No offense intended. If the diopter adjustment wasn’t sufficient for your eyes, have you been to an Optometrist or Ophthalmologist lately? I had Cataract lens replacement surgery this winter. Whoa! Awesome outcome. Feel like anyone in need should go here before buying new binos. Or trying to find a Bino to accommodate vision issues.
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Tried Noctivid and SF 10x today (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Kiwimac
- Start date
Paultricounty
Well-known member
Allbinos is not the way to go for info with numbers for CA correction. Also you can’t say which is first, second and so on when haven’t tested all the binoculars available. Just throwing in the Vortex UHD would change that list. I’m very surprised in you Master Kan.If you are sensitive to CA or fringing like me, get a Zeiss Fl. It is the best binocular available for controlling CA because it uses Fluorite glass. It is way better than the NL, EL, SF, Noctivid, UVHD+ or even EDG. Compare the CA numbers at Allbinos.
CA Ranking at Albinos
1) FL 9.5
2) EDG 8.6
3) SF 8.3
4) NL 8.3
5) EL 6.9
6) UVHD+ 6.8
Binoculars rankings - 10x42 - AllBinos.com
The best binocular tests on the net. The comprehensive database of binoculars with their parameters and users opinions. Interesting articles and comparisons.www.allbinos.com
tenex
reality-based
Kiwimac, this must be very frustrating given the difficulty of finding bins in your area. If CA is a problem in NV, Canip is probably right that you won't like Ultravids. If ELs don't provoke your eyes, EL 12x50 is worth a try. Meopta 12x50 is highly regarded but has less FOV. If you can hand-hold 15x well enough, you might SLC 15x56, or the 10x which is optically the best bin I've owned. (Zeiss FL 10x56 is also said to be excellent.) And if 10x could suffice, there's always the more manageable EL or SLC 10x42. Swaros made since 2020 will lack Swaroclean; I'm not sure when the armor formula was changed. (If you find a nice pre-owned one and have it serviced if/as needed, these are avoidable issues.) I have SLC 15x56, 10x56 and 10x42 and highly recommend them all. (The 42 has a bit of CA in the outer field but it never bothers me.)
Finally diopter adjustment range seems a major concern, so check binocular.ch where Canip documents this for each model.
Finally diopter adjustment range seems a major concern, so check binocular.ch where Canip documents this for each model.
None taken. It stems from my LASIK surgery.
One eye was corrected for long vision and the other got close vision. In the brain the two images merge so I have perfect sight from about 8” to infinity.
Of course in binoculars, each eye is effectively looking through its individual telescope and the SF issue was that the range of adjustment doesn’t go far enough. The NV and my existing UV are fine in this regard.
The Vortex UHD 10x42 is 7.2 at Allbinos which is about 5th place. Every binocular I buy, I test for CA by looking at at a black pipe on my neighbor's roof against a white sky. I look at the top and bottom edges, and it gives me a very good idea of how well different binoculars handle color fringing relative to each other. It is similar to the subjective method Albinos uses.
I know of no objective method to test CA because everybody sees differing amounts with different binoculars. Some people don't even see CA, but I am very sensitive to it. Once you see it, though, you know it is there. I have had a lot of the binoculars on Allbinos and by comparing my results with theirs I find I agree with them a great majority of the time. You may not, but I do. If I test a binocular like the Zeiss FL that has scored high in the rankings for CA by Allbinos I find it has almost no CA.
Quite remarkable actually but when I test a binocular that scored lower for CA by Allbinos like the NL I see considerable color fringing especially when compared to the FL. So based on my subjective testing, I trust Allbinos results. I think a lot of members who are sensitive to CA would agree that the Zeiss FL series is one of the best for CA control because they used a very high grade of fluorite glass in it when they designed it. It is even better for controlling CA than Zeiss's newer SF line.
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Don't know about the rangefinders but the rest of the FL line was discontinued a couple of years ago.
Mike
No, you have to buy them on the used market. They still fetch a good price, especially the FL 8x32 because they are still popular. Here is an 8x42 FL on eBay UK with Ace Optics as the seller. It looks to be in pretty good shape. The green ones are pretty cool.
Used Zeiss 8x42 FL | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Used Zeiss 8x42 FL at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
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Paultricounty
Well-known member
You know better than that. You can’t one target to come to a conclusion on CA in top end optics. There are times that on different objects with different lighting conditions the one that was superior earlier on the first test is not superior on the second object or test subject.
