Product Review: Nikon E II 8 x 30. (1 Viewer)

[brocknroller]

Cheers for that Jan.

I've been doing some cold weather (<5 C) experiments with both my EII 8 x 30 and 10x 35 E. I use gloves when handling them so as not to transfer too much heat from my bare hands. On windy days, I encounter no problems with the ocular lenses fogging up but on colder, still days with no wind, they can fog up quickly. I've found a new antifogging spray from Zeiss which is applied with a microfibre cloth to both the ocular and objective lenses. I use it on those windless cold days. It works well to rapidly disperse any accidental fog on the lenses. Lasts for about 72 hours.

In addition, I leave their desiccant filled plastic containers in a cold outhouse and just put them in there once I come back in. Then I bring them into a cool back lobby before finally storing them at room temperature. Zero fogging so far! Just takes a bit of organisation on my part!

Best wishes,

Neil.

View attachment 1481248

Good advice! I will try it.

This is how I modified my E2s. They hang a bit more comfortable now but not really worth the effort. The rubber cuffs make for a better protection of the objective lenses and a safer stand, though. They're from a motor scooter spare part supplier. You View attachment 1451443

You can also buy Butler or Bushwacker covers, which give you more room for your hands, but DIYer covers work, too!

 

[Dipperdapper]

Dear Brock,



Many thanks for your feedback and my apologies for not responding sooner. I’ve been nursing the mother of all head colds that’s pretty much knocked me for six for over a week now.

I sense a real kindred spirit in you regarding Porro prism binoculars. My little Nikon E II 8 x 30 remains my favourite binocular. Just like the proofs of a mathematical theorem, the sheer, elegant simplicity of a well-executed Porro prism design greatly appeals to my mind.

The little EII is still a world class instrument, even when one considers 21st century roof prism models. And while top roofs may edge the Nikon E II out, the improvements are at best, subtle. The views through the E II are uniquely immersive, what with its enormous and well corrected field of view and that marvellous 3D impression no roof prism binocular can reproduce. Ergonomically, I’ve yet to hold an instrument that fits my hands as well as the E II. Its buttery smooth focus wheel is ideal for birding and my particular instrument can focus down to 1.97m.


I think the lack of waterproofing on the EII is rather overstated. We’ve become such a timorous bunch haven’t we? I mean, you’d be forgiven for garnering the impression birding only began when waterproof binoculars were invented. What did folk do for decades before the advent of the nitrogen purged and o ring sealed instruments? They just got on with it! And there’s a sizeable body of literature out there that proves my point!

If I’m out on a walk and the heavens begin to open, I just stick the little 8 x 30 in my coat pocket. As I said elsewhere, I don’t glass in wet weather as the visibility is poor, and no binocular – even one with glass mined from the asteroid belt – can change that. So far I’ve found that storing my desiccant-filled Tupperware case in a dry, unheated outdoor shed solves the internal fogging issue.

And if per chance it does fog up one day: no big deal – I’ll just dry it out in a warm airing cupboard and get on with it.


I’m envious of your collection of classic Porros. I’m not a collector myself. In my world, if it isn’t getting used it gets shifted and I just wouldn’t be able to find the time to enjoy them all. That’s why I stick to a small number – a handful really – of binoculars for personal use, to cover all my daylight and night time excursions; and these include roofs and Porro prism models.



With best wishes,



Neil.

 

[William Lewis]

Love a porro.

The Nikon eii 8x30's next on my list - none are my main birding bin at present but they are still a joy to own and use.

I'm going to be using a classic carton 10x50 porro when the weather's fine for a bit before then though, bought for £36 in timewarp condition, a quick trip to optrep and back and it's working like new. I'll post up a few impressions when I've plenty of hours under its belt, no relevance to anyone I suspect but the process gives me an excuse to use them and a great deal of pleasure.

 

[Dipperdapper]

Sounds charming William. Enjoy!

Regards,

Neil.

 

[Dipperdapper]

Been performing some experiments on whether the Nikon EII 8 x 30 and 10 x 35 E can be used in challenging winter conditions:

Further Adventures with my Nikon E Porro Prism Binoculars. | Neil English.net

Conclusion: Yep, no problem.

 

[William Lewis]

Been performing some experiments on whether the Nikon EII 8 x 30 and 10 x 35 E can be used in challenging winter conditions:

Further Adventures with my Nikon E Porro Prism Binoculars. | Neil English.net

Conclusion: Yep, no problem.

