6.5 - Evidently the 8x32 Terra hasn't hit the Cabela stores yet, and least not in Montana.(Billings) Bob's assessment above in post #119, finds the CL slightly brighter in low light conditions. I can't quibble with that because of my own idiosyncratic eyes. One sees much brighter colors than the other, although both are correctable to 20/20. I believe what I see is a compromise, so Bob may very well be correct. I also found alignment with the smaller pupil of the 8x32 more touchy than the 8x42 when it came to glare. It should be mentioned that my examination was one on a rock solid tripod with the binoculars strapped on Zeiss's platform, a rather odd looking contraption which is really more versatile than the Swarovkis (because it will handle porros and large body binoculars, too- even my Zeiss 15x60). So I could take my time in placing my eyes behind the 8x32 as I did the viewing. But the faster focusing 8x42 was harder for me to get that precise point of best resolution.
6.5, I hope when your 8x32 arrives, it isn't a "turkey."
Bob, thank you for your assessment.
Before I leave this posting, I would like to mention my playing around with extenders. Retired, with no real commitment other than death and taxes, I have been revisiting the use of extenders on various binoculars.
I had four (4) different models: Bushnell booster 2.5 x; a Bushnell Elite 2.5 x; a Zeiss 3x12 3 x; and a Swarovski 2 X.
By circumstance rather than choice, I have always been an advocate of improvisation whenever possible. This came about because my mother, raising four children by herself during the Great Depression, was too proud to accept assistance, and my father was non-existent. Materially, we were very, very poor, but not spiritually, and by this I don't mean the Bible thumping kind, but rather rather a kind of social Darwinism, root, hog or die mentality.
In 1950, we lived in a small wall tent until winter (-20 F) drove us out squatting on an abandoned homestead outside the city limits of Billings, Montana. By this time my older sister by four years had run away (actually disappeared) in 1946, only to reappear in California. She had skipped high school and was now in college. I should mention she was a gifted child, physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. She was so bright, my mother considered my older brother, my twin sister and me as borderline dull. And compared to my sister, we were.
There was no running water on the place, but it did have a one hole outdoor toilet. Finding the wall tent too confining, my older brother by two years emptied an abandoned narrow gauge railroad car on the place that had been a chicken coop years before, and that became his bedroom his senior year in high school. I mention all this not for sympathy but for understanding why improvisation was grafted on my brain. That era of our life we call "the character building time." We were aware of the enormous suffering that occurred during WW II, and considered ourselves blessed, and in no way did the concept of being "victims" ever occur to us. Being impoverished is not a sin. It is a circumstance.
If you want to know something about my older sister, go to Wikpedia and type in the name Dr. Mary Enig.
She became a world renowned bio-chemist with her major contribution exposing the dangers of trans-fats
in the human diet. She died last Sept in Canada. Her obituary in the Washington Post and commentary will tell you about her.
Back to improvisation. In an ancient post I had mentioned some of my playing around with extenders. I had several Swarovsk binoculars then, and their 2 x extender was model specific, and not quick placement or detachable. It was a quality piece. I gave it to a young fellow, who had a Swarovski it would fit, in exchange for some work in my kitchen. He disappeared over a year ago, and of course never showed up to do the work. Some ancient Oriental philosopher once said, "He who takes my possessions relieves me of my burdens." Or something like that.
That left me with the extenders mentioned above, and I applied them to the CL and the Terra. The Bushnell Elite is very handy with a decent center magnification. It fits on many modern binoculars over the eye cups which have some taper to them. It was very snug on the Terra and almost engulfs the entire ocular of the CL.
The Bushnell Booster is really unique in that it provides not only a superior FOV, (twice that of the Elite and Zeiss) but that field is sharp all the way across and it is brighter. I have a friend who made adapters out of PVC cap ends for me on his metal lathe, and fitted one for the CL and the Terra 8x32, and another for the Terra 8x42. The 60 year old booster fit a variety of diameters with the correct collars, with the most universal being the Japanese Customs, (actually most 35 mm lens bodies, and even the Zeiss Dialyt 7x42.) It has the advantage of being placed over one objective, allowing both eyes and steadiness when being used. The boosters are hard to find, so one should be on the look out.
The Zeiss 3x12 3x of course has adapters from Zeiss to fit some of their models. I discovered with both Terras that with the eye cups fully extended, it can be adapted by taking some 3M auto molding tape 1/2 inch or 12.7 mm, (#03609) and do a single wrap around the base. Keep one side covered, of course, and slide it in the eye cup. It will be snug and will align itself perfectly as the base bottoms on the metal, not the lens. It is very secure there and instantly removable. And then the fun begins. You now have two focusing systems, the binocular itself and the Zeiss. I predict you will find that at 3x, fast focusing to the precise point is difficult, but with the 3x12 focusing system, you can slowly "tweak" the image and get a precise view. And since you are looking at the center of the image coming into the extender, you may be surprised how sharp the magnified image will become. It will read small print the size of .30 bullet holes at two hundred yards, the distance verified by a Leica 10x42 Geovid.
For a quick peek, the extenders are very handy and makes your binocular an impromptu spotting scope.
John