I just found this thread.
Vieux Campeur have a lot of demo stock, Noctivid, EL. Le Monde de l'Observation have SF but they may not have the EL. The two shops are a 15 minutes walk from each other, but it's much easier to try at Vieux Campeur, they will let you take the bin to the door, and there are usually some corvids perched at the Jussieu entrance about 3-400 metres away. The corvids killed the Noct for me, I got dazzled by the cloudy sky, a very unpleasant feeling that my Leica UV HD do not evoke even though they are said inferior to the Noct. None of these binoculars can be called mediocre however.
My take on SV vs. SF vs Noct is that I can't use the SV because of the IPD, but it seems very nice with nice color, the SF seems totally unbeatable for the view but color is not so good, the Noct simply didn't cut it, it's not in the same league as the two first IMHO. An SF is on my wish list, but my subsequent buy of the incredible Zeiss Pocket has momentarily quieted the acquisitive thirst - sometimes good is just about good enough. I can only speak of the samples I tried. All binoculars are not built equal, there is substantial sample variation and it is prudent to buy only what you try.
There is a new Zeiss SF 10x32 which is rumored to be optically very nice and should be hitting the streets soon.
I'm not a birdwatcher, I'm just a painter. Your mileage may vary.
Edmund
PS. If you get a chance try the Zeiss Victory Pocket, you may find they solve your bin problem in an unexpected way.
Vieux Campeur have a lot of demo stock, Noctivid, EL. Le Monde de l'Observation have SF but they may not have the EL. The two shops are a 15 minutes walk from each other, but it's much easier to try at Vieux Campeur, they will let you take the bin to the door, and there are usually some corvids perched at the Jussieu entrance about 3-400 metres away. The corvids killed the Noct for me, I got dazzled by the cloudy sky, a very unpleasant feeling that my Leica UV HD do not evoke even though they are said inferior to the Noct. None of these binoculars can be called mediocre however.
My take on SV vs. SF vs Noct is that I can't use the SV because of the IPD, but it seems very nice with nice color, the SF seems totally unbeatable for the view but color is not so good, the Noct simply didn't cut it, it's not in the same league as the two first IMHO. An SF is on my wish list, but my subsequent buy of the incredible Zeiss Pocket has momentarily quieted the acquisitive thirst - sometimes good is just about good enough. I can only speak of the samples I tried. All binoculars are not built equal, there is substantial sample variation and it is prudent to buy only what you try.
There is a new Zeiss SF 10x32 which is rumored to be optically very nice and should be hitting the streets soon.
I'm not a birdwatcher, I'm just a painter. Your mileage may vary.
Edmund
PS. If you get a chance try the Zeiss Victory Pocket, you may find they solve your bin problem in an unexpected way.
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