absolut_beethoven
Well-known member
Since moving to Texas 6 monhs ago, yesterday was my first opportunity to visit their 230,000 square foot store in Fort Worth with my son who joined me only last week. First, a word of warning - this place is extremely dangerous to your wallet, so either hide it or hold on tightly.
Don't read too much into these observations as I only had about 5 minutes with each. My eyes are more critical than most, and I do tend to pick up the obvious flaws almost immediately due to many years relying heavily on my eyesight to make a living as a watchmaker. All observations were limited to inside and I don't use eyeglasses with binos. Lastly, keep in mind that I didn't try multiple samples of any bino listed below.
Without further ado and in no particualr order. All are 8x42, except for the Euro HD at 10x42 and the Swarovski SV 8.5x42
The new Nikon Monarch 7. Extremely comfortable and well balanced in the hand. A clear and bright picture, but clarity and defintion seemed a little soft. Maybe because so many of the others I compared it too were two to 5 times the cost.
Bushnell Legend Ultra HD. The quality delivered for such a low price makes this a complete steal. Sharp, bright, high resolution and under some conditions a little extra flare. But easily manageable.
Swarovski CL 8x30, not even in the same class as the Nikon Monarch 7 - enough said. Very unimpressive so I spent very little time with them.
Swarovski SLC HD really excellent but not a good balance for me. Irrelavent anyway as it was easily put to shame by the SV 8.5x42. Bright, sharp, exceptional resolution and gave me the easiest and most relaxed view of the lot.
No surprises then that the latter of the individual samples I checked out, was the best for me by far.
But, But, one more he says and hauls out the Euro HD. Less than half the cost of the SV 8.5x42. Brighter, sharper and to my eyes, quite a bit better in the resolution department too. No CA in the sweet spot either. With bright, vibrant and very neutral colors. Amazing quality for so little money. The only downside is its excessive pin cushion distortion which kicks in around the 65% to 70% mark. Not as terrible as cupid's bow as some have described it, but still it should be better controlled in that price range IMHO.
The bottom line for me is that the Bushnell and Euro HD offer outstanding value for the money. But if you want the best, you can't go wrong with the SV 8.5x42.
Hopefully we'll get a chance soon to see how it stacks up against the new Zeiss HT.
I hope that you guys find this informative as I had fun comparing all these top notch binos. Something that I was last able to do in B&H in NY more than 10 years ago.
Don't read too much into these observations as I only had about 5 minutes with each. My eyes are more critical than most, and I do tend to pick up the obvious flaws almost immediately due to many years relying heavily on my eyesight to make a living as a watchmaker. All observations were limited to inside and I don't use eyeglasses with binos. Lastly, keep in mind that I didn't try multiple samples of any bino listed below.
Without further ado and in no particualr order. All are 8x42, except for the Euro HD at 10x42 and the Swarovski SV 8.5x42
The new Nikon Monarch 7. Extremely comfortable and well balanced in the hand. A clear and bright picture, but clarity and defintion seemed a little soft. Maybe because so many of the others I compared it too were two to 5 times the cost.
Bushnell Legend Ultra HD. The quality delivered for such a low price makes this a complete steal. Sharp, bright, high resolution and under some conditions a little extra flare. But easily manageable.
Swarovski CL 8x30, not even in the same class as the Nikon Monarch 7 - enough said. Very unimpressive so I spent very little time with them.
Swarovski SLC HD really excellent but not a good balance for me. Irrelavent anyway as it was easily put to shame by the SV 8.5x42. Bright, sharp, exceptional resolution and gave me the easiest and most relaxed view of the lot.
No surprises then that the latter of the individual samples I checked out, was the best for me by far.
But, But, one more he says and hauls out the Euro HD. Less than half the cost of the SV 8.5x42. Brighter, sharper and to my eyes, quite a bit better in the resolution department too. No CA in the sweet spot either. With bright, vibrant and very neutral colors. Amazing quality for so little money. The only downside is its excessive pin cushion distortion which kicks in around the 65% to 70% mark. Not as terrible as cupid's bow as some have described it, but still it should be better controlled in that price range IMHO.
The bottom line for me is that the Bushnell and Euro HD offer outstanding value for the money. But if you want the best, you can't go wrong with the SV 8.5x42.
Hopefully we'll get a chance soon to see how it stacks up against the new Zeiss HT.
I hope that you guys find this informative as I had fun comparing all these top notch binos. Something that I was last able to do in B&H in NY more than 10 years ago.