Top work Neil! I've had the 8x30 Eii on my wish list for a few years but was slightly concerned about the weather proofing issue as I would intend to use them when hiking and camping. You've helped lay these concerns to rest.

All the best and have a great Christmas

Will

 

[Dipperdapper]

Hello Will,

You'll be thrilled to bits with the E II. It still gives me goose bumps every time I look through it!

Many happy returns to you & yours.

Neil.

 

[Zedster]

I think the lack of waterproofing on the EII is rather overstated. We’ve become such a timorous bunch haven’t we? I mean, you’d be forgiven for garnering the impression birding only began when waterproof binoculars were invented. What did folk do for decades before the advent of the nitrogen purged and o ring sealed instruments? They just got on with it! And there’s a sizeable body of literature out there that proves my point!

If I’m out on a walk and the heavens begin to open, I just stick the little 8 x 30 in my coat pocket. As I said elsewhere, I don’t glass in wet weather as the visibility is poor, and no binocular – even one with glass mined from the asteroid belt – can change that. So far I’ve found that storing my desiccant-filled Tupperware case in a dry, unheated outdoor shed solves the internal fogging issue.

And if per chance it does fog up one day: no big deal – I’ll just dry it out in a warm airing cupboard and get on with it.

It depends on your use case. I had a really nice 8x30 back in the 90s and was on a birding trip to Mexico. We came out of a cloud forest into the sun and my bins were completely useless for the next 15 minutes while they de-fogged. I missed out on several species as a result. On return from that trip I bought a pair of Swarovski 8x30 SLC Mark II. Never again will I use binoculars that are not waterproof/fogproof.

That said, why AREN'T they waterproof/fogproof? Seems like that is a pretty freaking easy engineering problem to solve.

 

[brocknroller]

It depends on your use case. I had a really nice 8x30 back in the 90s and was on a birding trip to Mexico. We came out of a cloud forest into the sun and my bins were completely useless for the next 15 minutes while they de-fogged. I missed out on several species as a result. On return from that trip I bought a pair of Swarovski 8x30 SLC Mark II. Never again will I use binoculars that are not waterproof/fogproof.

That said, why AREN'T they waterproof/fogproof? Seems like that is a pretty freaking easy engineering problem to solve.

Zedster,

I agree, it depends on your needs.

I will quote from Tobias Meenie's review of the Nikon 8x32 SE where he addresses the same issue:

Cons

It is not waterproof
I would not worry about this, though. I generally do not use binoculars in pouring rain, why should I? The bears and birds hide in the bushes, the marmots underground.

Although Tobias is a wildlife photographer/videographer, I would imagine that his work doesn't take him to Tropical climates, so like me, he doesn't see the SE/E2's non-WPing as engieering problem to be solved. However, I moved last year to a mountain valley that's damp because its near water (three smaller streams combine into one Big Spring (its name) about two blocks from the house, so I do find myself using my roofs more often than I did at the house where I lived before, which was located at a 1,000 ft. elevation. I didn't limit myself to the immediate area (except during the pandemic), but the other birding areas I went to such as a local wild preserve and state parks, all of which I could use my non-WP porros since like Tobias I don't go birding in the rain.

So, for fair weather birders and those who and those who don't take birding trips to humid climates, the E2 or SE will work fine and provide an optical quality that would cost multiple times more to match with top roof prism binoculars.

I also like the 3-D view of porro prism binoculars. While the 8x42 EDG's optics are superb overall, the distant view looks compressed and 2-D compared to the SE and E2, and even somewhat compared to the Cabela 8x32 Guide roof. For close-up birding that's not an issue, but I like looking at the environment I'm birding in, and I find the 3-D porro view more natural looking in that regard. I also like to look at architecture, particularly historical architecture, with my binoculars and porros preserve the 3-D perspective of the buildings better than roofs.

I'm not sure about the engineering problem regarding WP/FP porros. The Habicht 8x30 W's focuser is reportedly a lot harder to turn than the SE or E2, which is due to it being WP/Fogproof. Tobias sent it to Swarovski to loosen up the focuser, but in doing so, it made the Habicht less watertight. He doesn't care about the WPing, it's the Habicht's high resolution, 95% light transmission, and natural colors that make it his reference standard.

