Opinion on buying 8x30 E II from Japan seller on amazon? (1 Viewer)

I think you will love them. The first five minutes of use convinced me I had a unique binocular in hand. I have experience with roof alphas and this was a different experience. Hard to describe until you look at that first tiny wildflower or tree bud. The 3d effect is dramatic and for me the center view was tack sharp. That wide fov is also a treat. Please tell us how you like them.

Just got them. Opened the packaged and played with them for a few minutes. Quality wise, they feel very solid. I was most concerned with Eye Relief, but when I put them to my face, it was certainly not an issue, and what a view! The wide field of view was truly remarkable. It seemed like the whole view was right in front of me. I picked up my older 8x42 to compare and it was like looking through a tunnel. Regarding the "3D": The depth of field was something I have only seen when I played with Fujinon 7x50 and 10x50's. With wide-set objectives, the porro's offer a true stereoscopic view and this binocular can certainly deliver better than any roof I have tried. I would like to compare these side by side with a noctovid which I hear has good depth as well - there is a leica store in my city where the staff is always accommodating for my casual drop-ins to compare optics. Back to the EII's - I have not yet gone out with them to the woods - I just started looking out my window, so my opinion should mean very little - but they are certainly bright, clear, and sharp. Its quite possibly the most unique view I have experienced looking through binoculars. These are certainly a keeper, but.... like you, black crow, I want the best of the best. I am fully aware of the Habicht 8x30 and they are screaming my name as well. In all honesty, I ordered the EII's because they were affordable, fullfilled by amazon prime to make returns easier, and I wanted to try these porro's out first to make sure I even like them before scrounging up resources for the swaro's. I am sure the more I use these EII's, the more I will love them: Brightness and colors are wonderful, and they are very comfortable which is another big part. What scares me about the swaro's is the smaller eye relief. The EIIs are JUST right; I am afraid that any less would mean trouble. So therefore, black crow, because you will have experience with both. Please let me know how "comfortable" the swaro's are and if the view actually makes looking through the EII, "depressing". I have grown to enjoy yours and others' passionate reviews of these fine optics.

I'm glad to hear your experience seems to be turning out like mine. I've been hiking all day with mine and just returned home to find your experiences. First off I want to say you can find the Habicht on Amazon. There is a seller there that has most of the models of that bin. 8x40 and 7x42 also and there may be others. Second don't wait on my review because it may be awhile in coming. I have too many 8x lol, so I made a deal with myself that I couldn't have them until I'd sold off $750 of toys I'm not using. Once I get moving it shouldn't take long but I'm lazy and don't need the money. However if anything actually will motivate me to move out some stuff I'm not using the the Habicht would be that thing. So we shall see who gets to do the first review.

I'm really happy you like them. I look forward to hearing more from you.

Went a nice hike in the woods north of Boston with the EII's around my neck. First off, after 6 miles, I still could not feel them. At 20 oz, they are just light enough. The strap it comes with does a nice comfortable job holding them on, but ultimately a harness would do the best job to keep them from dangling around. Ergonomically, these are really perfect. The "short" stature is just long enough for me to hold them with my pinky's pointing up and out (a gentleman's binocular indeed). The wide set objectives offers a little more stability when I hold them (some of the roofs can get too narrow and fingers end up inter-twining). I had the eye piece cover mounted on both sides to the straps so when I put the optic to my face, the cover would be right under my mouth and any breath I took would easily fog up the eye pieces; easy fix - keep the eye piece cover hooked onto one strap only. And now onto the view - I believe it; short of rainy days, these are certainly my grab-and-go binoculars. Easy to to just put up to your face and enjoy the view. I am now a firm believer of wide field of view; its just really nice looking through binoculars and not feeling like you're looking through a tunnel zoomed in. The woods just opened up to me. I won't waste time talking about brightness, contrast, colors, etc... because I have no clue what I'm talking about - but these are just as good as my Meostar's, if not better. The image was certainly bright, full of color and sharp. I looked hard for any aberrations and could only appreciate a slither of it in the most difficult situation - a white feather on a mallard swimming on a blue lake under a bright sun. Essentially non-existent. What I do want to talk a little more about is the depth of field. This is unique to porro glass. With my other roofs, I felt like I had to re-focus constantly, to appreciate every twig in a bush; with these - everything is immediately in focus and clear - spotted a few hidden robins in the shrub easily with ease. A true treat was when I saw a northern cardinal - Once I focused in on it - I just followed it flying around from branch to branch through the EII's and didn't have to refocus - very cool! (Most of my optics were used for astronomy; I am just getting into birding so I had to look up what I saw when I got home, I can see the appeal to this hobby!). Whatever I saw through the naked eye immediately became 8x closer with these - its really easy to find what you were looking at because of the field of view. A note on the focus wheel - very smooth, easy to focus with one index finger, even when I wore a leather glove. Overall, it was a great day and I feel very happy with these EII's. The real bummer once again with these is the lack of weather-proofing, but otherwise these are a great tool for anyone interested in getting a closer look at the great outdoors.

