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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. D

    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    The MHG 8x30 has better CA correction, especially on the edge. That is one weak point of the CL 8x30. Kind of surprising too because usually Swaro uses high-end glass and they have excellent coatings.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    The 40 mm is a good compromise if you do a lot of different types of birding. It has enough light for low light and it is light.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    The choice between a 32 mm and a 42 mm depends on how you bird. If you bird mostly in the daytime in open areas and hike a lot, get the 32 mm. If you bird a lot at dawn or in twilight or in more forested area or under canopy like in Costa Rica, get the 42 mm.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    I have the NL 8x32 and I had the NL 10x42. I was like you in that I preferred the NL 8x32 for the smaller size, bigger FOV, better DOF and the fact that I could hold it steady. The NL 10x42 is almost a 32 oz. binocular, and it is big. That is why I sold it and I replaced it with a Canon 12x36 IS...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    You don't. If FOV isn't important, get a smaller 8x32, like a UVHD 8x32. There are disadvantages to a huge FOV and one of them is the size of the binoculars.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Because the NL 8x42 is much bigger and almost 10 oz. heavier than the NL 8x32. The NL 8x32 is only a 23 oz. binocular, which is about average for an 8x32. If you want the huge FOV of the NL 8x32, you have to have a slightly longer binocular because of the complex eyepieces. It is just personal...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Most 30 mm binoculars are going to have more difficult eye placement. I think the exit pupil is just starting to get a little small. I have always found a 32 mm or above to have much easier eye placement.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Exactly. I compared the NL 8x32 and SFL 8x40 and IMO there was no contest. The NL was superior in almost every way. Especially FOV, edge sharpness and transparency. The SFL is not near as transparent as the NL. It is almost like there is a film over the view compared to the NL.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    I get more of the immersive feel from a larger AFOV with sharp edges than I do with the field curvature from a Leica. It feels like that huge FOV is just surrounding me, and I am in the middle of it. A lot of the immersive feel I get with the NL comes also from the transparency of the view also...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Fuzzy edges are fuzzy edges to me. The degree of fuzziness means nothing to me. If they are fuzzy, they are fuzzy and it bothers me. Fuzzy edges have become one of the first things I look for in a binocular. Even if I don't look directly at the edges, I can tell if the edges are not sharp. I...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Swarovision EL 8x32 is the NLL. If you want a 30 mm, try the CL 8x30. It is an excellent binocular. Pretty close to the SFL 8x30 for fewer dineros.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Did you get all the remnants cleaned up?
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    I am glad you finally agree with me about the edge sharpness. I believe, as Albinos said, Nikon would have been better off designing the MHG with a slightly smaller FOV which would allow for sharper edges. I find the softer edges on the MHG distracting, but that is personal preference because it...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Well if you don't believe Allbinos do you believe Dr. Holger Merlitz? I think he knows a little more than you or Canip about binoculars and in his review of the CL 8x30 and the NHG 8x30 he also says the CL has sharper edges and handles glare better than the MHG. Here is his full review and some...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Sorry, but I compared all those binoculars back to back because I had them all, and I agree almost 100% with Allbinos. Allbinos is one of the few review sites that is objective. Canip's reviews are all subjective, and he is incorrect if he says the the MHG has sharper edges than the CL. That...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    I compared the MHG 8x30, CL 8x30 and the UVHD+ 8x32 side by side and without a doubt the MHG has the fuzziest edges of the 3. The CL had the sharpest edges and the UVHD+ was in the middle. The MHG is also by far the worst of the three for glare. Allbinos is correct in their findings. They were...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    How about glare? The Leica UVHD+ are superb when it comes to glare control, being very well baffled.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    The fuzzy edges and glare were the main reason I returned the Nikon MHG 8x30. They are way fuzzier and have way more glare than the CL 8x30 or UVHD 8x32. From Allbinos on the Nikon MHG 8x30. "Unfortunately, the FIELD FLATTENER inscription on the casing of the binoculars seems to be just a joke...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    I found the CL 8x30 to have better edge sharpness than the MHG 8x30 and UVHD 8x32 when I had them, and Allbinos did too. Swarovski's usually have sharp edges. It runs in the family. Swarovski CL 8x30 Blurring at the edge of the FOV Blur occurs at a distance of 92.5% ± 3% from the field of...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Nah, it doesn't work that way with binoculars. Binoculars are used at a much lower magnification than telescopes, and you have much more light coming through the objective using a binocular in the daytime versus using a telescope at night looking at a faint object. Because of the lower...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    I like ergonomics also, but optics are first. The NL has superb ergonomics with its wasp waist shape that contours to your hands and excellent eye cups, and it blows a CL and Retrovid out of the water when it comes to optics.
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Yes, but Zeiss orthoscopics will actually increase resolution on planetary objects like the moon versus a Nagler because with a telescope you are using a much higher magnification than a binocular and you don't need a huge FOV to look at a planet. All the binoculars like the NL with huge FOV's...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    A large FOV is just personal preference, but I bet if you polled 100 birders, it would be in their top three qualities desired in their binoculars. If it wasn't Zeiss and Swarovski would not have developed the SF and NL with their huge FOV. it is also a big reason Swarovski outsells most other...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    Exactly! The Cl's compete very well with the MHG and SFL at the same price point. I think the CL's are better than the MHG and as Canip says above there isn't much difference between them and the SFL, and they are less expensive. I don't think the 23 oz. weight of the NL 8x32 is too heavy. The...
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    The Zeiss SFL 8x30 compared with select current 8x30/8x32 roof binoculars

    I bet they sell many more NL's and SF's than they do MHG's, SFL's and Retro's. Swarovski and Zeiss know what sells, and a big FOV sells binoculars. I see no trend towards a smaller FOV in the top alpha binoculars. People consider the FOV the number one specification when they are paying $3000...
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