DadraFromFrance
Well-known member
Broooooooooooooooooooock is back !!!! o
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Sightron "Blue Sky" II 8x32 (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter FrankD
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bluespiderweb
Great Grey Looking Out
This is why I have subscribed to this thread-because I keep learning from it-thanks Frank for mentioning the 10x32's and BinoBoy's comments. I looked them up and found them to be very helpful, and interesting. If I was in the market for a 10x32, I would certainly consider them! Here's a link to his comments:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=2347423#post2347423
FrankD
Well-known member
Oh geesh Brock, you haven't changed. Just out of curiosity, where have you been? ....Not that I have been around much lately either.
Bluespiderweb,
Thank you for posting the direct link. It will certainly make things easier.
brocknroller
porromaniac
Oh geesh Brock, you haven't changed. Just out of curiosity, where have you been? ....Not that I have been around much lately either.
Bluespiderweb,
Thank you for posting the direct link. It will certainly make things easier.
Well, if you really must know, I was busy protecting the town of Christmas from various enemies including the Weeping Angels, which takes a lot of vigilance. Big Red, the local park's winter resident hawk that I feed, got chased out of the area about 10 days ago by GOLILITH, the largest female red-tail I've ever seen, so that freed up some time to read and post a bit. But I'm still pretty busy with other stuff, so you won't see me post as often as before.
Where have you been?
Congratulations! on passing the 1,000 post mark.
Brock
brocknroller
porromaniac
UPDATE: BIG RED IS BACK! She ate a heated, raw turkey thigh this morning and didn't leave even a smidgeon of meat on the bone. All that sex must have worked up her appetite. Red-tails mate in late winter, so she was probably off making babies for 12 days, which is a long time since red-tail mating only takes 5-7 seconds! But there's lots of ritual involved including grabbing each others talons in flight. Must be fun to watch! Anyway, I'm glad she's okay and didn't get maimed or killed by GOLILITH.
Brock,
Late winter around here begins in February and March. That's when I've seen the courtship rituals of the pair which reside in my area.
The male is darker and has a wide dark belly band. The female is classically light colored with a sparse belly band and looks just like the one shown on the e-mail icon on my MacBook Pro. And when they are going though their mating rituals the light colored one is visibly larger so I know it is the female. I see the male more often during the spring nesting season.
They have been around here for about 4 years. The area near my house has large woodlots, a farm and couple of large cemeteries not far from the nearby corridor of Interstate 81 with its thermals which runs along the western boundary of the Poconos and State Game Lands. The Susquehanna River flats are a mile to the east.
I have seen the female flying over my house accompanied by a fledgling in early summer a few times.
Bob
brocknroller
porromaniac
Bob,
Yes, I thought it seemed too early, however, I saw the male with her in the park the week before she disappeared. He is smaller than her. I also saw him last year, presumably the same mate since they mate for life. He flew off when I showed up and called her down although I did feed him once last year, thinking he was Big Red.
She was screeching up a storm, calling him from the park, and I could hear him respond from the tall trees on the next block. Instead of coming down to eat, she flew off toward him. This went on for about three or four days, with me hearing two hawks screeching in the neighborhood, and then they both disappeared for over a week. Big Red usually sleeps in the park and is in the same spot in the morning when I go out to feed the birds, squirrels and her, but she was nowhere to be found.
Soon after Big Red left, GOLILITH, the largest red-tail hawk I've ever seen moved into her territory. I saw her last year close up when she went past me about six feet away. She was trying to kill a mourning dove perched in my backyard hedgerow. I just happened to be coming out the garage door when she took her dive, and she became distracted and flew into the hedgerow bounced off, and then flew away. I could tell it wasn't Big Red, because Big Red has two primary feathers missing from her right wing, about 2/3 of the way out, and from her size, which was noticeably larger although she was also light colored like Big Red.
GOLILITH started flying around the park and nearby woods just as Big Red did, as crows chased her. Normally, hawks passing through will fly out of the park and woods when crows buzz them, but Big Red will simply fly to another part of the woods.
After she ate today, Big Red was screeching for quite awhile, I assume letting Golilith and other hawks know that she was back and that this was her territory. She screeched all day when she first arrived this year on November 10th. She'll stay here until early March. I've got dozens of photos of her and videos of her eating her "chickie" (raw chicken parts or turkey parts).