Great review and experience, Sam! I agree with all the positive EII attributes you describe well, including your only one stated negative...weather proofing.

If Nikon ever came out with a water resistant\proof EIII, I'd be all over it with the cash! :t:

Ted

I second that. What a great optic to own. I'm feel very glad for you. I feel very lucky that BlueSpiderweb pushed me in that direction and later Bill backed it. I'm hooked and looking forward to the delivery of the 10x next week.

Theo98 said:

Post #19! :t:

HERE's the Nikon Sports Warranty page!

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Well I'm not so sure anymore that these bought from amazon won't have to be serviced in Japan? I'm not sure they won't have a 1 year warranty from Japan. These could be gray market and I've sent emails to the sellers asking. The 10x I bought on Amazon looks like it will have to be?

Nikon Sports Warranty - EII Correction!

black crow said:

Well I'm not so sure anymore that these bought from amazon won't have to be serviced in Japan? I'm not sure they won't have a 1 year warranty from Japan. These could be gray market and I've sent emails to the sellers asking. The 10x I bought on Amazon looks like it will have to be?

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John,

I just spent 30 minutes this morning speaking to the US Nikon Sports Optics division that handles their binocular line up. For the past 4 weeks, a third "service technician" stated a purchase in the US would fall under their no-fault warranty. I continued to ask detailed questions and the tech kept putting me on hold for answers. Finally (after much prodding), they found the EII in their Sports Optic Line-up and could only now verify that if\when service might be needed, a copy of the receipt would be required and since the EII is no longer serviceable in the US, their policy is to replace the EII with a Nikon M7 8X30. If an Amazon purchase is a Gray Market item, then their customer service would determine the next course of action!?? :-C

My previous statement about the EIIs general NSO warranty in post #19 is Incorrect, and I apologize to you and anyone who took "my hasty findings" as absolute facts (made a purchase myself!). I was excited about their long-term backing by Nikon and my original upbeat intentions became misleading...I have to learn to ask a lot more of the "What-If" questions!

The only consolation (and it might be a good one), are not only the many positive reports for their optical performances, attributes and joys of ownership (as you have Clearly Seen), but also of the EIIs quality build and long lasting functional usage and operation that many users have reported here on BF and other equipment forums.

Again, sorry for the confusion...

Ted

Thanks for posting that. You did what you thought was correct and mistakes are part and parcel of life on earth it seems. Plus it's always up to the buyer to double check information. I'm not surprised you got two or more stories from Nikon. This is the state of the industry today in my experience. I'm glad I have them and I'll be glad I bought that second pair if anything ever goes wrong with the first. On Wed, it looks like I'll have the 10x also. I expect them to last out my lifetime warranty or no. And if no it's not going to cause me any loss of sleep. I'll just be extra careful to keep them out of the rain.:t:

I would not send my Nikon E2s into Nikon for repairs even if I still had the sales slips. I do have one for my 10x35 E2 which is a Refurb and only has a 90 day warranty. I don't want them exchanged for an "equivalent" binocular.:eek!:

I would send them to Suddarth Optical Repair.

Bob

That is the versatile offer of the porro, it is a simpler instrument than the roof, and if flooded or go out of collimation, it can be cleaned and repaired by qualified experts here in the US. As Bob has stated Suddarth Optical is a very good option for optical repair.

Andy W.

ceasar said:

I would not send my Nikon E2s into Nikon for repairs even if I still had the sales slips. I do have one for my 10x35 E2 which is a Refurb and only has a 90 day warranty. I don't want them exchanged for an "equivalent" binocular.:eek!:

I would send them to Suddarth Optical Repair.

Bob

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The Monarch 8x30 doesn't even work for me, with too frequent partial blackouts. It's a good optic but not an EII. I shall keep Suddarth in my address file and thank you.

Theo98 said:

... and since the EII is no longer serviceable in the US, their policy is to replace the EII with a Nikon M7 8X30.

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Ugh! That would be like a punch in the gut. I'm with you guys. If anything were to go wrong with my EII's, I'd send them to Cory Suddarth instead of Nikon.

Theo98 said:

...and since the EII is no longer serviceable in the US, their policy is to replace the EII with a Nikon M7 8X30...

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Hmm... the M7 8x30 is a nice binocular for what it is (I have one as an everyday, bung it in the bag and go, type of bino) but it's no replacement for the EII.

I'd get mine serviced by one of the local, recommended binocular repairers if it came to that.

I just got the EII 10x35 out of the box about 15 min ago. It's getting late but I took them out for a spin and they have that same wonderful clarity and 3d view of the 8x30 and while the 10x fov is a generous 366ft it's noticeably narrower than the 8x. It really draws things in close however and "brutally sharp". Blows my Meopro 10x quite away.

