Winchester44
Member
Hello all! I’ve been on a bit of a quest for a high quality low magnification compact binocular for hiking.
Years back, a friend had a pair of the Vortex Viper 6x32 HD’s on a multiday canoe trip. I was very impressed with the quality and especially fine focus. I don’t remember a great deal about the overall image quality beyond loving the combination of low magnification, wide field of view and general handiness of the size. They were so easy to hold steady and scan treelines, banks and hillsides quickly.
However I soon forget that and got on the bigger is better bandwagon. I purchased my first high quality bino’s about 4 years ago, Leupold 10x50 BX4. While they were great in low light, they were generally too big and heavy not that impressive image wise for the price. Never could get them to resolve a tack sharp image and all colors seemed a bit flat.
I sold the Leupold and bought a lightly used pair of Zeiss conquest 8x42. I really like them. They are tack sharp almost to the edge and colors come through beautifully. These seem to exemplify to me what modern coatings can do. They are my go to birding bino. I hated it at first, but I’ve learned to love the unique fast focus.
However the compact low magnification bug won’t leave me, 2 years ago I purchased the Kowa 6.5x32. They were neat. Very immersive wide angle view, but image left something to be desired, focus felt cheap and sticky and had a terrible time getting decent focus. I flipped them over to be really disappointed seeing they were not a Japan model anymore and now made in China. I returned them after a few days.
I replaced them with an old mid 90’s manufacture Leica 8x32 BA I found for $350. I absolutely adore these. The image is immersive and tack sharp. Color and light seems to by 9/10 of the larger and far newer Zeiss Conquest. Great focus, great eyecups, great eye relief, and a locking diopter! Why did these ever go away!!! These now stay in my car and get used all the time. My only complaint is they are very heavy for their size. Combined with the higher magnification they aren’t quite as handy as those vortex 6x30.
On a whim just last week put in an offer of $500 for a pair of Swarovski Habichit SLC 7 x30 And I won them. serial # starts with DA7004 Does that mean 2000 manufacturer? They finally arrived today and I was so excited. Could these be the ones? Light- yes , lower magnification-yes, good manufacturer-yes. Unfortunately, raising them to my eyes was the mother of all let downs. The eye relief was not great with the eye shade cups, very tight eyebox, the focus was meh, field of view narrow and the image was frankly underwhelming . It was later in the day. I will try them again in full light to give a better impression, but to be honest, the Leica BA seem better in every way save weight. Even at 8x the Leica’s FOV appeared substantially better with better focus and color transmission. The Swaro might have a touch better edge to edge clarity, but the focus was not nearly as good, the diopter must be one of the worst on a bino ever it was very loose and easily moved. It’s also where one’s index finger naturally rests whereas the focus is down at the other end requiring an odd grip. Frankly I’m dissatisfied with these overall and will very likely be selling.
So I’m back to looking again. I may try the Mavens 6x30 next, but would love any other suggestions on a quality new pair with all the latest technology or a used pair that’s still got what it takes. If I could dream up the perfect pair it would be a modern version of the Leica BA in 6x32 with a few less ounces and modern coatings.
Thanks so much for listening to my quest!
Years back, a friend had a pair of the Vortex Viper 6x32 HD’s on a multiday canoe trip. I was very impressed with the quality and especially fine focus. I don’t remember a great deal about the overall image quality beyond loving the combination of low magnification, wide field of view and general handiness of the size. They were so easy to hold steady and scan treelines, banks and hillsides quickly.
However I soon forget that and got on the bigger is better bandwagon. I purchased my first high quality bino’s about 4 years ago, Leupold 10x50 BX4. While they were great in low light, they were generally too big and heavy not that impressive image wise for the price. Never could get them to resolve a tack sharp image and all colors seemed a bit flat.
I sold the Leupold and bought a lightly used pair of Zeiss conquest 8x42. I really like them. They are tack sharp almost to the edge and colors come through beautifully. These seem to exemplify to me what modern coatings can do. They are my go to birding bino. I hated it at first, but I’ve learned to love the unique fast focus.
However the compact low magnification bug won’t leave me, 2 years ago I purchased the Kowa 6.5x32. They were neat. Very immersive wide angle view, but image left something to be desired, focus felt cheap and sticky and had a terrible time getting decent focus. I flipped them over to be really disappointed seeing they were not a Japan model anymore and now made in China. I returned them after a few days.
I replaced them with an old mid 90’s manufacture Leica 8x32 BA I found for $350. I absolutely adore these. The image is immersive and tack sharp. Color and light seems to by 9/10 of the larger and far newer Zeiss Conquest. Great focus, great eyecups, great eye relief, and a locking diopter! Why did these ever go away!!! These now stay in my car and get used all the time. My only complaint is they are very heavy for their size. Combined with the higher magnification they aren’t quite as handy as those vortex 6x30.
On a whim just last week put in an offer of $500 for a pair of Swarovski Habichit SLC 7 x30 And I won them. serial # starts with DA7004 Does that mean 2000 manufacturer? They finally arrived today and I was so excited. Could these be the ones? Light- yes , lower magnification-yes, good manufacturer-yes. Unfortunately, raising them to my eyes was the mother of all let downs. The eye relief was not great with the eye shade cups, very tight eyebox, the focus was meh, field of view narrow and the image was frankly underwhelming . It was later in the day. I will try them again in full light to give a better impression, but to be honest, the Leica BA seem better in every way save weight. Even at 8x the Leica’s FOV appeared substantially better with better focus and color transmission. The Swaro might have a touch better edge to edge clarity, but the focus was not nearly as good, the diopter must be one of the worst on a bino ever it was very loose and easily moved. It’s also where one’s index finger naturally rests whereas the focus is down at the other end requiring an odd grip. Frankly I’m dissatisfied with these overall and will very likely be selling.
So I’m back to looking again. I may try the Mavens 6x30 next, but would love any other suggestions on a quality new pair with all the latest technology or a used pair that’s still got what it takes. If I could dream up the perfect pair it would be a modern version of the Leica BA in 6x32 with a few less ounces and modern coatings.
Thanks so much for listening to my quest!
