First high quality zoom binoculars? (2 Viewers)

[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings!

Just ran across this:

http://www.moosegear.com/detail.asp?PID=31560

Any opinions? Looks promising, if they can keep the diopter adjustment correct across the range...

Best wishes,
Bawko

 

[Rich N]

What about the Leica Duovid? Not a real zoom?

Rich

 

[Atomic Chicken]

Rich,

I think the Duovid would more properly be called a "dual power" binocular, but it's probably a bit of a grey area. It looks like the new Brunton is a true zoom, with continuously variable magnification from 8x to 15x. I can't wait to see a review on these, they look quite interesting!

Best wishes,
Bawko

 

[Tero]

My two eyes are different, so I have found that zooms require three different knobs to be adjusted for each view. If you use glasses, some of that may be avoided.

Just a warning to those that wear glasses part time only, like me.

 

[Henry B]

Pretty hefty at 32 ozs though,

 

[Tero]

I have developed another thing against zooms. I have a sense of how big a birds should be at 8x or 10x. If I have a zoom available, I no longer have the feel for how big a bird should look. With a scope at 20-40x, you KNOW it is not going to be the same as binoculars, so most peoole get an intuitive sense for that. But zooms in the 7-16 range can confuse you.

 

[Atomic Chicken]

Pretty hefty at 32 ozs though,

I wouldn't take the weight specification seriously, that website (moosegear.com) very often posts incorrect information about binocular weights, and the Brunton zoom is not even released yet. My guess is that they estimated weight. With it's compact profile and 35mm objective lenses, I would be very surprised if this binocular ends up weighing more than 24 oz.

Best wishes,
Bawko

 

[Atomic Chicken]

I have developed another thing against zooms. I have a sense of how big a birds should be at 8x or 10x. If I have a zoom available, I no longer have the feel for how big a bird should look. With a scope at 20-40x, you KNOW it is not going to be the same as binoculars, so most peoole get an intuitive sense for that. But zooms in the 7-16 range can confuse you.

Tero,

To adjust for this if you ever buy a zoom binocular, just keep the binocular at 8x for initial viewing and size estimation, then use the zoom for more detail. Make it a habit to reduce the zoom back to 8x when finished viewing the bird, and/or searching for a new one.

Best wishes,
Bawko

 

[Tero]

Well, I just have the cheap ones, and they are 7x-15x. It has no settings, so I keep it at 7x most of the time. If I need more, I estimate I am at the 7x to 10x range. They get dim at 15x. These are Bushnells. I actually like these compared to all other Bushnells I have tried.

 

[elkcub]

Tero,

To adjust for this if you ever buy a zoom binocular, just keep the binocular at 8x for initial viewing and size estimation, then use the zoom for more detail. Make it a habit to reduce the zoom back to 8x when finished viewing the bird, and/or searching for a new one.

Best wishes,
Bawko

Bawco,

I put their 8x design numbers into my relative BinoBright tool. (See .pdf attachment.) Note that the BIG problem is going to be FOV. At 8x it starts at 273 ft. (5.2 deg.), which is pretty poor for that magnification. From there it must get worse. I estimated 5 deg. and 3.5 deg. FOV for 10x and 15x of respectively. It might retain perceptual brightness relative to our standard Zeiss 10x40 okay; but it will have the long tube effect. This is a "jack of all trades master of none" thingy-dingy.

elkcub

 

[elkcub]

Bawco,

I put their 8x design numbers into my relative BinoBrightness tool. (See .pdf attachment.) Note that the BIG problem is going to be FOV. At 8x it starts at 273 ft. (5.2 deg.), which is pretty poor for that magnification. From there it must get worse. I estimated 5 deg. and 3.5 deg. FOV for 10x and 15x of respectively. It might retain perceptual brightness relative to our standard Zeiss 10x40 okay; but it will have the long tube effect. This is a "jack of all trades master of none" thingy-dingy.

elkcub

More curiously strong opinions: At almost any price point one would be better off with a fixed power 8x or 10x.

:eat:

 

[Atomic Chicken]

elkcub,

I agree with you 100% that this pair of binoculars is WAY overpriced... for that price you could buy a pair of 7x or 8x Zeiss FL's and have enough left over for some 12x Pentax SP's to cover the high magnification end of things. I also agree that the field of view seems inadequate, a shortcoming shared by all zoom binoculars that I've seen. Even the Leica Duovid has a smaller FOV than equivalent single power binoculars. I suspect this is a design tradeoff necessary to make a pair of zoom binoculars in the first place, although I'd like to be proven wrong.

Still, these intrigue me... I would very much love to beta test a pair and post a detailed review!

Best wishes,
Bawko

 

[Atomic Chicken]

elkcub,

Just a quick question... where did you get the FOV figures for the differing magnifications you used in your spreadsheet? The website link I posted only has one FOV figure, and it doesn't say at what magnification it is for. Did you find another link for these binoculars? They don't even appear on the Brunton website yet...

Best wishes,
Bawko

 

[elkcub]

elkcub,

Just a quick question... where did you get the FOV figures for the differing magnifications you used in your spreadsheet? The website link I posted only has one FOV figure, and it doesn't say at what magnification it is for. Did you find another link for these binoculars? They don't even appear on the Brunton website yet...

Best wishes,
Bawko

Bawko,

They were just guestimates (thought I mentioned that), and possibly conservative.

-elk