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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nessus" data-source="post: 1401989" data-attributes="member: 73076">Ok so I went to Cameraland in NYC to check out both bins. I eliminated the 15x although I can see why someone would choose it, it was very powerful with a nice image.  I took home the 12x45 and was testing it out next to my Monarch 10x42 and I was shocked how little of a difference there was. I was expecting a bigger jump in my ability to resolve an image and for the extra energy I was putting into steadying them I didn't really feel I was getting anything better. I could never quite get the focus as sharp and crisp as my Conquest 8x30's which have a center field image that's phenomenal. So I called Mark at Cameraland about trading up to a Leica Ultravid 10x42 or Zeiss FL 10x42 and he said come on in. I tried both and liked the warmth of the Leica better but they didn't have the leather one I was trying only rubber which has deep thumbgrooves that were annoying when I put my thumbs straight to steady them. I bought them anyway but didn't leave the area and went sight seeing in Manhattan looking at building and crowds, I even went into a dark church. After a little while of that I was less impressed with the Leicas. The image is crisp and beautiful but when the chips are down they didn't overcome as well as thought they would, especially in low light or through my tinted windows on my car. And there was a about 1/16 of inch of travel in the focus knob, an issue I had seen mentioned before. That plus the thumb guards the ten year warranty as opposed to the Zeiss lifetime transferable and that the eyecups didn't come out as far and sometimes my eyelash interfered made me take them back for the Zeiss FL 10x42's. I got the demo non Lotutec for $1450 USD and then took them back to the same places I was just at with the Leica. WOW Big difference. Yes the Leica can be slightly more pleasing with a richer color when it's sunny but in general the Zeiss just outperforms it. In the church or down shadowed blocks especially and even through my tinted windows. Overall I think the Zeiss is the better glass for my needs. So my search for the best possible high magnification view I could get out of a sub 50 millimeter objective led back down to high quality ten power as opposed to more magnification. I'd just like to add that Mark who I dealt with at CamerlandNY was fantastic and they were very generous with the testing times and returns. Some of you might know Doug from there already. They just got in about ten boxes full of high quality demos from a show or exhibition, if you're in the market and could use a break on the price you might want to check them out.<a href="http://www.cameralandny.com/" target="_blank">http://www.cameralandny.com/</a> Honorable mention to the Pentax DCF 10x50, it's very good.</blockquote>

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