Stephen Mark
Well-known member
Both my sister and I moved to North Carolina in the last two months, she to Durham and I to New Bern. Six weeks ago she bought a new (black ) pair of Zeiss SF's. Today my wife and I drove to Durham to spend the day and of course try the new bins. I had wanted a pair of SF's since they were announced but could never justify the money. I knew my Kowa Genesis 8.5X44 were good binoculars but not "alphas".After two hours going from one to the other I reached a few conclusions. The Zeiss are lighter Duh they have a larger field of view and they may be brighter by a very small margin. The Kowas are better built in fact part of their weight is they are overbuilt you can drive nails when your not birding. Now for the important part the resolution admitting that I am 65 and recent eye tests confirm I am 20/25 at distances over five feet I could not pick up greater detail with the Zeiss. I went back and fourth from one to the other and couldn't find a difference. Now I was actually looking at birds and not resolution charts but could pick up as much detail with my Kowas as the Zeiss. I will keep the money and move on to other things.
Steve
Steve