black crow
Well-known member
I wouldn't want to own just one brand of binos. It's one reason I ordered the Ultravid to go along with the purchase of the Swaro. I really have no brand loyalty and buy from Celestron to Swaro with total abandon lol.
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Ordered Leica Noctivid 8x42 - a mistake..? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter The Kingfisher
- Start date
dries1
Member
BC,
I was just speaking generally, no one specific. Perhaps I should have said is that once in a while a premier glass maker produces a glass that stands out, but all the glass they make are not perfect, for some folks it does not matter, their brand is the best, period. Additionally the asking prices for new premier glass are a rip IMO.
Swarovski came out with the 8.5X42, IMO their best glass, their EL 10X50 is great also.
To me if looking at the Nikon SE 8X32, IMO the best 8X32 Nikon ever made, but is a porro, and some folks don't like the porro design. While I like the EDG line, the 10X42 is my opinion clearly the best, followed by the 8X42.
The SE 10X42 shows resolution at distance better than any of my 10X glass during the day, even my Leica 10X50 UV HD+ which is a great glass in of it self.
Not a bad glass for a 1/3 less than a premium glass.
I also have a few FL series from Zeiss, and am thoroughly impressed at their performance for the price offered today, much less than premium prices.
At the highest level of optics offered today, it is truly like splitting hair with an axe, now if they could split some of those prices with an ax, like Meopta that would be nice.
Andy W.
I was just speaking generally, no one specific. Perhaps I should have said is that once in a while a premier glass maker produces a glass that stands out, but all the glass they make are not perfect, for some folks it does not matter, their brand is the best, period. Additionally the asking prices for new premier glass are a rip IMO.
Swarovski came out with the 8.5X42, IMO their best glass, their EL 10X50 is great also.
To me if looking at the Nikon SE 8X32, IMO the best 8X32 Nikon ever made, but is a porro, and some folks don't like the porro design. While I like the EDG line, the 10X42 is my opinion clearly the best, followed by the 8X42.
The SE 10X42 shows resolution at distance better than any of my 10X glass during the day, even my Leica 10X50 UV HD+ which is a great glass in of it self.
Not a bad glass for a 1/3 less than a premium glass.
I also have a few FL series from Zeiss, and am thoroughly impressed at their performance for the price offered today, much less than premium prices.
At the highest level of optics offered today, it is truly like splitting hair with an axe, now if they could split some of those prices with an ax, like Meopta that would be nice.
Andy W.
black crow
Well-known member
I see nothing to disagree with there.:t:
I honestly doubt Zeiss (for instance) could make something to the same price as a Meopta that was appreciably better optically. Or, if Meopta attempted to make an alpha level product it would most likely end up priced not too far off the competition. Prices of new alphas today seem (and no doubt for most of us are) high, but money doesn't go as far as it used to - I was reminded of this recently when booking tickets that I could swear cost a third more for the same route than they did just four or five years ago - and I think some comparisons have been made that show the prices of top binoculars back in the day, inflation adjusted and compared to the average wage, were pretty hefty.
black crow
Well-known member
In 1971 I used to attend rock concerts for an average of $2-5 and I saw some pretty big names. I just found this headline about Stones tickets.
At $144 you better have some decent 10x binoculars with you.
At $144 you better have some decent 10x binoculars with you.
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They had a decent 10x Binocular at this Concert featuring Sting at DAR Constitution Hall in October 2011. Scroll down a couple of inches to see pictures of him taken through a Leica 10x42 with a small camera. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.
http://www.company7.com/leica/index.html
Bob
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black crow
Well-known member
Nice, I worked for TicketMaster in Seattle. We got leftover passes for a lot of concerts. I saw Sting back in about 89.
Gijs van Ginkel
Well-known member
Pileatus, post 38 and Black Crow post 39,
I hope that you are aware that taking test reports of Allbinos and Tobias Mennle with a block of salt may be life threatening, since medical studies have shown over and over that too much salt damages your blood pressure and your kidneys. Especially that last mentioned phenomenon will hamper your observation pleasure, since it causes to fill your bladder frequently and a lot and that may disturb the lenght of your observation time and it will limit the number of places where you can look for birds and wildlife.
Gijs van Ginkel
I hope that you are aware that taking test reports of Allbinos and Tobias Mennle with a block of salt may be life threatening, since medical studies have shown over and over that too much salt damages your blood pressure and your kidneys. Especially that last mentioned phenomenon will hamper your observation pleasure, since it causes to fill your bladder frequently and a lot and that may disturb the lenght of your observation time and it will limit the number of places where you can look for birds and wildlife.
Gijs van Ginkel
The Kingfisher
Well-known member
I have now had my Leica Noctivid 8x42 for some days and I begin to love it! 
I still prefer the very flat view of the Nikon EDG, but the view from the Noctivid is very nice too. The whole package is incredible good!
Ok, in some situations it shows a little bit to much CA and it is not the sharpest off-axis. But a 100 % perfect binocular is not possible to find anywhere on this planet. And the shortcomings it has are not too bad, I think. On the other hand it:
- is nice to hold (good balance and grip)
- is very well built
- has a great focus wheel with rather smooth action
- has a perfect diopter
- is great to use with glasses (much ER)
- is very bright
- is sharp/crispy
- is comfortable (I can not understand that I had issues with eye placement the first day I tried it)
- has natural colors
- has high contrast
- is very very good in backlight
- has great objective covers
- has a simple but stylish look
- has no rolling ball
After some days of use the view also feels more natural to me. I am really happy that I decided to keep it!
