I will be uprgrading my bins to either the standard Leica Ultravid 8x32, Zeiss 8x32FL or Swaro EL 8x32 later this year (40th birthday present).
What I am wondering is should I be looking at an 8x42 rather than the 8x32 models?
I go birding and general wild life watching and have a spotting scope for the longer distance stuff.
(Currently I have a pair of Opticron Imagics 8x42 and they are okay but I would like a more compact pair of bins but don't really want to compromise on viewing quality)
Its the Zeiss, Swaro or Leica for me (I'm sure Nikon etc are very good but its the three makes listed I'm soley interested in)
Help - what do most wild life watchers plumb for the 8x32 or 8x42?
Thanks for your time
8x42
bigger exit pupil size, brighter image (more lite comes in), easier to align, fewer chromatic abberations.
Tough decision. I really like my (cheap..250 dollars) 8x32s. At the mid price level, you get wide field here.Try them out. You will have a wider field of view than your current 8x42s with any of these.
But since you will not be buying both 8x32 and 8x42, best to see them both.FOV not that different at top end models.
I actually found Swaro 8.5x42s attractive, but the weight is a lot more, and the price a little bit.
For Leica, the 8x42s have one lighter model and all Leica 8x42 have a wide fov.