Chosun Juan
Given to Fly
Swarovski SLC 10x56 is clearly better.
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Chosun 🙅
Hello. With Habicht 10x40W and EL 10x50FP, I can say that EL is noticeably brighter for me in almost all use cases. I am 46 years old, but I did not measure how much my pupils can expand.So what is important as we age? Would a Habicht 10x40 with 95% transmission or would a Meopta Meostar 10x50 with 88% transmission be brighter for a 60 year old birder? If transmission and exit pupil don't make that much difference the binoculars would have the same apparent brightness.
A 10x50 has about 56% more "light gathering" area compared to a 10x40. Since the magnifications are the same, the percentages apply to the areas of exit pupils and objecives:Could you show how you would do the calculations? Math was not my best subject in school. Which binoculars would be better in low light?
Swarovski SLC 10x56
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Chosun 🙅
A) Why?Swarovski SLC 10x56 is clearly better.
Chosun 🙅
Maybe better but brighter maybe not. Has anybody ever compared an SLC 10x56 to an HT 10x54 for brightness?Swarovski SLC 10x56 is clearly better.
Chosun 🙅
Thanks! That is a good comparison. Two top binoculars with different apertures and transmissions. Probably a 10 mm aperture advantage is hard to overcome even by a high transmission binocular like the Habicht 10x40W. Excellent Post!Hello. With Habicht 10x40W and EL 10x50FP, I can say that EL is noticeably brighter for me in almost all use cases. I am 46 years old, but I did not measure how much my pupils can expand.
That would be great! That is what I am looking for. Thanks!A 10x50 has about 56% more "light gathering" area compared to a 10x40. Since the magnifications are the same, the percentages apply to the areas of exit pupils and objecives:
ratio exit pupils area [%] = d1^2 / d2^2 * 100% = 5^2 / 4^2 * 100% ~ 156%
Also, the eye pupils of most old people will reach 5 mm diameter. The difference in transmission values according post #1 (I would look at twilight values) is only 95% - 88% = 7%, ratio = 95/88 * 100% ~ 108%, difference = 8%. So take the 10x50. For interested readers with mathematical knowledge, I will write a longer article on how to calculate using the Merlitz-document (Berek-formula), taking into account the ambient brightness, magnification and transmission - and make a nice diagram. Santa Claus whispered ideas to me tonight.
That is true but if you know your pupil size and the yellowing of the eye lens is what causes us to need more light as we get older wouldn't a higher transmission binocular still be beneficial?The question posed as title of this thread can not be answered directly, since the eyes differ quite a bit between ageing persons . In general there are two phenomena that affect the aging eye:
-1- Maximum pupil size is generally decreasing with increasing age (but the amount differs between different persons)
-2- Ageing eyes often suffer of yellowing of the eye lens, making higher transmission of binoculars less effective.
The only way one can find out is to try different binoculars at different light levels.
Gijs van Ginkel
Just finished studying the document by Dr. Merlitz that @Sterngucker thankfully linked. I found out that the transmission is taken into account in the results. The curves include an assumed transmission of 90%. At my area ratio calculation at post #22, we found that the lens diameters (40 versus 50 mm) sensibly considered in large differences has the most effect in twilight than the small transmission differences of modern (and expensive) binoculars. This is also shown by the diagrams Fig. 5 (page 5) and Fig. 6 (page 6) in the Merlitz paper. You should have a close look at them, that is enough for a theoretical estimation. No further work is necessary, Dr. Merlitz was diligent and is clever. With the computation of the curve sheaf for diagram Fig. 6 (page 6) he has also calculated for older observers.That would be great! That is what I am looking for. Thanks!
I received the Kite Lynx +10x50, and it had a hair on the inside surface of the objective lens and what was really weird is that the IPD adjustment wasn't quite narrow enough for my eyes. I have never encountered that problem before with all the binoculars I have had. I wasn't honestly over impressed with the build quality of it either for a $1K binocular. It had a label on the front of the focuser knob that looked like a cheap decal. The Kite Lynx + 10x50 was pretty good optically with a big FOV. The Kite 16x42 APC Stabilizer binocular I bought developed problems right away with the stabilization system, and it had glare issues so both Kites went back to Belgium. I am not to impressed with Kites at this point although the dealer was excellent. I told him to send me some Belgium Chocolates. I ordered a Fujinon FMTR-SX 10x50 for my handheld astronomy binocular. Sometimes I look at the night sky when it is clear outside.Dennis,
Why not compare your 10X40 Habicht and your Kite 10X50 in varying conditions during daylight/dawn/dusk, and determine what you think, then use both under the night sky.
Andy W.
Thanks! Merry Christmas to you too and Stay Safe! Hopefully a vaccine is on the way for this COVID virus. I am getting bored with staying home! My wife and I are getting on each other's nerves!Dennis, post 30,
Yes, if you know your maximum pupil size you can then decide for a binocular with appropriate exit pupil and high maximum transmission.
Nice Christmas puzzle and in the meantime I wish you a MERRRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR with many new binoculars to discover.
Gijs van Ginkel
Thanks Omid for post #14 - i hadn't heard much of that before and even better - i actually followed it! A few more factual bits and pieces to put in my limited scientific armoury.
Thanks for pointing me at the New Horizons II thread. Engrossing.You are most welcome! I am glad at least one person found my scientific explanations useful. Interestingly, the facts I presented were completely ignored just a few posts down (post # 23) where Jessie went back to the false notion of equating geometric area of the exit pupil as indicative of brightness. Even more interestingly, the original poster loved those false calculations and happily announced that he has found what he was looking for (post # 29)!!! This is all very beautiful and entertaining
I'll copy my post into my own thread New Horizons II and let it stay there for future reference.
@ Gijs (post #25): You pointed to a very important fact about human eye as we age: The eye lens looses transmission, gets yellowish and also develops dark patches which eventually turn into a Cataract.
-Omid