Tomorrow I get to put these babies up against a Zeiss Victory SF 10x42 and see how much difference there will be. I predict dead center clarity is a tie. Brightness, contrast and edge sharpness go to the Zeiss along with a much nicer focuser. It will be about the same as the EII 8x did against the Zeiss 8x the other day. Both being alpha binoculars IMO but the EII costing a fifth of what the Zeiss do. Seeing is believing

Btw I had to contact the seller in Japan and it's amazing how overly polite that culture is. There was a slight communication mix up and I must have seriously gotten a dozen apologies of all styles and types and they hadn't even done anything wrong. So I sent an email back in that same style praising them over and over again for their excellent service and good grasp of the English language. So then I got another email thanking me in a dozen profuse ways and apologising several times again just in case something they said might have offended me. I'm moving there next week for sure.

Theo98 said:

Finally (after much prodding), they found the EII in their Sports Optic Line-up and could only now verify that if\when service might be needed, a copy of the receipt would be required and since the EII is no longer serviceable in the US, their policy is to replace the EII with a Nikon M7 8X30. If an Amazon purchase is a Gray Market item, then their customer service would determine the next course of action!?? :-C

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Hi,

well luckily I'm not in that situation since my Chiba Special pair of E2 is working fine and certainly has no warranty any more (and only had one year in Japan).

But If I had bought an $800 pair of 8x30 E2 anniversary ed. last year (which is btw. the only E2 version which is currently sold by Nikon USA) and had to use the warranty and they got replaced by a $379 pair of M7 8x30 I would probably call my lawyer...

Joachim

jring said:

Hi,

well luckily I'm not in that situation since my Chiba Special pair of E2 is working fine and certainly has no warranty any more (and only had one year in Japan).

But If I had bought an $800 pair of 8x30 E2 anniversary ed. last year (which is btw. the only E2 version which is currently sold by Nikon USA) and had to use the warranty and they got replaced by a $379 pair of M7 8x30 I would probably call my lawyer...

Joachim

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I Hear That! Although, you would think\hope that since the 100th Annv. model is supported by NSO, it Would get sent to Japan for any repairs!?! :t:

Ted

black crow said:

I just got the EII 10x35 out of the box about 15 min ago. It's getting late but I took them out for a spin and they have that same wonderful clarity and 3d view of the 8x30 and while the 10x fov is a generous 366ft it's noticeably narrower than the 8x. It really draws things in close however and "brutally sharp". Blows my Meopro 10x quite away.

Tomorrow I get to put these babies up against a Zeiss Victory SF 10x42 and see how much difference there will be. I predict dead center clarity is a tie. Brightness, contrast and edge sharpness go to the Zeiss along with a much nicer focuser. It will be about the same as the EII 8x did against the Zeiss 8x the other day. Both being alpha binoculars IMO but the EII costing a fifth of what the Zeiss do. Seeing is believing

Btw I had to contact the seller in Japan and it's amazing how overly polite that culture is. There was a slight communication mix up and I must have seriously gotten a dozen apologies of all styles and types and they hadn't even done anything wrong. So I sent an email back in that same style praising them over and over again for their excellent service and good grasp of the English language. So then I got another email thanking me in a dozen profuse ways and apologising several times again just in case something they said might have offended me. I'm moving there next week for sure.

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3 LOL! You sure know how to tell a good story, BC! Thanks for the lift today! Good views to you with the new EII 10's! Yes, they are nice, aren't they?!

I can't believe how "brutally sharp" they are. (I love saying "brutally sharp" ever since I read that in the reviews lol) They do feel a little restricted after looking through those 8x however, even with the 366 ft Fov. That's really about the only difference I noted other than they are bigger and heavier and less steady in the hand. I'm thanking you again. When I came back here I was looking for that one special lead to a great new optic and it turned out to be you.

I don't know if I am to blame or to thank, but I agree they are speical too, the 10x35 EII's. There is enough of the magic in the view to please, and really the weight difference is minimal between them and the 8x30's. Just the field of view, and for a 10x, 366 is really tops, all considered.

I'm sure the Zeiss Habichts are equally transforming in view, just not as wide in either power. Only you can decide if you have enough of whatever it is that turns you on to a binocular-and you only know by trying. So if you are still conflicted about the Swarovski Habicht's then find out for real by looking through them yourself. It's the only way to know for sure. Find a good retailer that allows returns, and see what fits for you.

It seems that you really like the wide field views however, so the EII's may be the best match for you, even if you were to throw in the SE's into the mix, which are the other premium Porro binoculars in the options you have. They have a flatter field of view that is sharper across the FOV, but not as wide as the EII's.

I think you have met your match, just from your comments about the EII's. If that is so, then you are a lucky lad! Then all you have to do is enjoy them!

And have a back up for rainy weather in whatever configurations that work for you. It seems your Kowa gets you there, but maybe a Swaro Habicht in an appropriate power will do you better.