Here are some impressions of Leica's new Trinnie 8x32.
In the hand it feels very nicely finished indeed and feels well balanced. The eyecups offer a lot of adjustment and one notch up from fully down was perfect for me wearing spectacles. Me and Troubadoris tried them out over a couple of days in Suffolk and while we didn't have other models to compare them with we came to the conclusion that the colour balance was halfway between traditional Leica and Zeiss so not quite as warm as Leica's usual. It is a nice balance. I wouldn't say they are sharper than Zeiss's Conquest HD but they have a little more contrast. The current obsession on this forum is glare but we had overcast skies for much of the time and I can't say they ever got a proper glare test. I never saw any chromatic aberration but again I didn't get a highly contrasting view to test it out properly.
Close focus is brilliant at a bit less than 1 metre and before anyone says that is excessively close, here is why it is great. We find we often come quietly around some type of cover/corner, it might be a rock or a bush or anything and find ourselves close to some unsuspecting critter. It might be a snake or lizard or butterfly or dragonfly or whatever and if you need to step back because your binos don't focus close enough you almost always scare the critter off when you do so. With the Leicas this won't happen so we consider them great general purpose nature observation glasses.
Grumbles? Yes some minor ones: they come with a bag not a case and it won't accept the binos with neckstrap and/or rainguard attached, the rainguard cups need to have a little larger internal diameter because if you fit the guard firmly to the eyecups its difficult to remove quickly. OK you can learn how to not put it on so firmly but when out in the rain you need a rainguard that goes on and comes off instinctively and without the need to think about it. Finally the strap ends are narrower than usual and one of them slipped undone from the clip. This could have been due to my habit of resting my right hand in readiness on my bins all the time we are walking but I have been doing this for 45 years and it never happened before. It didn't happen to Troubadoris by the way.
So are the Trinovids a worthy addition to the Leica family? Yes, but for the mid-life facelift the accessories would benefit from a little tweaking.
Lee
In the hand it feels very nicely finished indeed and feels well balanced. The eyecups offer a lot of adjustment and one notch up from fully down was perfect for me wearing spectacles. Me and Troubadoris tried them out over a couple of days in Suffolk and while we didn't have other models to compare them with we came to the conclusion that the colour balance was halfway between traditional Leica and Zeiss so not quite as warm as Leica's usual. It is a nice balance. I wouldn't say they are sharper than Zeiss's Conquest HD but they have a little more contrast. The current obsession on this forum is glare but we had overcast skies for much of the time and I can't say they ever got a proper glare test. I never saw any chromatic aberration but again I didn't get a highly contrasting view to test it out properly.
Close focus is brilliant at a bit less than 1 metre and before anyone says that is excessively close, here is why it is great. We find we often come quietly around some type of cover/corner, it might be a rock or a bush or anything and find ourselves close to some unsuspecting critter. It might be a snake or lizard or butterfly or dragonfly or whatever and if you need to step back because your binos don't focus close enough you almost always scare the critter off when you do so. With the Leicas this won't happen so we consider them great general purpose nature observation glasses.
Grumbles? Yes some minor ones: they come with a bag not a case and it won't accept the binos with neckstrap and/or rainguard attached, the rainguard cups need to have a little larger internal diameter because if you fit the guard firmly to the eyecups its difficult to remove quickly. OK you can learn how to not put it on so firmly but when out in the rain you need a rainguard that goes on and comes off instinctively and without the need to think about it. Finally the strap ends are narrower than usual and one of them slipped undone from the clip. This could have been due to my habit of resting my right hand in readiness on my bins all the time we are walking but I have been doing this for 45 years and it never happened before. It didn't happen to Troubadoris by the way.
So are the Trinovids a worthy addition to the Leica family? Yes, but for the mid-life facelift the accessories would benefit from a little tweaking.
Lee
Last edited:
