I've given up on the 20-year search for perfection, don't buy binos anymore and have bought and sold far too many. What if you could change just one thing to make a near-perfect bino actually 'perfect', for you?
Here is my list, with the one 'change' I'd have liked:
Nikon EDG 8x42: slightly wider FOV
Swarovski Habicht 8x30: better baffling to suppress awful stray-light
Swarovski SV 8x32: Ditto
Canon IS 10x42: Less weight, and design to fit actual human hands
Swarovski SV 8.5x42: wider FOV
Leica Ultravid UVHD 8x32: Wider FOV
Nikon SE 8x32&10x42: Waterproofing
Nikon EII 8x30&10x35: Ditto
Zeiss Victory TFL 8x32: Slightly different body shape; can't quite explain this one, but my thumb seemed to disappear up inside the underside and I found them a bit hard to hold comfortably.
I realise I am 'picky' to the point of neurosis. Or at least was. Also that there are design considerations of all sorts that involve trade-offs that make ultra-perfection impossible. all of the above would have been more than sufficient for my needs as regards the actual quality of the image (sharpness, rssolution, contrast, colour etc.), even though each had its own 'flavour'. I think the Nikon EDG 8x42_was the closest to 'perfect' for me, but anyway due to other considerations and pressures my bino-buying days are over. It's been fun and educational, though, although I never understood the sciency-bits and just liked to try binos as an 'end-user'.
Any other 'if-only-they-could' observations out there?
Here is my list, with the one 'change' I'd have liked:
Nikon EDG 8x42: slightly wider FOV
Swarovski Habicht 8x30: better baffling to suppress awful stray-light
Swarovski SV 8x32: Ditto
Canon IS 10x42: Less weight, and design to fit actual human hands
Swarovski SV 8.5x42: wider FOV
Leica Ultravid UVHD 8x32: Wider FOV
Nikon SE 8x32&10x42: Waterproofing
Nikon EII 8x30&10x35: Ditto
Zeiss Victory TFL 8x32: Slightly different body shape; can't quite explain this one, but my thumb seemed to disappear up inside the underside and I found them a bit hard to hold comfortably.
I realise I am 'picky' to the point of neurosis. Or at least was. Also that there are design considerations of all sorts that involve trade-offs that make ultra-perfection impossible. all of the above would have been more than sufficient for my needs as regards the actual quality of the image (sharpness, rssolution, contrast, colour etc.), even though each had its own 'flavour'. I think the Nikon EDG 8x42_was the closest to 'perfect' for me, but anyway due to other considerations and pressures my bino-buying days are over. It's been fun and educational, though, although I never understood the sciency-bits and just liked to try binos as an 'end-user'.
Any other 'if-only-they-could' observations out there?
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