Minox and Leupold have made WP/FP porros (BP and Cascades) with internal focusers like roofs, which solves the hard turning external focuser issue, but they both had a restricted FOV (6.4*). So, it might be an engineering challenge to design a wide field porro such as the E2 with an internal focuser.

 

[Zedster]

I worked as a quality engineer at an optics company for years and the issue that isn’t discussed about unsealed optics is dust. I’ve rejected more lens assemblies due to FOD than I want to remember. That’s the other side of waterproofing.

And I get that there are engineering problems but that’s just an excuse. Reminds me of when iPhones were not waterproof. Turned out to be a fairly simple problem when it mattered

I have taken my SLCs white water rafting though.

 

[puprescue]

I worked as a quality engineer at an optics company for years and the issue that isn’t discussed about unsealed optics is dust. I’ve rejected more lens assemblies due to FOD than I want to remember. That’s the other side of waterproofing.

And I get that there are engineering problems but that’s just an excuse. Reminds me of when iPhones were not waterproof. Turned out to be a fairly simple problem when it mattered

I have taken my SLCs white water rafting though.

I worked as a quality engineer at an optics company for years and the issue that isn’t discussed about unsealed optics is dust. I’ve rejected more lens assemblies due to FOD than I want to remember. That’s the other side of waterproofing.

And I get that there are engineering problems but that’s just an excuse. Reminds me of when iPhones were not waterproof. Turned out to be a fairly simple problem when it mattered

I have taken my SLCs white water rafting though.

i had a pair of Diplomat 10x25's that i carried in my pickup on the ranch [Montana] for years. had to send them to Nikon to clean the dust out twice. then in 2007 i wrote Cory Suddarth about cleaning them. he said they are nearly impossible to dustproof and not worth the cost.
i had given a pair to my dad in 1994 with a note to take care of the glass like they were camera lens [he was a hobbyist photographer]. my dad died in 2005 and going through all his optical stuff i found the Diplomat box with binoculars inside still in the cellophane wrapping. he had never used them. the box is in perfect condition today. i take the binocs out occasionally just to compare the view to newly purchased glasses. when conditions are right they give a sharper image than any binocular i own [no Alphas in my possession] , which include the SE's and E2's, LX's, Kowa 10X33's. i only use them around the house or yard and they are always kept in the original case. my most prized binoculars, but they will dust up if carried in a dry dusty climate. i suspect the SE's and E2's would also if carried in same conditions that my Diplomats were.

 

[Dipperdapper]

Hello again,

I’d like to report the results of two more experiments.

It occurred to me that a small binocular like the E II 8 x 30 being stored in a water and airtight Tupperware container with desiccant at room temperature will allow efficient diffusion of gases. The container has 20 sachets each containing 10g of activated silica gel. That ought to create a strong concentration gradient for the net diffusion of a small molecule like water vapour (molecular weight 18 which is considerably smaller than the average molecular weight of air) out of the inside of the binocular. Such a long-term storage strategy ought to thoroughly dehydrate the air in the interior of the instrument. And if that were true, I reasoned, it wouldn’t matter if I treated the binocular like any waterproof, nitrogen-gas-filled roof prism instrument. It should not fog up internally under any conditions so long as I kept to this storage routine.



I can now disclose the result of two further experiments. At five to midnight on Christmas day, I ventured outside with the EII 8 x 30. Temperature +2C, 75% humidity. The sky was clear and I enjoyed 45 minutes of stargazing wearing only light gloves. But instead of returning the instrument to the Tupperware container at the same temperature as the ambient outside air, I just brought it straight inside the house(temperature +20C) like I do with my water and fogproof roofs. The chassis quickly became covered in water as the cold metal encountered the warm inside air. The outer lenses fogged up, as I expected, but after a few minutes, I could see that the interior of the binocular did not fog up. Once it was dried down and left to further air dry, the inside remained crystal clear; no internal fogging observed! I then returned the instrument to its Tupperware container.

In a further experiment conducted on Boxing Day, I ventured out for a two hour glassing session. Temperature +3, 85 per cent humidity. This time I did not wear gloves (I did miss them however as the magnesium alloy chassis really gets cold fast). Time 12:00-14:00. Once again, I brought the instrument straight into my living room(temperature +21C) and watched what happened: once again, the chassis rapidly became drenched with condensed water, and the outer lenses fogged up. But after some of the water evaporated away, I could see that the inside of the instrument was crystal clear, with no signs of fogging. Once all the water had dispersed from the outer lenses, the instrument showed no fogging internally!



