BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="ronh" data-source="post: 1547192" data-attributes="member: 55514">Newfie,It looks like a choice between light gathering and convenience. I have not tried that Nikon, and its eye relief would be an important consideration. The Garrett's larger size is not as much as an advantage in very low light as the 70mm specs indicate however, because like many lower priced binoculars, internal stops reduce the effective aperture, in this case to 63mm. (In hindsight, that is probably why the color error appears reduced from the Fujinon, which is a true 70 mm, as are the Ultras) This has been measured by EdZ over on the CN forum, and I confirmed it with my sample. The 50mm Nikons are very close to spec, about 49mm as I recall from EdZ's reviews. Still, if you are up glassing at the first grey light, 63 true mm is an advantage, maybe worth the difficulties of the large size, which you are also used to.From what Zack G. says on the website and from other people's reports, that Garrett has exactly the same optics as the Oberwerk you owned before, and it is only an improvement in the housing. Given your familiarity with what the Garrett will be like, I would be inclined to order the Nikon for a quick no-obligation trial. If you can get away with the smaller instrument, you win, but if you don't like it, you could then quite confidently order the Garrett in time to make your hunt.Ron</blockquote>