I have been enjoying the wisdom and humour contained in this forum for several years and having just become a member thought that some of you may be interested in my own "Optics odyssey". The first ten years of my working life were spent as a commercial photographer and during that time I developed an interest in and appreciation of top quality lenses. My first binocular was bought on impulse from the Pentax rep who made me an offer I could not refuse! what a revelation, those little 8x30s were fantastic, the first day out with them I remember seeing tiny water droplets on a Swans wings reflecting the light - I was hooked. Those first glasses were soon "upgraded" to 8x30 Ziess Dialyt, I don't believe they were an improvement really but I used them happily for the next 20 odd years along with a Swift 20x60 spotting scope.
Then a friend showed me his new Leica 7x42 Trinovid, then he lent them to me for a week, my old Zeiss didn't seem quite as satisfying anymore. I told my wife that when I retired I was going to treat myself to a new binocular and scope, why wait? she said, get them now. So for several months I haunted camera shops and optics days gradually learning what most of you already know, that having looked at the wares of "the big four" you would rather not settle for lesser offerings,"you get what you pay for" is generally true in the world of optics.
The time eventually came to stop looking and start buying so I drove up to Bath to a shop that stocked all of the brands that had impressed me, I was sure that I would return home with either a Leica 8x42 Ultravid and a Televid Apo77 or a Swarovski EL 8.5x42 and ATS 80mm scope. What I did bring home was a Nikon 8x32HG and a 30x Fieldscope ED60. After extensive comparisons these proved to be the best for me. All binoculars and scopes are subject to compromises, size, weight, colour balance etc and Nikon, in my view, were the closest to ideal, I soon added a 10x42HG and now seven years later I have never regretted my choices, I am amazed and delighted every time I look through all of them.
I continued to visit shops and optics days since then in my eternal but futile search for "the holy grail" a super quality compact for under £100 and during those excursions I have been impressed by some of the newer offerings, the Zeiss 7x42, 8x32 and the Kowa 88 scope are all wonderful and in a notable exeption from the rule that says cheap binoculars are not very good, the Hawke Frontier 8x43 is very close optically to the top models and for around £300 is superb value.
Did I find a good compact for under a ton? no of course not! I did find a couple of superb reverse porros from Opticron and Olympus but not waterproof and not really compact, I finally accepted my own logic that something small of exellent quality could not be produced more cheaply than something large of equal quality, I bought a Leica Ultravid 8x20 and it is exeptional for such a truly pocket size binocular, my trinity is complete! (for now)
Optics are fun but getting out there and seeing birds is better.
Petroc.
Thanks. And welcome!
8x32 is still one heck of a compromise. Now there are some new 36mm models as well.
Ulysses of Devonshire,
Greetings! and thank you for sharing your optics odyssey and your search for the Holy Grail (though shouldn't that be the "Golden Fleece"?)
Penelope is a good wife for not making you wait until retirement from seafaring to buy your first good optics. Then again, perhaps she thought it would keep you at home more often and safe from the Sirens' song.
As far as the general rule that you "get what you pay for" - I would invoke the wise words of one of our optics mavens: repetition does not mean verification. (although after trying the Hawke Frontier 8x43 ED, I guess you have already learned that).
Before you retire to some far-flung Aegean isle, may I suggest that you turn that Trinity into a Quaternity with one more indulgence of Penelope's heart?
What's missing from your stable of optics is a full sized bin for dim days when a compact and even midsized bin won't cut it (like today, Sunday and Monday in Devon) and for when looking long with 10x or a scope only serves to amplify Neptune's mist and Zeus' raindrops, and for times when your HGs show the false rainbow that is revealed in the high contrast juxtaposition of a peregrine flying past the White Cliffs of Dover.
May I suggest a curative for all those ills might be found in a Nikon 7x42 EDG? Perhaps now that you are an aged' adventurer, a 6mm exit pupil is more than you can use, but there is a comfort factor in a large exit pupil none-the-less, and the depth perception of a 7x42 will lay siege to the lesser dimensionality of your 8x32 and 10x42 HGs.
… Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer bin.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The dim befuddled days; for my purpose holds
To seek the Golden Fleece, and the birds
Of all the Mediterranean shores, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the Harpy Eagle, who protects the fleece.
Chaire!
Alcinoos of the Faiacs