Hey all,
Jeff Bouton here, the guy with the quote in question! Yes I work for Leica so understand the skepticism, BUT for those who know me they know I'm a straight shooter.
I've always believed that no matter how hard we want to try and analyze numbers on paper the reality is that specs on paper or online just can't tell the story. There is no consistency in measured specs for technique for measuring and portraying things like Eye Relief or Close Focus as example so one manufacturers' measurement may well not (and often is not) repeatable when tested by another manufacturer using their testing methodology. Also, specs based solely on mathematics that consider objective lens and power like exit pupil, RBI, etc. are worthless for an end user because they assume every piece of glass has the same coatings & transmission... and we all know that doesn't work. So as it always has been, no matter how hard we may want to make sweeping judgements from home looking at printed specs, the reality is we can only make intelligent, accurate statements about the performance of a product by actually looking through it. There have been many instances where bins that looked fantastic on paper have been major disappointments in the field and vice versa.
Prior to my years with Leica, I spent 20+ years working in the field as a passionate (and starving) field research biologist & then as a professional bird guide spending the VAST majority of those years in the field staring through binoculars all day, every day. So it is from that perspective that I offer my WOW factor comment. Those who know me well, know I have been a die hard 7x42 user for the past 28 years. So it is no small matter that I say I've happily decided to set down my beloved 7x after using the new Noctivids for even the first full day. Now, however I've used these for 3 straight days staring at the birds across Lagoon 2 and in an afternoon of birding in Germany and am still convinced these are the best binocular I've ever looked through. Not looking for argument or a fight only saying do yourself a favor and look through them yourself.
If you're the person wanting me to go into great length on the how's and why's and talk about shapes of lenses or specific nanometers of light transmission you're definitely going to be disappointed in my post. But then again this is "BIRDforum" and not "Engineeringforum" right?!?... While on the stand I spent my time scanning across Lagoon 2, I appreciated the chromatic barring on the flanks and the black line separatring the red mandibles of a Water Rail tucked in dark cattails in stunning contrast, and I immensely enjoyed the juvenile Dunlin appreciating the amazing difference in bill shape/size between the UK & US birds. I watched in awe as a young Hobby jetted down from a starkly backlit sky, then raced over the dark reed bed quickly sweeping back up, stalling to eat the dragonfly it had just snatched (watching the wings tumble down reflecting light as they twirled to fall in the water)!
It took me half the first day to really realize what it was seeing and articulate it honestly, I just knew I enjoyed each time I lifted this bins to my eyes. These bins transmit as much light as any binocular in the market for starters so they are as bright as the next best out there.The close focus is real and I find that I easily focused to about half the distance of the comparable Ultravid model.
Despite the concerns of an increase of 2 ounces over the Ultravids these are perfectly balanced and most felt they were actually lighter when holding them up. I suffered no fatigue with these in a standard neck strap for 10+ hours over 3 straight days. The "WOW" factor I'd felt was due to all of these factors and one other that again I found hard to describe or articulate beyond "WOW". Now however, I think I can. In the product brochure, we mention the 3-dimensional "plasticity" of image but this alone does not begin to describe the reality of this situation. It does not begin to convey the unmatched depth of vision these bins provide. 3D barely begins to explain this amazing effect. All leading to a view that you quite frankly want more of. As I said before, don't take my word for it as I said before the ONLY way you can appreciate what these beauties will do is to see them for yourself. Next showing American Birding Expo, Columbus, OH, Sept 15-18 for the American market introduction! (just saying)
I'm often lost on the incredible amount of dissection about transmission graphs here. But, that's ok I have learned some basic things. Still, I don't think it's a good thing to study transmission graphs until the sun goes down instead of just trying the binocular out and deciding whether you like it or not. Technical data can be helpful in Spec sheets, but it still doesn't tell me whether I will like a binocular or not.
