This method was already under discussion in this thread:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=130629
I would suggest reading that first for the many excellent comments. Ed (elkcub) and Ron (Surveyor) in particular have produced elaborations on the test that go beyond anything I’m equipped to do.
My original idea here was to produce a simple “picture” of color bias and light transmission that gives the viewer an experience similar to comparing paint sample chips at a paint store. It’s very difficult to judge exact color hues and light values in isolation but when two very similar colors are placed next to each other the differences become obvious.
The technique is illustrated in the sequence of photos below beginning at the left.
1) A white piece of paper (backside of a piece of Canon Photo Paper) is photographed in sunlight with a Nikon D40.
2) A binocular (old Swarovski 8x30 Porro with early “Transmax” multicoating) is positioned between the camera and the paper with the objective end pointing toward the camera and a second photo is made using the same exposure.
3) A crop is made of the circle of light that has passed through the binocular optics and that crop is superimposed on the original photo of the paper in PowerPoint and saved as a jpeg. Hopefully the central square in the PowerPoint slide looks yellower and darker than the surrounding original color on everyone’s monitor. If not, this isn’t working.
As was shown on the earlier thread, a number of binoculars can be tested together and images juxtaposed in various combinations for comparison. My hope is to continue adding test results of different binoculars to this thread, starting with a high end test to include Zeiss FL, Nikon SE, Swarovski EL and Leica Ultravid. That may take another week or so, but I’ll be happy if someone else beats me to it. Anyone is welcome to post results using this test here.
I missed the earlier thread until now. Fantastic idea. I look forward to seeing the results.
Henry, some very quick, rough numbers for your sample pictures. The color shift looks similar, a little less, to the Nikon E's. The transmission appears way to high to me. This may be as simple as having to keep the camera and binocular objectives close together to keep light from outside the bino field over exposing the desired light chip segment. You may comment on your recollection of the spacing or field of view.
Ed may come up with better RGB values than I can, I do not have Photoshop and am sampling with a Icon maker program that probably is not as good.
Best
Ron