Hi, I'm new to the forum, I hope that this doesn't sound stupid and that someone can help me understand this trick of the eye.
Until recently my Nikon Monarch 8x42 were my main birding binoculars. Looking for a little more magnification, particularly for hide work, I snagged some used Opticron Imagic 10x42 poros (non-wp, mk1?) and have been happy enough between the two.
A recent "unmissable" bargain pair of Minox BL10x42BR came my way (Ebay, I'm weak) to add to the set, thinking perhaps that the Opticrons might go.
Whilst comparing them on a static scene (my neighbours chimney and TV masts @ 70yds) I became certain that each was a different magnification, just from viewing the same scene.
If the Monarchs are 8x, the Imagics 10x (my viewing was consistent with this) but the Minox BLs give a more magnified view than the 10x Imagics.
I just put this down to different manufacturers ideas of how to spec their kit, the BLs look more like 12x when compared to the 10x Imagic and 8x Monarchs, the BLs also have more contrasty image and a wider AFOV.
Still puzzled by this I held two pairs of bins and put one barrel of each to my eyes, giving a shaky double view of the chimney. This showed pretty clearly that the 10x Imagic gave a bigger image than the 8x Monarch, but the 10x Minox and the 10x Imagic give virtually identically magnified images!
Viewing through them separately I would not believe that the Minox were the same magnification as the Imagic.
Is this a trick of the eye related to AFOV/FOV or contrast?
Regards, Dave
Hi Dave, welcome!
[QUOTE=Cluster;2332399]Is this a trick of the eye related to AFOV/FOV or contrast? [/QUOTE]
It's probably the former. The Opticrons have a larger FOV than the Minox, so objects appear bigger in relation to the full image in the Minox than they do relative to the larger image in the Opticron.
I could understand if that were the case, the difference in the FOV is minimal, but slightly greater on the Imagic as you have said. The apparent FOV is quite different. Changing from the Imagic to the Minox gives a brief impression of a significantly wider view.