ that I bought from Gr8ful Doug at NY Camera. The 8X had some focus slop and Doug swapped them out, the 2nd pair were great. The 10X worked fine but the feel of the wheel acted different focusing in close than it did focusing out far. No two UVHD+’s acted the same at the wheel, but all worked, and I had four (remember the old threads on all that, especially the slop?). Not so with the NVD. You can’t find the 8x NVD in Alaska, but the NVD 10’s are in most stores that you can find EL’s, and all the NVD’s act the same without slop at the wheel so far. . . “
Focusing is about perfect.”
I’ve given considerable use to the three HD+, and while I was particularly pleased optically with the 7x and 10x in the UVHD+, wow, neither could stand optically to the NVD. Throw in industrial design and manufacturing QC, and the NVD stands even taller. They focus the same at -25 F Salcha, AK as they do at 103 F at midnight in the UAE.
I’m a little taken a back at the change in some users. One month extolling the praises of your NVD’s and now you’re not using them so much? Here’s hoping for an RF NVD.
. . . The more I use the Noctivids the more I like them. Focusing is about perfect. I know there have been some grumblngs concerning handling/design/etc. I am finding no such problems. Going between the UVHD+ to the NV can only be described as second nature. I don't even think about where/how to hold/finger placement/focusing/etc....it just happens, but I'll admit I'm pretty adaptable where binoculars are concerned. A lot has also been said about the weight of the NV. I thought to myself more than once that it felt lighter than the specs indicate. So I AGAIN weighed the NV- 31.5oz(with objective covers) AND the UVHD+ 27.5oz(with objective covers). So four ounces heavier...that's not much. The view...love it. The FOV seems larger than the specs indicate...seriously it does. It's at LEAST as nice as anything else I have. Summer tanagers sure are easy to spot! HAHA! ...but so are yellow breasted chats(you owe it to yourself to LISTEN to this birds SONG if you never have!), orchard orioles, prothonotary warblers, etc, etc.
Overall....I'd certainly re-buy!
“The eyecups are probably the best in the business. Focus adjustment is pretty much class leading as are objective covers and eye relief.”
L to R 10x and 8x UVHD+ Alabama, 7xUVHD+ Robben Island South Africa, 8x NVD’s Wasilla, AK, driving DarEsSalaam to Mbeya.