Conclusion: Storing the Nikon E II 8x 30 in this desiccant laden Tupperware container prevents internal fogging. Because the air is dry inside the instrument it should not fog up in any realistic situation I will encounter. No need to acclimatise the Tupperware container either. I can use it in much the same way as a modern roof prism binocular.


Yeeeehaaaw!

 

[Zedster]

This is certainly a cool experiment and I suppose for someone who birds at home entirely practical but not so much for trips. On the other hand I feel like it’s another example of average users being required to jump through hoops to make up for poor engineering. Although I’m not an optics engineer I’ve certainly worked with enough of them to recognize lazy design choices. Some product designer decided that was a trade off they were willing to make to hit a price point. Which I totally understand when you’re building a 100 dollar pair of bins but that’s not the market here.

 

[dries1]

I worked as a quality engineer at an optics company for years and the issue that isn’t discussed about unsealed optics is dust. I’ve rejected more lens assemblies due to FOD than I want to remember. That’s the other side of waterproofing.

And I get that there are engineering problems but that’s just an excuse. Reminds me of when iPhones were not waterproof. Turned out to be a fairly simple problem when it mattered

I have taken my SLCs white water rafting though.

What is the name of the optics company you worked at?

 

[Zedster]

What is the name of the optics company you worked at?

In my job as a supplier quality engineer I worked with a bunch of different companies. Most you’ve likely not heard of unless you are in a similar field. But ones you might have heard of include E3 and FLIR. Our focus was in MWIR though we used other wavelengths as well.

 

[PIan]

This is how I modified my E2s. They hang a bit more comfortable now but not really worth the effort. The rubber cuffs make for a better protection of the objective lenses and a safer stand, though. They're from a motor scooter spare part supplier. View attachment 1451443

Nice addition to the binocular, do you have a part number or reference that you could share? I'm interested in doing this to mine. Are these fork seal/ covers or engine mounts? Thanks

 

[albie...]

Nice addition to the binocular, do you have a part number or reference that you could share? I'm interested in doing this to mine. Are these fork seal/ covers or engine mounts? Thanks

Some of the people on Cloudy Nights were using Quake Bushwackers to extend the Nikon e2 objectives so that they hang better on your chest .
In the provided link Rich V provides a link and the size that fits the 8x30 E2.

Objective Lens Caps E2 8x30 - Binoculars - Cloudy Nights

Objective Lens Caps E2 8x30 - posted in Binoculars: A few days ago our Canadian Forces Snowbirds did a flyover . I rushed into the house to get my Nikon 8x30 E2 and when I got outside I pulled off the lens covers and put them on the patio table . In my haste I wasnt paying enough attention when...

www.cloudynights.com

 

[PIan]

Some of the people on Cloudy Nights were using Quake Bushwackers to extend the Nikon e2 objectives so that they hang better on your chest .
In the provided link Rich V provides a link and the size that fits the 8x30 E2.

Objective Lens Caps E2 8x30 - Binoculars - Cloudy Nights

Objective Lens Caps E2 8x30 - posted in Binoculars: A few days ago our Canadian Forces Snowbirds did a flyover . I rushed into the house to get my Nikon 8x30 E2 and when I got outside I pulled off the lens covers and put them on the patio table . In my haste I wasnt paying enough attention when...

www.cloudynights.com

Thanks for the link but I'm interested in the ones you have as it's more about

Some of the people on Cloudy Nights were using Quake Bushwackers to extend the Nikon e2 objectives so that they hang better on your chest .
In the provided link Rich V provides a link and the size that fits the 8x30 E2.

Objective Lens Caps E2 8x30 - Binoculars - Cloudy Nights

Objective Lens Caps E2 8x30 - posted in Binoculars: A few days ago our Canadian Forces Snowbirds did a flyover . I rushed into the house to get my Nikon 8x30 E2 and when I got outside I pulled off the lens covers and put them on the patio table . In my haste I wasnt paying enough attention when...

www.cloudynights.com

Thanks for the linky but I'm interested in the ones you have as it's more about standing the binoculars on the window sill securely than covering the objective glass
Thanks

 

[jafritten]

Nice addition to the binocular, do you have a part number or reference that you could share? I'm interested in doing this to mine. Are these fork seal/ covers or engine mounts? Thanks

Hi Plan,
See the screenshots for details.

 

[PIan]

Hi Plan,
See the screenshots for details.

Perfect thank you very much