James, I'm curious too, what does Debby say about SFL's overall colour rendition compared with her SF32s?James, curious: is the color rendition different than your SFs?
Lee
James, I'm curious too, what does Debby say about SFL's overall colour rendition compared with her SF32s?James, curious: is the color rendition different than your SFs?
It didn’t seem to be very different at all, with the caveat that we were sharing a few pairs of bins between 20 people so not really enough time to comment fairly.James, curious: is the color rendition different than your SFs?
She had even less time to try them than I did, in the knowledge that we will be getting pairs to test soon she let others look for longer.James, I'm curious too, what does Debby say about SFL's overall colour rendition compared with her SF32s?
Lee
Thanks James, I am expecting a review unit in a few weeks so I will just have to be patient.She had even less time to try them than I did, in the knowledge that we will be getting pairs to test soon she let others look for longer.
She looks like she would be a wonderful girlfriend - and strikingly attractive. How cool that this is such a small 'binocular' world we live in. Yes, please, pass my compliments along to her.The ‘model’ is Debby Doodeman, one of Hollands best female birders, who also happens to be my girlfriend 😃. We were invited as ZEISS ambassadors to the photoshoot last year. I will pass on your compliments to her.
Cheers
James
Also... isn't it quite nice that Zeiss actually selected a genuine 'birder' and binocular enthusiast to be featured in the brochure, rather than just hiring a typical model from an agency. Few in the general public would ever even know that!The ‘model’ is Debby Doodeman, one of Hollands best female birders, who also happens to be my girlfriend 😃. We were invited as ZEISS ambassadors to the photoshoot last year. I will pass on your compliments to her.
Cheers
James
Glad to contribute!Great work Bryan!
No, no, no. I just put my second finger (+third and little finger) underneath the second bridge, wrapped around the tube, and my first finger falls naturally on the focus wheel without needing to hunt or stretch to find it. It is like putting on a pair of well-loved gloves: comfortable and ergonomically brilliant. I can post a photo of this grip if you wish.I can’t say I have tried any of these, but the focus wheel being so far away from the oculars would probably be a bit of a challenge for me. I’m sure I would get used to it though. Do you SF users use your middle finger to focus?
I have the 10x32 SF and it did take a while for me to get used to the placing of the focus wheel. But now that I am use to it, I find that it is in a very comfortable and natural position, so much so that when I use a different binocular I automatically reach too far forward to focus. I use my index finger as I tend to hold the SF much further towards the objective lenses than with other models. This definitely helps with keeping the bins steady I feel.I can’t say I have tried any of these, but the focus wheel being so far away from the oculars would probably be a bit of a challenge for me. I’m sure I would get used to it though. Do you SF users use your middle finger to focus?
Excellent. The whole idea of the 'open hinge' design is that the bridge/hinge is split to make room for your fingers around the barrels of the binos for a more secure grip. However some designs placed the focus wheel too far away from the barrels so that you had to 'reach' rather awkwardly to place your finger on it. See pic below of Fr Schiestel-Swarovski holding an early EL and having to bend her finger. Of course she could have moved her hand up the bino somewhat to get easier access to the focus, but then there would be little point in the open hinge design.I have the 10x32 SF and it did take a while for me to get used to the placing of the focus wheel. But now that I am use to it, I find that it is in a very comfortable and natural position, so much so that when I use a different binocular I automatically reach too far forward to focus. I use my index finger as I tend to hold the SF much further towards the objective lenses than with other models. This definitely helps with keeping the bins steady I feel.
Nice work, the SFL:s do look tiny. Rubber armor and maybe the housing as well must be thinner than the SF:s.I threw together a quick composite illustration of the size differences of the SF 8x32, SF 8x42 and the SFL 8x40. This was done in Procreate on the iPad.
I don’t think this will stand up to rigid scrutiny but it will give a close ballpark of the size differences of the three. Apologies in advance for any glaring inaccuracies.
According to the Zeiss website the height measurements of all three are;
173 mm for the SF 8x42,
144 mm for the SFL 8x40
152 mm for the SF 8x32.
When I got everything lined up I thought I’d messed up somewhere as it seems like the SFL should be bigger. If I did get this right the SFL is very petite. If this really is the case I’m very interested in the SFL.
If something is backwards or I missed something maybe folks can let me know and I’ll give it another go.
Edit, I cleaned up the illustration for better accuracy.
View attachment 1438774
I threw together a quick composite illustration of the size differences of the SF 8x32, SF 8x42 and the SFL 8x40. This was done in Procreate on the iPad.
I don’t think this will stand up to rigid scrutiny but it will give a close ballpark of the size differences of the three. Apologies in advance for any glaring inaccuracies.
According to the Zeiss website the height measurements of all three are;
173 mm for the SF 8x42,
144 mm for the SFL 8x40
152 mm for the SF 8x32.
When I got everything lined up I thought I’d messed up somewhere as it seems like the SFL should be bigger. If I did get this right the SFL is very petite. If this really is the case I’m very interested in the SFL.
If something is backwards or I missed something maybe folks can let me know and I’ll give it another go.
Edit, I cleaned up the illustration for better accuracy.
View attachment 1438774
Don't remember ever seeing that grip on this side of the pond.Most birders tuck their thumbs underneath the binocular and ‘freehand’ them to their eyes. I find it advantageous to use the thumbs as an anchor point against the cheeks, particularly for extended viewing. Moving the hands away from the oculars makes this harder, but maybe the SFL is compact enough that it could work.