How many lens elements do sub-alphas bins have? less than alphas? (1 Viewer)

[jring]

No I just purchased brand-new 8x42 EDG last month, they're sitting here right by my desk. No need to blow another $1000 on the Teutonic/Portuguese trinity

Hi,

they are certainly still available new if you look around a bit. But german and US Nikon sports optics websites don't list the EDG, the UK site lists it as out of stock... so if I wanted to buy a new pair, I would hurry...

Joachim

 

[Scott98]

It's the distributors, Nikon USA chooses not to import EDG or E2. But those are very much in current production and advertised and marketed in Japan with no signs of slowing down. The EDG is Nikon's premier 42mm binocular. At a price that is about $1000 less than they originally sold for in the US.

Which makes me wonder if Nikon paid off the R&D and tooling costs and decided to lower the price instead of investing more money in a wider-field model. The EDG must be vastly cheaper in Japan than the Teutonic/Iberian models.

I thought about it - is it fair to say that Nikon is the world's best binocular company for astronomy and marine binoculars? I would say yes. Their 50mm and 70mm porros are legendary, and the WX. Fujinon might give them a run for the astronomy title.

Coming from astronomy the "prestige" factor with the others has always seemed to me like something that exists in the birder world and is marketed to that group.

 

[Maljunulo]

I have never looked through big Nikons, but I will say that Fujinon 16X70 FMT-SX showed me things I did not expect to see with binoculars.

 

[Maljunulo]

Coming from astronomy the "prestige" factor with the others has always seemed to me like something that exists in the birder world and is marketed to that group.

I tend to agree with this.

I most emphatically do not believe that marketing is what makes an alpha an alpha.

 

[agus_m]

Very interesting discussion. It seems that indeed, many lens elements don't necessarily correct the field to alpha levels. I have recently seen a cutaway/diagram of a Zeiss Dialyt, an alpha back then, and I was surprised to see so few elements. It was like 3 elements for the eyepiece, a doublet and a focuser. On the other hand, on the website of Toric, they specify that the design of the Toric UHD 10x42 (a current sub-alpha) consists in a complex eyepiece of 6 elements, plus a 4 elements objective. Another example is the Kowa Genesis 10.5x44, which has 9 elements in total. I don't say they have comparable views, but I didn't expect subalphas to have a complex design. I am curious about the Conquest HD and MHG, perhaps the former has a similar design to the Toric, if we accept the rumour that it's a clone of the Conquest.

 

[Patudo]

Zeiss Dialyt, an alpha back then, and I was surprised to see so few elements.

"back then" is a very important part of that sentence .

 

[Maljunulo]

It seems that indeed, many lens elements don't necessarily correct the field to alpha levels.

That one sentence says it all, concisely and definitively.