Has anyone evaluated the Oberwerk Mariner 8x40? I was browsing EdZ's CN small binocular reports and was intrigued by the pair.
Firstly, I realise it's a brick, and in reality an 8x32 brick. At 34oz/932g it's not going to be everyone’s choice for an afternoons birding. An internal baffle cuts down the effective aperture to ~32mm so it looses out a bit to the real x40s, but it was the comparison to the Nikon 8x32SE that caught my eye.
Some of the figures from the report.
SE, Mariner
Brightness (lux) 603 630
Resolution (boosted) 5.7 5.1
FOV 7.6 8.0
'Usable' FOV 7.6 5.8
It seems that optically it was at least the match of the SE, but the field curvature of the Oberwerk 'spoiled' the edge performance. Given the UK price of the Oberwerk is about one quarter of the Nikon price it might offer an oddball waterproof alternative. I should point out that the similarly priced and much lighter Nikon Action EX did better overall than the Oberwerk and probably the sensible option.
Anyone tried it for birding?
David
[QUOTE=typo;2199936]Has anyone evaluated the Oberwerk Mariner 8x40? I was browsing EdZ's CN small binocular reports and was intrigued by the pair.
Firstly, I realise it's a brick, and in reality an 8x32 brick. At 34oz/932g it's not going to be everyone’s choice for an afternoons birding. An internal baffle cuts down the effective aperture to ~32mm so it looses out a bit to the real x40s, but it was the comparison to the Nikon 8x32SE that caught my eye.
Some of the figures from the report.
SE, Mariner
Brightness (lux) 603 630
Resolution (boosted) 5.7 5.1
FOV 7.6 8.0
'Usable' FOV 7.6 5.8
It seems that optically it was at least the match of the SE, but the field curvature of the Oberwerk 'spoiled' the edge performance. Given the UK price of the Oberwerk is about one quarter of the Nikon price it might offer an oddball waterproof alternative. I should point out that the similarly priced and much lighter Nikon Action EX did better overall than the Oberwerk and probably the sensible option.
Anyone tried it for birding?
David[/QUOTE]
David,
I hate to contradict the professor, but I think his resolution measurements for the 8x32 SE are at least SOA off. Perhaps his sample was under par?
I personally have found the SEs very consistent in resolution, even samples that were a decade apart in manufacturing, but I did read one review where one of the 8x SE's EPs had lower resolution than the other, so the reviewer averaged them together and that came to a lower value than the best side.
EdZ's 10x42 SE resolution is a good match at 3.6 SOA with Stephen Ingraham's measurement of 3.56 SOA.
Steve (mooreorless) and I measured the boosted resolution of the 8x32 SE a while back, and it was better than 5 SOA. Steve, if you're reading this and you remember the resolution number for the 8x32 or have tested your current model, please post the results. Thanks.
B&H is selling the 8x32 SE for $549.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/146143-USA/Nikon_7381_8x32_Premier_SE_Binocular.html
Not sure what that comes to with VAT and shipping, but probably less than what they are selling for in the UK.
I had a couple Obbies and was not at all impressed with their mechanical fortitude or lack of ability to stay in collimation. But those weren't from the Mariner series, which is supposed to be more robusto.
But ultimately, if you can afford to buy the 8x32 SE, and don't need WP, why carry around a 35 oz. 8x32 when you can buy a 22 oz. 8x32 that is considered by many to be a reference standard?
You can also buy an 8x30 EII for less than an 8x32 SE in the UK. Forgot the prices, check the Nikon thread started by Moorcroft, I think someone posted the price of the EII vs. SE on there.
Brock
5.7 arcsec would be seriously bad for an 8x32 SE. Both sides of mine measure about 4 arcsec.