Arthur Red Rod
Well-known member
Hello everyone,
My package from Germany finally arrived today and I am thrilled. It is a pair of refurbished Hensoldt Fero D16's with the reticle and laser filter removed for better light transmission.
I had a quick walk through a nearby provincial wildlife park, along with my Monarch HG 10x42's. First thing I immediately noticed was the contrast, sharpness and fairly neutral colour in the centre. In the sweet spot, I believe these Fero D16's will definitely compete with today's "sub-alphas" and perhaps some even true alphas. However, the sharpness does fall off rather quickly (75% to the edge?) and the field of view is not very large to begin with.
The brightness is definitely a defining trait of this bino, as expected of a high-quality porro with modern coatings. It is noticeably brighter than my HG's, despite the 10x42 format having a slightly larger exit pupil. The "3-D effect" that porro fans enjoy is very healthy here. I love the feeling of looking at little toy houses and trees as I scan across long distances with a great depth of field. Overall, I think it is about as comfortable a view as you can get from the 8x30 format, though it's been a long time since I've looked through EII's and SE's.
Durability and build quality are of course exceptional and the "new old surplus" rubber gives off an amazing new car smell. Zeiss/Hensolt rubber armoring in good condition is now one of my favorite things in binoculars. The included strap is fantastic as well and makes me wonder if it is standard issue equipment for the German military. There's no markings on it whatsoever and I doubt the vendor went out of his way to supply a strap for strapless stock.
Anyway, sorry for the sudden rambling. I am very happy with the purchase and eagerly await the arrival of my used Dialyt 7x42 T* P*' from the US, so I can do some comparisons. A full, detailed write-up on my impressions is coming soon - whatever that is worth. 3
*Frontal view and a shot of my collection for size comparison (long overdue!)
Excuse the non-existent technique
My package from Germany finally arrived today and I am thrilled. It is a pair of refurbished Hensoldt Fero D16's with the reticle and laser filter removed for better light transmission.
I had a quick walk through a nearby provincial wildlife park, along with my Monarch HG 10x42's. First thing I immediately noticed was the contrast, sharpness and fairly neutral colour in the centre. In the sweet spot, I believe these Fero D16's will definitely compete with today's "sub-alphas" and perhaps some even true alphas. However, the sharpness does fall off rather quickly (75% to the edge?) and the field of view is not very large to begin with.
The brightness is definitely a defining trait of this bino, as expected of a high-quality porro with modern coatings. It is noticeably brighter than my HG's, despite the 10x42 format having a slightly larger exit pupil. The "3-D effect" that porro fans enjoy is very healthy here. I love the feeling of looking at little toy houses and trees as I scan across long distances with a great depth of field. Overall, I think it is about as comfortable a view as you can get from the 8x30 format, though it's been a long time since I've looked through EII's and SE's.
Durability and build quality are of course exceptional and the "new old surplus" rubber gives off an amazing new car smell. Zeiss/Hensolt rubber armoring in good condition is now one of my favorite things in binoculars. The included strap is fantastic as well and makes me wonder if it is standard issue equipment for the German military. There's no markings on it whatsoever and I doubt the vendor went out of his way to supply a strap for strapless stock.
Anyway, sorry for the sudden rambling. I am very happy with the purchase and eagerly await the arrival of my used Dialyt 7x42 T* P*' from the US, so I can do some comparisons. A full, detailed write-up on my impressions is coming soon - whatever that is worth. 3
*Frontal view and a shot of my collection for size comparison (long overdue!)
Excuse the non-existent technique