I’m sensitive to CA as well and I’d agree with the FL being one of the best , the Kowa is right there with it at half the price.
Myself and many others would disagree with you how Accurate the allbinos summations are. I’ve given numerous examples where they were completely wrong about CA, brightness, transmission and so on.
It’s possible you have the placebo effect. It says no CA and you don’t see it, it says there’s more CA , and you see it 🙏
Ah! Interesting. See the problem.
In all lighting conditions I have found the FL for my eyes the best for CA control, especially under extremely bright conditions and that is after using them many hours in the field and comparing them to many other binoculars including the NL 8x32 and NL 10x42 and the Kowa Genesis 8x33 and Kowa Genesis 8.5x45. The Kowa Genesis 8x33 is not even close to the FL for CA control, and it also has much softer edges. The Kowa Genesis 8.5x45 is close to the FL and probably the 2nd best roof prism binocular I have used for CA, but the FL is still better.
It’s something that many clinics suggest and it works well for some and terribly for others. They tried talking me into having my eyes done that way and after hearing numerous complaints of eye fatigue and people having to buy glasses to deal with the differential, am very glad I went with s normalized correction.
Even more so now that I think of the hassle of not being able to use the diopter adjustment in my binoculars.
Yes. As a photographer, glasses were a huge pain. I couldn’t see the entire frame properly because modern cameras have poor eye relief in comparison to their earlier ancestors.
Eventually I defaulted to one disposable contact in one eye and nothing in the other, which worked but of course contacts are a faff especially when travelling.
The LASIK has been excellent and is fine for binoculars as long as they have adequate diopter correction. It seems some are better than others.
Thanks. I’ll investigate and might get those if I get the right info. I’ve got to go back to the U.K. in October to visit my mother so I could have them sent to her and collect them.No, you have to buy them on the used market. They still fetch a good price, especially the FL 8x32 because they are still popular. Here is an 8x42 FL on eBay UK with Ace Optics as the seller. It looks to be in pretty good shape. The green ones are pretty cool.
View attachment 1519032Used Zeiss 8x42 FL | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Used Zeiss 8x42 FL at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.www.ebay.co.uk
I could probably sell them in New Zealand for 30% more than that if I don’t like them!
William Lewis
Wishing birdwatching paid the bills.
If you get time there are lots of excellent optics shops here, perfect opportunity to try a load out.
I have been to New Zealand once. Very nice, clean country with a LOT of sheep! I couldn't believe the trout they were catching at an inlet to Lake Taupo. Huge!
I still like the 42mm EDG if you want the best color correction, however if 50mm is an option I had the 10x50 UVHD+ and I liked the optics on those too. Good edge sharpness and I remember testing them on the full moon against my 10x56 SLC and I didn't see any false color in the UVHD's. Accordingly, Alllbinos gave them a 7.6 on CA with only a little at the edges. I am not fan of the UVHD focusers but the optics were really nice on those 10x50's.
How did you find them overall compared to the SLC?
It’s not really obvious to me exactly what the differences are between SLC, EL and NL.
I know in theory it’s good, better, best but exactly how is rarely if ever codified in one place!
The El has a bigger FOV, better contrast and sharper edges than the SLC and the NL has a bigger FOV than the EL and the edges are sharp but not quite as sharp as the EL but sharper than the SLC. The SLC and the EL are smaller and more compact than the NL, which is very nice.
The SLC and the EL are about 30% less expensive than the NL. The choice between them depends upon how big of a FOV do you want. Also, with all the issues with Swarovski's armor, you might be safer with the SLC because there seems to be more issues with cracked armor on the EL and possibly NL or get a pre-2015 EL. Read the thread about the Swarovski armor problems.
www.birdforum.net
The SLC and the EL are about 30% less expensive than the NL. The choice between them depends upon how big of a FOV do you want. Also, with all the issues with Swarovski's armor, you might be safer with the SLC because there seems to be more issues with cracked armor on the EL and possibly NL or get a pre-2015 EL. Read the thread about the Swarovski armor problems.
Problem with green coating of EL SV 8x32
I’m no expert on materials or binoculars. Is there some reason rubber, a natural product, cannot be used?! One problem with rubber is whilst it is reasonably biodegradeable in it's natural state, to have a useable product it's generally mixed with other substances and you end up with...
www.birdforum.net
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