If my camera's memory is full or the batteries get exhausted from the cold, I will watch her with binoculars (she's usually only about 20 ft. away), but since she flies across the road after she finishes eating, I get up from the benches under the pavilion after about five minutes (she takes about 7-10 minutes to eat), and I play traffic cop across the street, because she flies only about 2 feet off the ground and could get hit by a car coming down the road since the row of trees near the park obscures the driver's view. So far, I haven't had to stop a car, but I stand by the road, just in case.
This afternoon, about 100 crows perched in the top of the trees in the park. We do get migrants coming through. Two years ago, we had a crow with the white letters "JV" marked on the wings. I contacted Cornell Lab, and they said it was initials they put on it. I saw it the next year, too.
But they usually appear in late fall, I suspect the crows I saw today are from the university campus. Penn State has been setting off firecrackers in the evening to scare off the crows, which congregate on campus by the hundreds to deconstruct Poe's "The Raven."
I threw them some peanuts and pieces of bread, and some came down and ate them. Others pecked for worms in the field. Finally, the leader flew off and they all followed and went somewhere else.
Brock
justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
After comparing my beloved little Sightron's vs. several other pairs of binoculars in the past few months, I've finally put my finger on why I like these so much.
It took me a while to understand why the "view" was so, well... NORMAL! I mean, what I saw through the binoculars just looked normal to me. No "weird stuff" going on. And I think that's because the color and contrast and depth of field on these SII's is just superb.
If the field of view and low-light performance was better, I'd easily declare these the best binoculars I've ever put up to my eyes. I can live with those things 90% of the time though.
Color, contrast and depth of field. Yes, I finally put my finger on it. Or "them." These are three things for which I'd rate these binoculars as "superb".
It took me a while to understand why the "view" was so, well... NORMAL! I mean, what I saw through the binoculars just looked normal to me. No "weird stuff" going on. And I think that's because the color and contrast and depth of field on these SII's is just superb.
If the field of view and low-light performance was better, I'd easily declare these the best binoculars I've ever put up to my eyes. I can live with those things 90% of the time though.
Color, contrast and depth of field. Yes, I finally put my finger on it. Or "them." These are three things for which I'd rate these binoculars as "superb".
justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
I should have included this in my list of reasons why I like these so much. It's just hard to put these binoculars down. They fit in the hand better than anything I've ever used and the balance is just ideal.
justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
I am enjoying watching person after person I hand these to, choose them over all the other binocs I own, including the 8.5x43 Brunton Epoch's I just bought. I don't say anything, just start handing them binoculars. Every time, the little Sightron's win out.
As good as the Epoch's are, the only place they beat the little Sightrons is in low light. When the light fades, the Brunton's are noticeably brighter, but then again they are a 43mm instead of 32mm objective.
So here's what I want to know now... Are the 10x42 Sightron's as good as these 8x32's? If they are, I'm probably going to get a pair.
As good as the Epoch's are, the only place they beat the little Sightrons is in low light. When the light fades, the Brunton's are noticeably brighter, but then again they are a 43mm instead of 32mm objective.
So here's what I want to know now... Are the 10x42 Sightron's as good as these 8x32's? If they are, I'm probably going to get a pair.
Which specific Sightron 10X42 model are you considering?
Sightron did market an 8X42 and a 10X42 in the SII Blue Sky series but they were discontinued about a year or so ago. I own the 8X42 BS SII and it is about as good as the 8X32 in the series. Based on that, I ordered the 10X42 but returned it. My comments on the 10X42 are in item 3 of the following post ....
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=2745175&postcount=4
brocknroller
porromaniac
Bruce,
This was my beef, and why I have gently mocked Frank "Blue Sky" Delano Roosevelt throughout this thread, because there were a number of reports about QC issues with Sightron bins, mainly stiff focusers. At this price point, you might need to buy two or three samples to get a good one. If you really liked the 8x32, you should buy another, the limited travel past infinity might have been a QC issue.
Well, once your Zeiss SF arrives, I doubt if the Sightrons will see much action outside the glove box.
