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Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 3278250" data-attributes="member: 665">Yeah, clowns can be scary, but so is that "Clockwork Orange" cartoon animal in your avatar! Kostas it is! Did you ever watch the movie "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?" Part of it was filmed in Greece, and there was an American actor who played a young Greek guy in the movie named Kostas, who was the romantic interest of one of the "sisters." His Greek accent was terrible, though. You must be a young guy yourself to be able to chase swifts and swallows with the 8x42 TED. I tried using it for close-in birding, and I can't get it in focus fast enough before the bird flies away because my focus accommodation ain't what it used to be and the depth of focus is very shallow even though the stiction of the focus is quite good, better than the 8x32 model, which is a little on the loose side, more like how you described the Conquest. I've been interested in the 8x42 Conquest HD ever since I saw the extreme testing video. Not that I would put it through any of those stresses, but it's nice to know that in case you did drop it or bang it that it would not only survive but keep working. The ergonomics of the TED and Conquest HD look very similar. Do you find that true? I prefer the open hinge style of the 8x32 TED to the closed bridge style of the 8x42 TED. More comfortable to hold, but the 8x42's images are steadier due to the extra weight. I took the 8x32 SE and 8x42 TED to a look out point where I can see for miles and miles and miles (oh yeah), but with the heat wave, not much was in clear focus. A red tail hawk circling overhead came closer and closer, and being away from the ground, the air was more stable. I watched it with the SE and the TED and I couldn't believe it, but I liked the view through the 8x42 TED better than the SE! The image was larger and even though that shouldn't matter in terms of resolution and likely the 8x32 SE has higher resolution (it's so "sharp" it almost gave me a corneal abrasion <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />),  but my eyesight isn't so great so the larger image scale helped me see details better, and the ED glass also controlled CA well, and it was easier to follow with the TED than with the SE. What the TED lacks is a wide FOV, and even the Conquest is only a few tenths of a degree more. Not that it mattered in this situation, but for close-in birding, I prefer a wide FOV to spot birds more easily and to watch interactions among them. Brock</blockquote>

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