Fujinon 7x50 FMTR-SX vs. Nikon 7x50 SP Red Line (1 Viewer)

[rdnzl]

Which would you choose, and why?

 

[Binocollector]

According to allbinos.com (not the most reliable source for every tiny detail but still very useful) the Fujinon has slightly higher light transmission, not sure however if that would be noticeable. And the Fujinon has longer eye relief, so better with glasses. I would suspect that sharpness however is slightly better in the Nikon. The Nikon is designed for astronomy, Fujinon for marine and astronomy use.
I bought the Fujinon and am very happy with it.

 

[Maljunulo]

I have the Fujinon 10X70 FMT-SX, and am very happy with it.

Big, heavy, and built like a tank.

 

[rdnzl]

With 7mm exit pupil, how would that work for me, at age 67?

 

[Maljunulo]

I’m not going to get dragged into that one, I’ll leave it to the folks who know what they are talking about.

Take your pick of the opinions.

 

[Binocollector]

With 7mm exit pupil, how would that work for me, at age 67?

Noone can say for sure unless you measure your fully adapted pupil in the dark or have an ophthalmologist find out how far your pupils dilate.

 

[rdnzl]

Last year it was 6mm

 

[henry link]

This is the method I use to measure my pupil dilation.

What is more important transmission or exit pupil size as we age?

I was thinking about getting a 10x50 binocular like a Meopta Meostar for low light use which has about 88% transmission, and then I got to thinking is it really going to have more apparent brightness than my Swarovski Habicht 10x40 GA which has 95% transmission but also has a 10 mm smaller...

www.birdforum.net

Its advantage over a measurement from the ophthalmologist's office is that there is no artificial dilation enhancement from the chemicals used to induce maximum dilation in an examination setting.

I owned both of these binoculars thirty years ago and decided to keep the Nikon based on its superior correction of both off-axis astigmatism and field curvature. The Fuji corrected astigmatism well, but left more field curvature uncorrected. There were things I preferred about the Fuji, such as its slightly wider FOV, but I didn't need the extra eye-relief and the center field was sharper in the Nikon.

I wouldn't want the Nikon with only the hard plastic and winged eyecups, which I don't think fit anybody well. The fold down rubber eyecups are much nicer, but seem to be hard to find now (Tele Vue eyecups from the 19mm Panoptic are an acceptable substitute.)

If your dilation is still 6mm in very low light then all 7x50s will function as 7x42s for you under those conditions..

 

[Dave3006]

I have a question. If a persons pupils only dilate to 6mm, wouldn’t they still be better with a 7x50 because the 7mm exit pupil will give them more flexibility in eye placement? Wouldn’t 7mm be more forgiving and have less blackouts?

 

[henry link]

I have a question. If a persons pupils only dilate to 6mm, wouldn’t they still be better with a 7x50 because the 7mm exit pupil will give them more flexibility in eye placement? Wouldn’t 7mm be more forgiving and have less blackouts?

Yes, for that reason (and the probability of lower aberrations from the stopped down optics) I prefer large exit pupil binoculars even in bright daylight. What they won't deliver in low light is a brighter image than a smaller exit pupil binocular that matches the observer's pupil dilation.