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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

New Roger Vine Reviews (1 Viewer)

John A Roberts

Well-known member
Australia
Roger has just added 2 new reviews, which will be of interest to many:

A) The now classic Leica 7x42 Ultravid HD Plus at: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/Leica7x42HD.htm *
In terms of the optical construction, see the attached diagram that clearly shows the eyepiece has 4 lenses in a 1, 2, 1, configuration


B) Zeiss SF 8x42 at: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/ZeissVictory8x42SF.htm
Usefully at the end of the review, Roger includes direct comparison with the Swarovski NL 8x42

And just one clarification, the image labelled ’Complex SF eyepiece design’ shows the newer x32 version, which has an eyepiece of 6 groups
- verses the 4 groups of the x42 version, shown previously in the review


John


* As Andreas correctly points out below, the test is actually of the HD, not the HD Plus
The primary difference is that the Plus has Schott HT glass prisms, see a screen grab from a 2015 catalogue when it was introduced
 

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New guy alert . . .

I have a dumb question, and I will apologize in advance if the joke is on me, but I don't understand why this obviously very knowledgeable reviewer of optics is always shown wearing sunglasses while viewing through binoculars. I'm guessing this might be a bit of tongue-and-cheek British humor . . . but I'm not completely sure.

Can someone please educate me?
 
New guy alert . . .

I have a dumb question, and I will apologize in advance if the joke is on me, but I don't understand why this obviously very knowledgeable reviewer of optics is always shown wearing sunglasses while viewing through binoculars. I'm guessing this might be a bit of tongue-and-cheek British humor . . . but I'm not completely sure.

Can someone please educate me?
He needs eyeglasses and seems to prefer using binos with glasses, a reason he's always interested in the ER of different binos, and the sunglasses that he's wearing in some pics might simply be tinted prescription glasses.
 
Not much difference HD/HD+, I have the HD 8X42, was not worth it to go for the HD+.

Andy W.
Hi Andy,

Yes, the differences should be very small and only visible in a direct comparison and even then many see no difference.
As far as you can trust reports, the HD Plus should be a tad brighter and handle the chromatic aberration a little better, the focusing should run a little smoother, that was it ?!

Andreas
 
. . . plus the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42

Roger has just added a review of the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42 at: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/ZeissConquest8x42HD.htm
Significantly, he’s included detailed comparisons to the recently reviewed Zeiss Victory SF 8x42, which raises interesting considerations in terms of value
e.g. on the BH Photo site the HD’s are currently listed at US $1k verses $2.7k for the SF’s

In terms of the price/ performance tradeoff: perhaps the HD provides all that most need, as opposed to what they may want, especially for birding?


John
 

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Roger has just added 2 new reviews, which will be of interest to many:

A) The now classic Leica 7x42 Ultravid HD Plus at: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/Leica7x42HD.htm *
In terms of the optical construction, see the attached diagram that clearly shows the eyepiece has 4 lenses in a 1, 2, 1, configuration


B) Zeiss SF 8x42 at: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/ZeissVictory8x42SF.htm
Usefully at the end of the review, Roger includes direct comparison with the Swarovski NL 8x42

And just one clarification, the image labelled ’Complex SF eyepiece design’ shows the newer x32 version, which has an eyepiece of 6 groups
- verses the 4 groups of the x42 version, shown previously in the review


John


* As Andreas correctly points out below, the test is actually of the HD, not the HD Plus
The primary difference is that the Plus has Schott HT glass prisms, see a screen grab from a 2015 catalogue when it was introduced
Thank you, John and Andreas. Good move showing the Schott glass info, to confirm the differences from the non-HD version (as there have been queries over the nature or even existence of any difference in the past).
 
New guy alert . . .

I have a dumb question, and I will apologize in advance if the joke is on me, but I don't understand why this obviously very knowledgeable reviewer of optics is always shown wearing sunglasses while viewing through binoculars. I'm guessing this might be a bit of tongue-and-cheek British humor . . . but I'm not completely sure.

Can someone please educate me?
I can see it would be weird to go for a super high transmission alpha-range fieldglass only to cut it back down with sunglasses! Tom
 
I can see it would be weird to go for a super high transmission alpha-range fieldglass only to cut it back down with sunglasses! Tom
Not to mention making any discussion of colour fidelity fruitless. When in France I often wore sunglasses while driving long distances heading south. While actually in the south I used them for about 15 minutes and then took them off as they utterly ruined the views of birds, flowers, butterflies, dragonflies and indeed the landscape. Horrible.
Lee
 
Not to mention making any discussion of colour fidelity fruitless. When in France I often wore sunglasses while driving long distances heading south. While actually in the south I used them for about 15 minutes and then took them off as they utterly ruined the views of birds, flowers, butterflies, dragonflies and indeed the landscape. Horrible.
Lee
Lee, not an expert on sunglasses but I know some have horrible colour casts - yellow or orange, but would I be right that others deepen colours without changing them, a bit like a polarizing filter for a lens? But then again I suppose deepening them is still changing them even if it doesn't shift them, if that makes any sense at all...
 
Lee, not an expert on sunglasses but I know some have horrible colour casts - yellow or orange, but would I be right that others deepen colours without changing them, a bit like a polarizing filter for a lens? But then again I suppose deepening them is still changing them even if it doesn't shift them, if that makes any sense at all...
Mine are prescription and are polarising but they don't just 'deepen' them, they (naturally) darken everything which is what they are supposed to do and for reducing glare and eye fatigue when driving south towards the sun they are a life-saver. But they utterly ruin the tone and liveliness of all colours, rendering everything in the landscape in the muted tones of a bad dream.

Lee
 
My eyes are reasonably light sensitive - or at least I tend to fatigue quickly and get headaches if I'm in bright sunlight without sunglasses for long periods. Given how much time I spend birding in the tropics and on the ocean, I use sunglasses a lot. Mine are prescription and polarized as well. They do alter colors and tones, but I guess I've learned to compensate or at least learned to not be bothered. Other than the odd weird interaction with the polarization, my sunglasses make my life a lot better and don't really register as a negative for birding / nature enjoyment. Just my $.02 :)
 

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