Mike F
Well-known member
John, you’re absolutely correct about both the HD and HD+ boxes just saying HD, but I think the model numbers should be different. Worth checking perhaps?
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Update on Ultravid 8x32 HD Saga (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter johnhub
- Start date
John, you’re absolutely correct about both the HD and HD+ boxes just saying HD, but I think the model numbers should be different. Worth checking perhaps?
Attached photos of the data on the two boxes:
Googling the barcodes gives the following results:
https://www.forssanasejaretkeily.fi/tuote/leica-ultravid-8x32-hd-olive-green/4022243400801/
https://www.cameraelectronic.com.au/leica-8x32-ultravid-hdplus-binocular
It's pretty clear that the green bins are 'regular' HD and the black ones are HD+
Attachments
Mike F
Well-known member
Thanks, John. Sorry to put you to the trouble of getting up in the loft! That confirms what they were originally though. So, the only logical answer is that you did indeed do a spot of painting in your sleep! You don’t have any suspicions small tins of partly used red paint around the house, do you?
No worries, Michael - it was bugging me and I had to take some other boxes up there anyway!
I was starting to worry that my HD+ might have been 'painted in', as the red HD paint marks on the two binoculars do look identical. Happily, the product code proves that my HD+ is genuine!
No, because the ring carries the serial number.
SUPPRESSOR
Well-known member
John,
Is there a difference in the quality of the view. In the past I have owned both the HD and HD+ not at the same time though.
Pete.
SeldomPerched
Well-known member
A further occasional source of being misled: rare I expect but I have a silver chrome Leica camera that was supplied new in the box labelled for the black model. Each has a different model number. Though I don't think that sort of mistake could happen between the models you are comparing, but bear it in mind for any occasion where that could be the answer!
Tom
Hey Pete, as you can imagine, I've had a lot of time to evaluate them side by side. The views are almost indistinguishable. One thing I can definitely say though, is that to my eyes the HD+ has a TINY extra turn of sharpness. This, of course, could just be sample variation. Both are stunning though, of course.
As I understand it, the only difference between the two is that the HD+ has Schott HT prisms (don't know what the HDs have). Would that really make a perceptible difference?
On one of my several visits to Wetzlar, I asked what the differences were between the HD and HD+. The guy I spoke to asked around, and said no one there at the time could answer the question. Leica moves in mysterious ways!
Cheers
John
I used to think that Leica was the pinnacle of German efficiency, technology and engineering. My own experiences, and anecdotes from other people have seriously shaken my faith in them. Not that I'm saying Zeiss and Swarovski are necessarily any better.
Seems like many companies in all industries are suffering a bit on quality control . Maybe to eek out more profit, or just lack of caring, not sure.... But from what I do gather from you and and I have learned is to personally check all binoculars (any brand). I know from the Ultravids I recently asked three stores to check their stock for one that had a smooth focus wheel and none of them could fine any in stock that did. Sad to see on from what I consider to be a great in option.
SeldomPerched
Well-known member
Have patience with me for mentioning cameras again.. I would just say my own experiences from when Leica had a British base (Milton Keynes) in the 1990s was a bit taxing: it all depended who you got to deal with. Some staff were very professional and helpful, including the man who did repairs, realignment of rangerfinder mechanisms etc; one person on the other hand rather tended to stonewall and as a result, probably unintentionally, come over as very obstructive and unhelpful.
My personal impression is that things are now generally better. But I have to say the best item I have ever had from Leica was made in the late 1950s; the engineering still felt stunning when I bought it in the late 1990s!
Obviously this may have no connection with binoculars: all I'm saying is that QA problems are not new. My first Leica, bought in 1991, had a jammed wind-on mechanism after ten days but was at least very swiftly replaced with another new unit under warranty and with servicing every seven years still does its job with no complaints from me.
I can see why Swarovski are so popular though, but no doubt there are members here who have even had the occasional horror story there too. I suppose it's a law of physics that everything tends to chaos and decay (including the continued existence of close focus on certain Swa. models)!
Tom
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SeldomPerched
Well-known member
Could it be in some cases - if Zeiss is also in your thoughts, as with John above - that it's due to reorganization and resiting of service points, with consequent need to recruit and train new staff? I think that was what was mentioned a while back regarding US Zeiss service stations/facilities.
Tom
Mike F
Well-known member
Tom,
I think the other thing to bear in mind is that in the days before internet forums, and indeed the internet itself, it simply wasn't possible to publicly report an issue of any kind. If you bought a camera, lens, binocular, or in fact anything and there was something wrong you simply had to take it back to the dealer/shop where you'd bought it. Generally, actual (as opposed to internet) retailers selling such specialist products were keen to build and maintain a customer base so after sales service was personal and generally excellent. Problems were sorted and nobody thought too much of it.
I feel that we've become victims of our collective desire for the lowest prices, made possible by international sales via the internet. Personal after sales service goes out of the window to a large extent when you cannot go back with the product and have a face to face conversation with the person that you bought it from. Then we resort to sharing our issues online to get the friendly personal advice that we want and need and then the issue is there for all the world to see. I'm not convinced that the actual products are any worse than they ever were, it's just that the problems are out in the open.
Of course, the above is a generalisation. I've had excellent after sales service from dealers whose doors I've never walked through (although things were still much more difficult than they would have been if I could have done so) and I know a lot of people still DO buy from physical shops and dealers, and long may that continue, but nonetheless I think the internet can have negative effects on our buying and after sales experiences, as well as the obvious good ones.
I think the other thing to bear in mind is that in the days before internet forums, and indeed the internet itself, it simply wasn't possible to publicly report an issue of any kind. If you bought a camera, lens, binocular, or in fact anything and there was something wrong you simply had to take it back to the dealer/shop where you'd bought it. Generally, actual (as opposed to internet) retailers selling such specialist products were keen to build and maintain a customer base so after sales service was personal and generally excellent. Problems were sorted and nobody thought too much of it.
I feel that we've become victims of our collective desire for the lowest prices, made possible by international sales via the internet. Personal after sales service goes out of the window to a large extent when you cannot go back with the product and have a face to face conversation with the person that you bought it from. Then we resort to sharing our issues online to get the friendly personal advice that we want and need and then the issue is there for all the world to see. I'm not convinced that the actual products are any worse than they ever were, it's just that the problems are out in the open.
Of course, the above is a generalisation. I've had excellent after sales service from dealers whose doors I've never walked through (although things were still much more difficult than they would have been if I could have done so) and I know a lot of people still DO buy from physical shops and dealers, and long may that continue, but nonetheless I think the internet can have negative effects on our buying and after sales experiences, as well as the obvious good ones.
Do you think as 'consumer's...we are now more demanding, ...more aware of standards and specs, more aware of what something 'should' be? And with that awareness comes a 'micro-analyzation' of binoculars, and all optics in general?
If you would have taken a typical optic from the 1960's....or 70's, would they have survived the analysis we bestow upon them today?
If you would have taken a typical optic from the 1960's....or 70's, would they have survived the analysis we bestow upon them today?
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