PeterPS
Well-Known Member
*Look/build quality*
Well built, stylish bin. Made in Japan. Very clean tube interior. Rubber armor with different texturing to assist with hand grip. Magnesium body, aluminum eyecup tubes, hydrophobic coatings.
*Accessories*
Good rubber rainguard, very good wide and well-padded neck strap, stylish hard clam-shell case (somewhat similar to the one that comes with the SF), plastic caps for the objective lenses.
*Mechanics*
The hinge has the right tension, the eyecups stay in place and have an intermediate stop, the focus wheel is large, has a rubber surface with good friction (it should be fine even when used with gloves) and it moves smoothly without any play. Focusing direction: CCW to infinity. From close focus to infinity: about 1.6 turns. The dioptric compensation knob works like for the SV and SF by pulling the focus wheel, adjusting, and then pushing it back: it adjusts the diopters in small steps with clicks.
*Handling*
The HD feels very well in the hand, it is well balanced, it does not feel heavy at all, and can be held in a stable way to eliminate tremor (the view through the HD appears to be as stable as the one through the SF); the rubber armor is non-tacky and of very good quality. Without glasses and with the eyecups fully extended I can see the entire FoV without any blackouts.
*Optics*
CA is well controlled and is a non-issue (there is some CA close to the edge of the FoV, but it's not disturbing at all---it consists of a pale green, almost yellowish fringe, not the strong green seen in other bins). Pincushion distortion is minimal---despite this I have not noticed any RB effect. The on-axis resolution is excellent (on a par with the very best). The sweet spot is large and the blur at the edge of the FoV, due to field curvature, is minimal. The star test showed that both astigmatism and coma distortions are well controlled. On the other hand, glare control is only average---the lower part of the FoV gets a whitish haze when one views close to the sun (similar to the SV 8x32).
*Conclusion*
There is hardly anything not to like about the HD. However if there is one thing that I must mention I would say that glare control should be improved, at least at the level of the EDG (the NV glare control being the ideal).
Peter
Well built, stylish bin. Made in Japan. Very clean tube interior. Rubber armor with different texturing to assist with hand grip. Magnesium body, aluminum eyecup tubes, hydrophobic coatings.
*Accessories*
Good rubber rainguard, very good wide and well-padded neck strap, stylish hard clam-shell case (somewhat similar to the one that comes with the SF), plastic caps for the objective lenses.
*Mechanics*
The hinge has the right tension, the eyecups stay in place and have an intermediate stop, the focus wheel is large, has a rubber surface with good friction (it should be fine even when used with gloves) and it moves smoothly without any play. Focusing direction: CCW to infinity. From close focus to infinity: about 1.6 turns. The dioptric compensation knob works like for the SV and SF by pulling the focus wheel, adjusting, and then pushing it back: it adjusts the diopters in small steps with clicks.
*Handling*
The HD feels very well in the hand, it is well balanced, it does not feel heavy at all, and can be held in a stable way to eliminate tremor (the view through the HD appears to be as stable as the one through the SF); the rubber armor is non-tacky and of very good quality. Without glasses and with the eyecups fully extended I can see the entire FoV without any blackouts.
*Optics*
CA is well controlled and is a non-issue (there is some CA close to the edge of the FoV, but it's not disturbing at all---it consists of a pale green, almost yellowish fringe, not the strong green seen in other bins). Pincushion distortion is minimal---despite this I have not noticed any RB effect. The on-axis resolution is excellent (on a par with the very best). The sweet spot is large and the blur at the edge of the FoV, due to field curvature, is minimal. The star test showed that both astigmatism and coma distortions are well controlled. On the other hand, glare control is only average---the lower part of the FoV gets a whitish haze when one views close to the sun (similar to the SV 8x32).
*Conclusion*
There is hardly anything not to like about the HD. However if there is one thing that I must mention I would say that glare control should be improved, at least at the level of the EDG (the NV glare control being the ideal).
Peter
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