Lightbender
Well-known member
What binoculars (8x or 10x) have the most EASY and stress free view? Any opinions? 
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The Easy View (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Lightbender
- Start date
Samolot
Well-known member
In my opinion, the larger the exit pupil, the easier the view. However, the larger the binocular, the heavier it is and thus prone to more shaking which defeats any easier-view. Having said that, there have been some binoculars I have had that have had surprisingly easy views despite smaller exit pupils.
1) Nikon EII 8x30 - easy eye placement and wiiiide field of view.
2) Swaro EL 8x32 - large eye cups relative to the size of the objectives offers a surprisingly "walk-in" view. Surprising low amount of black-outs and kidney beans as my eye roams around the image.
The EII's have a wide porro shape offering more stable hand-holding and thus easier view. The Swaro EL 8x32 also offers steady views with its lightweight and relative wide field of view.
Honorable Mention:
Leica UVHD+ 7x42. I don't think there will be much debate here. Huge exit pupil, pristine ergonomics.
Excited to hear others' opinions!
1) Nikon EII 8x30 - easy eye placement and wiiiide field of view.
2) Swaro EL 8x32 - large eye cups relative to the size of the objectives offers a surprisingly "walk-in" view. Surprising low amount of black-outs and kidney beans as my eye roams around the image.
The EII's have a wide porro shape offering more stable hand-holding and thus easier view. The Swaro EL 8x32 also offers steady views with its lightweight and relative wide field of view.
Honorable Mention:
Leica UVHD+ 7x42. I don't think there will be much debate here. Huge exit pupil, pristine ergonomics.
Excited to hear others' opinions!
Small DoF is actually advantageous when trying to focus on a bird deep in the vegetation. It is wonderful to have the nearer foliage melt away as the bird comes into focus. Frequent refocusing seems a reasonable tradeoff.
Joacim,
I agree, since Lightbender is asking about which "has the most easy and stress free view" that's a good 7x42 IMO.
I have bins in 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10, 10.5, 12, 14 and 15. All are good for different uses but 7x42 is easiest, least stressful view.
Mike
I think the Swarovski SV's offer an easy and stress free view for a roof because of the high quality optics and the easy walk-in view. I would also have to say porro's like the Nikon EII and Swarovski Habicht also do because of the simplicity of the optical design. When I look through a good porro I can just tell that it is a simpler optical train than a roof without all the field flatteners and phase coatings. Big exit pupil binoculars with lower or moderate magnification like a 7x42 or 8x56 do too because of the easy eye placement and the simple fact that is easier to hold them steady and they have greater DOF so you are not focusing all the time. The better the quality of the optics the easier and more stress free the view is.
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Chosun Juan
Given to Fly
The one that suits YOU best !What binoculars (8x or 10x) has the most EASY and stress free view? Any opinions?
You might want to investigate Swarovski's SV product range for their excellent randpupille design to see if one really grabs you.
Chosun :gh:
What binoculars (8x or 10x) has the most EASY and stress free view? Any opinions?
I have a Leica 7x42 UV HD. i think the Zeiss SF 8x42 is even more pleasant. Although it shouldn't be.
Edmund
On the contrary, I find the exaggerated parallax of the EII very unsettling.
Kevin Conville
yardbirder
I don't know about unsettling but the parallax issue becomes real for me at close distance for sure.
Clearly EIIs have their following. I had a pair for a year.
I didn't like the way they hung from a neck strap. The objectives want to tilt in toward the chest.
I found the focus slow, and for birding this wasn't my favorite.
I use a thumbs up grip and short, wide porros don't hold particularly well this way.
The lack of water/dust proofing never was a problem but I found I didn't take/use them where I would any of my roofs. I tended to baby them. No armor didn't help here either.
Good optics are the only thing I can get excited about.
As far as ease of view, I didn't find them especially forgiving though I had no problems either.
One (of several) reasons I use a thumbs up grip is the shielding from light at the eyepieces this grip affords. This is made more difficult by the EIIs ergos. From that point of view, they are less user friendly than almost any roof prism bin, IMO.
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For light shielding I use a set of bino bandits, been a permanent part of my 8x30E2 since I bought them, eliminates the world around so you can get on with studying the scene. They could fog up in extreme conditions, but you can easily fold them up if that happens. A wide field helps maintain awareness of what’s going on.
Peter
Peter
That and the larger image size may be more satisfying IF you get on the bird, but searching for it in the third dimension with a reduced field of view (low DOF = higher magnification = lower FOV) is not going to help. Don't think I'm going to be taking my scope into the woods!
As already mentioned, large exit pupil and adequate eye relief are positive factors but spherical aberration of the exit pupil (Nikon SE?) can be a killer.
I second Chosun's mention of "Randpupille" as a positive factor in ease of view.
If you hold a binocular at arm's length and turn it, the exit pupil on many is lentil shaped before it occludes. Much better is a gibbous moon shape as seen with my 10x42 EL SV and old 7x42 SLC. This however entails larger (and heavier) prisms.
John
14Goudvink
Well-known member
+1 for the Nikon 8x30 E2.
For me an easier view than the Leica Ultravid 7x42 I and the Swaro 8x32 SV. I owned both for about two years. Ergonomics play an important part in getting an easy view.
George
For me an easier view than the Leica Ultravid 7x42 I and the Swaro 8x32 SV. I owned both for about two years. Ergonomics play an important part in getting an easy view.
George
Arguably yes, if you're searching in foilage, but I very often use bins to look over the river from my balcony and there a large DOF is much preferred...
Joachim
WJC
Well-known member
I'm not familiar with "exaggerated parallax." Could you please break that down for me? :cat:
Bill
iveljay
Well-known member
Of the EIIs I find the 10x35 more pleasant than the 8x, it feels more balanced with longer objective tubes, so comes into second place.
The FL 8x32 is probably the most relaxing overall as I can operate them on 'autopilot' no though required, so is no. 1.
The FL 7x42 is relaxing until the external ribbing starts to annoy me - for some reason the 8x32's ribbing doeasn't register.
Big eyecups are a definite no no, my bone structure means they are a long way from my eyes so unless I use eye shields I am looking round the side of the binocular when centred on the eyepieces. Pity as it cuts down on my choices. The protection was probably useful when my ancesters were lurking in caves!
The FL 8x32 is probably the most relaxing overall as I can operate them on 'autopilot' no though required, so is no. 1.
The FL 7x42 is relaxing until the external ribbing starts to annoy me - for some reason the 8x32's ribbing doeasn't register.
Big eyecups are a definite no no, my bone structure means they are a long way from my eyes so unless I use eye shields I am looking round the side of the binocular when centred on the eyepieces. Pity as it cuts down on my choices. The protection was probably useful when my ancesters were lurking in caves!
I was thinking more in terms of optics when the question was put forth. But ergonomics like balance and how the eye cups fit are also important factors in how easy and stress free the binocular is to use also.
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