<B>
FrankD
Well-known member
Never tried the 10x42s...just the 8x42s and 8x32s. I really haven't found an inexpensive to moderately priced 10x42 that I liked (one sample of the ZR ED3 being the exception).
As for Brock and his glove box comment. Phooey.
I don't care how well balanced the SFs are...they still have a bigger footprint than sasquatch.
As for Brock and his glove box comment. Phooey.
I don't care how well balanced the SFs are...they still have a bigger footprint than sasquatch.
justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
Hmm, I knew they made a 10x42 Blue Sky but didn't realize it had been discontinued.
Glove box or not, my 8x32's are hands down one of the best pairs of binocs I've ever purchased in the past 25 years. And while I'm sure I've not purchased as many as some here, I'd bet it has been more than most.
I'm darn tempted to get the 10x32's just to see if the IQ is on par with the 8x32's I already own. There are plenty of days when I have ample light and really just want a light and handy pair of binocs to carry around. My 10x25 Bushnell Ultra HD's have superb optics, but ergomonically they aren't the equal to the 8x32 Sightrons. If they were, those would do nicely.
I may just bite the bullet and get the 10x32's to see for myself.
Meanwhile, my wife has all but claimed my 8x32's for herself. She couldn't put them down the other day, which is great because I can't recall her liking any pair I'd ever "stuck her with" (her words) before. LOL.
Glove box or not, my 8x32's are hands down one of the best pairs of binocs I've ever purchased in the past 25 years. And while I'm sure I've not purchased as many as some here, I'd bet it has been more than most.
I'm darn tempted to get the 10x32's just to see if the IQ is on par with the 8x32's I already own. There are plenty of days when I have ample light and really just want a light and handy pair of binocs to carry around. My 10x25 Bushnell Ultra HD's have superb optics, but ergomonically they aren't the equal to the 8x32 Sightrons. If they were, those would do nicely.
I may just bite the bullet and get the 10x32's to see for myself.
Meanwhile, my wife has all but claimed my 8x32's for herself. She couldn't put them down the other day, which is great because I can't recall her liking any pair I'd ever "stuck her with" (her words) before. LOL.
brocknroller
porromaniac
Never tried the 10x42s...just the 8x42s and 8x32s. I really haven't found an inexpensive to moderately priced 10x42 that I liked (one sample of the ZR ED3 being the exception).
As for Brock and his glove box comment. Phooey.
I don't care how well balanced the SFs are...they still have a bigger footprint than sasquatch.
How many samples of that ED3 did you have to buy to get a good 'en?
I've got hands as big as Sasquatch's, so I would probably be delighted with the feel of the SF, and it's not heavy despite its bulk, but I keep thinking about the prison time I might do if I get caught knocking off the local 7-Eleven.
I wish you had bought five samples of the 8x32 Sightron BS II like you have other Chinbins so I could buy one pre-vetted to make sure the focuser is smooth, because if there's one thing I cannot tolerate in a pair of binoculars it's a stiff or hard to turn in one direction focuser since I mostly do close-in birding, which requires a lot of focusing.
justanosepicker
perterra
Well-known member
FrankD
Well-known member
Actually it was the only one Brock but I didn't buy it. Me no like 10x.
As for the Sightrons, I will make you a deal. If I find one with a particularly easy focuser then you have to buy it.
As for the Sightrons, I will make you a deal. If I find one with a particularly easy focuser then you have to buy it.
Hi Stephen,
We own the Sightron, and I have used the 8x32 Mojave. Unfortunately, I did not use them side-by-side, but I can give you one piece of information that you might find helpful. The focus wheel of the B.S. was much smoother than the Mojave. The Mojave was sticky is places, which did not make for a smooth turn.
Anyone with more than one Leupold bino can tell you that their focus wheels can really be hit or miss. Our 6x Yosemite (stadium bino) and 10x42 Mojave has very smooth focus wheels, while our 7x Hawthorne is not very smooth. Luck of the draw I guess, as others I have used that belong to others work very well.
I do recall that the view through the 8x32 Mojave was not lacking in any way. I think that most people would be just as happy with one as the other, at least as far as the view is concerned. BTW - the Leupold neckstrap is a lot nicer than the Sightron......
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