I still prefer the very flat view of the Nikon EDG, but the view from the Noctivid is very nice too. The whole package is incredible good!
Ok, in some situations it shows a little bit to much CA and it is not the sharpest off-axis. But a 100 % perfect binocular is not possible to find anywhere on this planet. And the shortcomings it has are not too bad, I think. On the other hand it:
- is nice to hold (good balance and grip)
- is very well built
- has a great focus wheel with rather smooth action
- has a perfect diopter
- is great to use with glasses (much ER)
- is very bright
- is sharp/crispy
- is comfortable (I can not understand that I had issues with eye placement the first day I tried it)
- has natural colors
- has high contrast
- is very very good in backlight
- has great objective covers
- has a simple but stylish look
- has no rolling ball
After some days of use the view also feels more natural to me. I am really happy that I decided to keep it!
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Tobias does a very nice job and freely admits subjectivity and sample variation.
black crow
Well-known member
I have now had my Leica Noctivid 8x42 for some days and I begin to love it!
I still prefer the very flat view of the Nikon EDG, but the view from the Noctivid is very nice too. The whole package is incredible good!
Ok, in some situations it shows a little bit to much CA and it is not the sharpest off-axis. But a 100 % perfect binocular is not possible to find anywhere on this planet. And the shortcomings it has are not too bad, I think. On the other hand it:
- is nice to hold (good balance and grip)
- is very well built
- has a great focus wheel with rather smooth action
- has a perfect diopter
- is great to use with glasses (much ER)
- is very bright
- is sharp/crispy
- is comfortable (I can not understand that I had issues with eye placement the first day I tried it)
- has natural colors
- has high contrast
- is very very good in backlight
- has great objective covers
- has a simple but stylish look
- has no rolling ball
After some days of use the view also feels more natural to me. I am really happy that I decided to keep it!
I have found over and over that my first impressions are usually my least reliable impressions. In fact the only time I can think of that that was not the case was with the Nikon 8x and 10x EII. I knew from minute one they were good and nothing has changed in the least over time. Every other time I usually found to one degree or another than my emotions and expetations were distorting my evaluations.
The Kingfisher
Well-known member
After have used the EDG for 15 minutes I got issues again with eye placement with the Noctivid. I don't know what it is, but sometimes the Noctivids optics feels brilliant and other times it feels like I am looking thrue some cheap junk! Strange.... |8.|
When I look at the Noctivids exit pupils they are not perfectly round. In what way does it affect the optical quality in practice?
I think the word "truncated" is the word to use in my case.
When I look at the Noctivids exit pupils they are not perfectly round. In what way does it affect the optical quality in practice?
I think the word "truncated" is the word to use in my case.
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black crow
Well-known member
That's not good IMO. I wouldn't hang on to a binocular that is hard to look though. I have the same issue with my Meopro and I've learned my lesson. If the 10x Ultravid I just ordered has these issues it's going right back. I don't want to have to work at looking through binoculars. Especially when I'm paying for alpha quality.
Take great care to make sure you are looking absolutely perfectly on the optical axis when assessing the shape of the exit pupils. A couple of degrees off can mean the EPs look oval even if they are not.
Lee
The Kingfisher
Well-known member
In my Noctivid I can see something like this in both exit pupils (two in the left exit pupil and two in the right exit pupil).
Attachments
OK that is not provoked by looking off-axis. Something is cutting off part of the field of view.
Lee
See Henry's post 64. This could be due to looking off-axis.
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The Kingfisher
Well-known member
It is not that bad as the picture I posted shows, but something makes the exit pupils slightly angular in its shape. Especially the left one. In my Nikon EDG I can't see that. Does it matter in practice if the exit pupils are not absolute perfect round?
I have experimented more with the eye cups, and it seems that it is the extreme long ER which is the problem for me. I use glasses, but if I extend the eye cups 3 (and some more) clicks it seems to be easier for me to look through the binocular.
I will not resend it to the dealer yet because I will give it one more chance before I do that...
Until I got my current prescription glasses I was ok with all binos with the eyecups fully down. Since getting these I need the eyecups lifted somewhat. Very few binos of any brand or model have click-stops in the right place for me so I slip rubber-orings over the eyecup and down its body so that it maintains the eyecup about 3mm above fully screwed down and this works on all models so far and I can still see the full field of view.
Lee
The Kingfisher
Well-known member
The Kingfisher
Well-known member
The Leica Noctivid is a fine binocular, but to my eyes the EDG has the better optics of the two. To me birds just pops out clear and nice when whatching them with the EDG. The Noctivid is a tiny bit sharper than the EDG when comparing them closely and it should have more 3D in it's view, but still I see birds better with the EDG. I am an idiot if I spend $3030 on a binocular that I think is not as good as the one I already have. Instead it is smarter to let Nikon take a look at the diopter once more and see if they can fix the issue permanently. I doubt that, but it may be worth a try at least!
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