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What 10x25 has high contrast, bright and neutral image colors instead of warmer yellow/brown colors? (1 Viewer)

I personally find I can get used to almost any tint (the one exception is the strong yellow tint of Russian military binoculars or some of the old Swarovskis). A shame the Nikon doesn't work for you. IMO it's still one of the very best 10x25s on the market, and definitely tougher than most other makes.

Hermann
 
On some days the tint doesn't bother me at all depending on what I am looking at, but on other days it's quite strong. I'm not sure why Nikon didn't just stick to true to life colors instead of the heavy tint. I still may keep the Nikon as when I think about letting it go, all of a sudden I get remorse and want to hold onto it forever as if it's something really special, especially since I got it recently for just over $200 used in like new condition. Compared to the same model brand new, optics where identical right down to the tint.
 
I think a lot of it is down to the silver prism coatings used in many roof prism binoculars of the HG-L's vintage. I see this in eg. my P model 10x40 Dialyt, Swarovski 8x30 SLC mark II etc. I definitely think that the move to dielectric coatings (all those recommended to you - Leica, Zeiss Victory Pockets, Swarovski CL - have these), besides improving light transmission, also resulted in greater colour fidelity.

I've found that slight yellow cast (and it is in most cases quite slight) to make itself most obvious against white backgrounds eg. bright white clouds. When it's grey and murky (unfortunately often the case in UK) the slight yellow cast on top of those conditions can seem particularly displeasing. But against foliage etc. it's much less noticeable and may in some cases offer slightly more contrast. The yellower light of mid to late afternoon matches that type of colour rendition very well. At that time of the day, perceived image quality (to me anyway) is at its best.
 
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birdwatcheryes said:
On some days the tint doesn't bother me at all depending on what I am looking at, but on other days it's quite strong. I'm not sure why Nikon didn't just stick to true to life colors instead of the heavy tint. I still may keep the Nikon as when I think about letting it go, all of a sudden I get remorse and want to hold onto it forever as if it's something really special, especially since I got it recently for just over $200 used in like new condition. Compared to the same model brand new, optics where identical right down to the tint.
Click to expand...
Keep it!

Mine is over 20 years old, is a bit torn and tattered around the edges but optically is as new. Which is to say, superb.

It has been retired gracefully to the car boot/trunk as one of the eyecups has lost its locating pins. It has been replaced by a Swaro Pocket CL 10x25 which is very nice but sharpness wise they are neck and neck.....to me.

I see that they are still available here on Amazon UK, not sure if the coatings have changed but the very slight yellow cast has never bothered me.
 
PatR said:
Keep it!

Mine is over 20 years old, is a bit torn and tattered around the edges but optically is as new. Which is to say, superb.

It has been retired gracefully to the car boot/trunk as one of the eyecups has lost its locating pins. It has been replaced by a Swaro Pocket CL 10x25 which is very nice but sharpness wise they are neck and neck.....to me.

I see that they are still available here on Amazon UK, not sure if the coatings have changed but the very slight yellow cast has never bothered me.
Click to expand...

I've decided to keep it after using it some more as it's a hard one to let go!
 
Patudo said:
I think a lot of it is down to the silver prism coatings used in many roof prism binoculars of the HG-L's vintage. I see this in eg. my P model 10x40 Dialyt, Swarovski 8x30 SLC mark II etc. I definitely think that the move to dielectric coatings (all those recommended to you - Leica, Zeiss Victory Pockets, Swarovski CL - have these), besides improving light transmission, also resulted in greater colour fidelity.

I've found that slight yellow cast (and it is in most cases quite slight) to make itself most obvious against white backgrounds eg. bright white clouds. When it's grey and murky (unfortunately often the case in UK) the slight yellow cast on top of those conditions can seem particularly displeasing. But against foliage etc. it's much less noticeable and may in some cases offer slightly more contrast. The yellower light of mid to late afternoon matches that type of colour rendition very well. At that time of the day, perceived image quality (to me anyway) is at its best.
Click to expand...

Same here in BC, many cloudy days from October thru March. Very true about mid afternoon as it seems to be amazing around then on sunny days. I did a mini review over at cloudynights comparing the HG-L vs the Athlon G2 UHD 10x25 and I remember writing about looking at Pelicans on the lake when it was sunny and the water was shimmering and the Nikon really shinned then. For cloudy days or where there is a lot of white the Athlon is completely neutral and everything looks amazing. After using both for awhile now, I can't really tell any difference in sharpness between the two so I may just end up keeping both and be done with it.

Whenever I travel, if I ever find a store that has the Leica and Swarovski, I still want to look thru them.
 
birdwatcheryes said:
I remember writing about looking at Pelicans on the lake when it was sunny and the water was shimmering and the Nikon really shinned then.
Click to expand...

I think when it's intensely bright and harsh in the way you describe (for me, most often at times of year when the sun seems to make bright white clouds glow with light), that slight yellow cast can help take off the edge of that harshness, a bit like wearing sunglasses. It's helpful in those specific circumstances, but ... all things considered I have to admit I prefer dielectric coated prisms because of better perceived clarity (combo of slightly greater light transmission and more neutral colour rendition). I might not think the same if the background to so much of my viewing wasn't white cloud though.
 
Patudo said:
I think when it's intensely bright and harsh in the way you describe (for me, most often at times of year when the sun seems to make bright white clouds glow with light), that slight yellow cast can help take off the edge of that harshness, a bit like wearing sunglasses. It's helpful in those specific circumstances, but ... all things considered I have to admit I prefer dielectric coated prisms because of better perceived clarity (combo of slightly greater light transmission and more neutral colour rendition). I might not think the same if the background to so much of my viewing wasn't white cloud though.
Click to expand...

I agree. If I had to choose between the Athlon 10x25 with the dielectric coating and the Nikon 10x25 with the Silver coating it would under most circumstances be the dielectric. The realistic colours alone make it my choice. I was watching a bird yesterday, not sure what bird but it was very large, Grey head with white and black streaks, very spiky feathers at the end of the wings etc, could have been a stalk, but looking at it with both binoculars it was really a no contest as the one with true to life colours was incredible in every way whereas the Nikon took away a lot of the effect of the brilliant, black, grey and white colours and streaks.
 

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