It seems to me that Nikon are missing something in their SE line up. Where is the 8x42?
I prefer a larger exit pupil so I would like to see an 8x42 porro that is as good (or nearly so) as the 8x32 SE.
Anyone got any suggestions?
I know the Opticron/Leupold/Minox internal focus porros are extremely good but I'm not including them due to their narrow fov.
So are there any optically excellent, wide fov (say over 7.5*) porros out there?
It's a deliberate design decision to reduce production costs.
All the SE's share the same top half of the enclosure, porro prisms and eyepieces. So all have (roughly) the same exit pupil exit pupil around 4mm.
The knew they weren't going to make a lot of the so they can make larger numbers of common parts.
You have to define "optically excellent". Flat field? Low glare?
You might consider the Vixen Foresta ZWCF 8x42. They have a 7.5 deg FOV. I have the 10x42 and they compare pretty well with the Nikon SE 10x42.