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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

I have $2K burning a hole in my pocket what binocular should I buy? (1 Viewer)

I wish UPS would get here. I have to sign for those suckers so it it wasting my day. I guess Eurooptic's thinks there might be some porch thiefs around here.
 
I wish UPS would get here. I have to sign for those suckers so it it wasting my day. I guess Eurooptic's thinks there might be some porch thiefs around here.

UPS are just enhancing your pleasure by building the drama of their delivery with a discrete delay. By the time the brown van arrives you will be in a state of ecstacy of anticipation.

Or madness.

Hope you like them when they arrive.

Lee
 
Dennis, there are porch thieves everywhere, besides most anything sent by a reputable distributor over a set value is sent with signature requirement. As Bill Murray said in stripes "lighten up francis".

A.W.
 
I was waiting for a bin to arrive via UPS yesterday....arrived around 5pm.....just enough time to give them a quick run through but everything seemed alright....looked them over better this morning.....hope yours arrive B4 dark ....
 
According to Holger's analysis of the k factor, the 15x56 might suffer from RBa (rolling ball), the 8x56 might suffer from RBo (rolling bowl), whereas the 10x56 has neither issue.
 
I find the 15x SLC to be much easier and much more fun to use than a spotting scope. For quick ID's I often carry a 2.5x 'doubler' that gives me a 37.5 x 56 telesope.


George

That is what I was thinking after I spent some time with a few others with scopes, I was looking at the Meopta 15X56 and with a doubler a great set up, would also be a nice astro set up in the back yard.

A.W.
 
I find the 15x SLC to be much easier and much more fun to use than a spotting scope. For quick ID's I often carry a 2.5x 'doubler' that gives me a 37.5 x 56 telesope.


George

That is what I was thinking after I spent some time with a few others with scopes, I was looking at the Meopta 15X56 and with a doubler a great set up, would also be a nice astro set up in the back yard.

A.W.

Well, the doubler set up kind of works, but a top class 65 mm spotting scope at 37.5x or 44x (same exit pupil size as 37.5x56) is clearly better: brighter and more contrasty and thus with greater apparent sharpness, especially when light is not so good.

George
 
Well, the doubler set up kind of works, but a top class 65 mm spotting scope at 37.5x or 44x (same exit pupil size as 37.5x56) is clearly better: brighter and more contrasty and thus with greater apparent sharpness, especially when light is not so good.

George
George. What spotting scope do you like?
 
I received the Swarovski SLC HD 8x56 binoculars at about 12 pm so I had time to use them in daylight and at dusk. What a spectacular pair of binoculars. The quality and optics are typical Swarovski perfection. Since I had the Swarovski SV's 10x50 I will compare the two. The SV 10x50 has a couple of advantages that being it is smaller and lighter and it has a slightly bigger AFOV which is flat if you like a flat FOV. For these reasons it has a slightly bigger more immersive view than the SLC. IMO the SLC has many advantages over the SV. It is slightly brighter in daylight and way brighter in low light due to the higher transmission because of the AK prisms and bigger objective. I have never looked through a binocular this bright. In low light it has a "light Intensifier" effect in that the view is actually seems brighter through the binocular than with your own eyes. I have never experienced that before with any binocular. The SLC just walked away from my Canon 10x42 IS-L when it started getting dark. It was no contest. The SLC has much better flare control than the SV also because of better baffling. The SLC has the best flare control I have ever seen. Another strong point of the SLC is CA control. Although the SV is vey good the SLC is better. The SLC controls CA better than any binocular I have tried including the Zeiss FL. I wanted the 8x56 because of the advantages of the 8x magnification including DOF and steady view but I also wanted to see if there is anything to Henry Link's theory that a large aperture moderate magnification binocular like the 8x56 has less axial aberrations. It is hard to describe but the on-axis view of the 8x56 has a clarity and sharpness that exceed any smaller binocular I have used before. It is almost like it is a more relaxed view because you are not fighting any aberrations. Kind of strange. Another advantage of the SLC over the SV is the focus. The focus on the SLC is perfect with NO stiction like the SV I had. Even the 10x50 SV I just tried at Cabella's the other day had stiction and was easier in one direction largely because it is a greaseless focuser. It is weird that the SLC has a perfect focuser and the SV does not or at least the ones I have tried. The new field case on the SLC is nicer than the old one Swarovski used to use. Here is a couple links to reviews on both the SLC and the SV. I highly recommend the SLC. It is an amazing binocular.

https://redirect.viglink.com/?forma...txt=http://scopeviews.co.uk/Swaro10x56SLC.htm
https://redirect.viglink.com/?forma...&txt=http://scopeviews.co.uk/Swaro10x50EL.htm
 
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Enthusiasm for a new bino is nice and long may you enjoy it, but for the SLC to be brighter than the naked eye would need a light transmission of 103-105% minimum, which would be a neat trick even with AK prisms and on the whole seems unlikely.

