How much value do you place on the 3D effect seen in certain binoculars ? Do you find it natural, unnatural, pleasant, unpleasant ? I've owned a Nikon SE, Minox BP, 10X50 SV, 8.5X42 SV, I used to think the Porro view was more captivating, but 3D or not, the SVs have more Pop to my eyes. There isn't a set answer obviously, what do you think ?
Robert
Robbo, as far as I know I have a pretty standard set of eyes (though doe-sized and myopic) in a pretty normal head! I find the Zeiss 8x42 HT is a pretty nice compromise - not to mention pretty nice glass! :t: The A-K prisms give the objectives a slightly wider spacing though not hammerhead-like as in the real deal Porro I. This means that you get a slight 3-D effect which is perceptually enhanced somewhat by the circle of condition design pincushion optics, but not at the expense of any detectable ity-bity-teeny-weeny Porro I image scale reduction ..... 8x still seems 8x. Also, there's that lovely Porro-like clarity too.
The 10x50 SV's through some process of esoteric magic that I don't quite fully understand also have a very nice 3-D effect --- the best of any roof I have seen :king: The view is crystalline for sure, the sharpness across the large field very satisfying, and the range of colours outstanding, yet they just don't quite have that last p**fteenth of a % of Porro 'clarity' .... not a criticism - just an observation ..... though they do stand out as a genuine 'WOW' view.
My former Swift Audubon 8.5x44 ED's on the other hand had a very nice pronounced 3-D effect, although at the cost of an image scale that looked more like 7x magnification most-wheres at less than moonshot distances, especially close-up ..... a little bit annoying :cat:
The 3D porro advantage diminishes with distance so it all depends on the type of birding one does. Distant hawks, for example, all appear on a thin, flat plane, regardless of binocular format. Up close and personal, the 3D effect is rather captivating.
Yes and No Pilly. I agree that the 3-D effect wanes as distance increases, and thankfully the image-scale returns back toward the normal roof fold, and yet, I was struck once by a comparison on a fullish moon between the aforementioned Swift Porro, and the distinctly pincushion bowl like Zen ED3 roof. The moon that resembled a flattish disk with the Zen roofs transformed into an actual sphere hanging in space through the Swift Porro's ......
If I had to try and figure it out, I would say that it was probably due to about 4 things ......
1) the Porro 'clarity'
2) the 'extreme' contrast of the deep blackness of space and the bright moon, and the literally 'infinite' distance between subject and background
3) the slightly better (different? coz the Zen's pretty good) CA handling, so more defined edge, and yes,
4) the 3-D effect
Just what I saw at the time is all ..... :cat:
Chosun :gh: