All great replies and opinions, great stuff and Thank you all.
I’d like to ad a few things after reading some posts. (with pictures).
As per some of the boxes that I opined would be checked (imo , ok Tom) is the 7x. Of course there are people who prefer 8x, 10x and 12x, I actually prefer 8x myself. But the reason I checked that box is because to most people from 8 to 80 can hold a 7X fairly stable, and the added DOF is a nice benefit, especially more so if what you are doing is more nature or landscape observing, imo, ymmv.
On the merits of the focuser , although there are smoother more fluid focusers like the SF and EDG to name two, the I reason I checked the box on the ultravid focuser , is that it performs the exact same way in temperatures from 10° to 100°, that can’t be said for most of the others.
Chuck , I’m using some of the ones in your reply today and I see you rated the build quality of the EDG last. I was curious as to your thoughts on why? To me these things are beasts , there’s no plastic anywhere, the rubber armor looks like it’ll last a lifetime , it looks a heck of a lot thicker and more robust than the Swarovski‘s or the Zeiss.
I used the word immersive, it has been used here dozens, if not hundreds of times, and probably not a good word to describe what I tried to convey.
“Immersive: is a term used to describe experiences that fully engage the senses and draw the audience into the scene or activity” Not a great description of what some see in certain binoculars. I’ll try to better describe what I see when I look through the Ultravid relating to the box I checked.
I think quite a few binoculars use some kind of field flattener or try to design away the curvature of the lens. To some people it seems to be a two dimensional or a flat image quality. Not really that noticeable until you put it side-by-side with something like an ultravid. Does that make any sense?
I’d also like to add a little disclosure , or a hold harmless affidavit if I may. I made a negative remark possibly touched a few nerves , when I compared a certain Binocular that it looked like the barrels got run over by a motorcycle. This was a flippant, tongue-in-cheek statement derived by multiple people on this forum that don’t like the squeezed barrels on an the NL‘s , I have them, and I actually like them a lot. My comment was that the people who don’t like them can’t complain about the more traditional barrels on Ultravids, nor can they complain about the size, weight and length.
It seems that there are a lot of Leica fans here, and it sure seems possible that they are a bit more passionate about that opinion than some of the Zeiss or Swarovski guys/gals. But I could be wrong there.
🙏🏼✌🏼
Paul