Lee
 
In low light it has a "light Intensifier" effect in that the view is actually brighter through the binocular than with your own eyes.

Enthusiasm for a new bino is nice and long may you enjoy it, but for the SLC to be brighter than the naked eye would need a light transmission of 103-105% minimum, which would be a neat trick even with AK prisms and on the whole seems unlikely.

Lee

Don't you get that "effect" in low light with bins? I do, looking into a dark forest you see nothing much more than black with the naked eye, but with bins the view lightens up and it appears brighter (and more detailed).
 
Don't you get that "effect" in low light with bins? I do, looking into a dark forest you see nothing much more than black with the naked eye, but with bins the view lightens up and it appears brighter (and more detailed).
Terrific reviews but I am already chuffed with a giant pair of Meoptas and am waiting for a titchy pair as well.

Reckon it might be like the controls of an automatic camera: the effect with the binoculars could be that, when looking into the dark forest, the brain and eye interpret an even dimmer section of the overall prospect; they try harder to perceive greater brightness and contrast, and adjust those 'controls'.

Through binoculars in brighter conditions, the same effect seems also to be present when inspecting a relatively dark section of a view, especially since in those conditions the pupil might have more scope to dilate.

Perhaps the brain is also able to raise or lower the sensitivity of the retina to suit the conditions, which might include the balance between two types of sensitive cells, the rods and cones. The rods respond better to light but the cones respond to its colour.

Not sure how this might be relevant but it is also remarkable how, especially through binoculars, the colours appear to change so quickly with the passage of cloud. It's like looking at a series of paintings of Salibury Cathedral.
 
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Enthusiasm for a new bino is nice and long may you enjoy it, but for the SLC to be brighter than the naked eye would need a light transmission of 103-105% minimum, which would be a neat trick even with AK prisms and on the whole seems unlikely.

Lee


Lol. FAKE NEWS !!! :-O

Dennis does indeed seem to have succumbed to the first flushes of young love ! ...... I wonder though how long it will be before the arguing over the dishes starts !! 3:)



Chosun :gh:
 
Don't you get that "effect" in low light with bins? I do, looking into a dark forest you see nothing much more than black with the naked eye, but with bins the view lightens up and it appears brighter (and more detailed).

I think the "impression" of brightness is very hard to separate from greater resolved detail due to magnification. This is the basis of the Twighlight Factor = sqrt ( magnification * objective diameter ).

For the 8x56 this works out to be 21.2
Relative Brightness is a function of the EP (squared) = 49

I think Dennis's heart might be all aflutter too much to give an objective view ....... o:)



Chosun :gh:
 
Don't you get that "effect" in low light with bins? I do, looking into a dark forest you see nothing much more than black with the naked eye, but with bins the view lightens up and it appears brighter (and more detailed).

HI VB

I don't get the effect as described by Dennis although when surveying for signs of Water Voles and comparing the views of river underbank overhangs through FLs (impenetrable black) with HTs, with the latter I could just make out vague shapes of roots and stones. I put this down to the higher light transmission of HT. But I needed the 8x for this. And I can imagine that with the magnification bringing details out that the naked eye can't see this could be interpreted as brighter than the naked eye. But this can't actually be the case can it?
Light is lost through the bino while the naked eye receives light from a hugely wider angle of reception than the relatively small sample of light captured by the bino.
I did try an FL 8x56 at Bird Fair a few years back and it was on dull and raining day and the brightness was impressive compared with 42s but I wouldn't have said it was brighter than the naked eye.

Lee
 
Don't you get that "effect" in low light with bins? I do, looking into a dark forest you see nothing much more than black with the naked eye, but with bins the view lightens up and it appears brighter (and more detailed).
Exactly. With the 8x56's at dusk last night the view "appeared" brighter through the binoculars looking into the woods. Almost a "light intensifier" effect. I have never noticed that before with any binoculars. Usually the brightness appears the same or dimmer than what I see with my eyes. Even as it got darker and darker I would try my Canon's and then the SLC's and the Canon's were just done and them I would pick up the SLC's and the woods were just lit up. I guess that is why they use an 8x56 for low light owling and hunting and such.
 
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I think the "impression" of brightness is very hard to separate from greater resolved detail due to magnification. This is the basis of the Twighlight Factor = sqrt ( magnification * objective diameter ).

For the 8x56 this works out to be 21.2
Relative Brightness is a function of the EP (squared) = 49

I think Dennis's heart might be all aflutter too much to give an objective view ....... o:)



Chosun :gh:
Chosun. If you don't believe my review believe his. He is a respected reviewer and I don't think his heart is aflutter!

https://redirect.viglink.com/?forma...redirect.viglink.com/?format...ro10x56SLC.htm
 
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