Impressed with Trinovid HD (2 Viewers)

[A2GG]

I got the Trinovid HD 8x32 a couple weeks ago and I’d like to share my thoughts on it so far. I’ve been using a Nikon MHG 8x30 solely for the past 2 and a half years. Here are my thoughts on the Trinovid and also how it compares to the little HG:

Trinovid color presentation is more to my liking. It has less yellow compared to the Nikon. The colors are more natural yet the image is still vivid and colorful in the Leica style.

The Leica image has more transparency IMO. This may be due to slightly more perceived brightness and more natural colors. Resolution seems slightly better than the HG. It’s just a little sharper. The HG image seems a little ‘muddy’ in comparison at times but not in all lighting situations. This may just be due to the different colors between the two. In general MHG image seems to be at similar level of quality but the Trinovid often renders a more beautiful image to my eyes.

The focuser on the Trinovid is super smooth. . It’s a joy to use. It’s better than the Nikon which is already very nice. Also the focus is a little quicker which I found helpful this morning. Since it has a super close focus there’s a lot of travel for the focus lens to go from super close to far. But in my normal birding range of focus it’s actually quick. I hope that makes sense.

The close focus is a nice feature. I had a wonderful and amazing close up view this morning of a Green frog in a stream near my feet.

ergonomics of the Trinovid are better than expected. I was concerned about this before I bought it but it turned out to be good.

The Trinovid’s relatively narrow fov is fine and not nearly as bad as I had imagined.
I haven’t had any moments when I thought it was unacceptable or uncomfortable to look through. I admit the wider fov in the MHG makes it more effortless to follow birds. But I’m still able to follow quick moving birds with the Trinovid. This is from using different binoculars over the years and acquiring skill finding and following small quick birds.

The little MHG advantages are obvious ; wider fov, smaller and lighter. The ergonomics are overall a bit better.

I recall reading on the forums a while back that Leica upgraded the coatings on all of their bino models about 2 years ago or so. Let me know if I got that right. I imagine my Trinovid (2022 production date) must have the latest updated coatings and perhaps this could be in part why I’m so impressed with the image quality.

I wanted to post my impressions of the 8x32 Trinovid HD since there’s not too much talk about it here in the forum. If you’re ok with its modest fov the Trinovid is a fine choice. I’m greatly impressed with it so far. I’m happy to be back with Leica.

 

[Thotmosis]

Congratulation, enjoy them in good health!

 

[A2GG]

Congratulation, enjoy them in good health!

thank you ! didn’t expect it to be so good. I confess I’m partial to Leica.
This is my third Leica bin. In the past I had an Ultravid HD+ 7x42 and before that the short lived Trinovid 2012 version in 8x42.

 

[A2GG]

Improvements in the next Trinovid HD - maybe it will be named HD Plus - should be wider fov, better IPD range, lighter weight. These don’t need to be big adjustments in each area. The fov doesn’t have to be ultra wide. Just bring it up to 400ft at least. Reduce weight going from aluminum to magnesium body. This may reduce weight by only 2 ounces bringing it to about 21 ounces. Minimum IPD should begin near 56mm (instead of 58). Perhaps a different brand of ED glass in the next version to help control CA better. Not sure why some cheaper binos control CA better than Leica.

These small changes together would make a nice overall improvement in the Trinovid HD.

 

[Alaska4me]

I got the Trinovid HD 8x32 a couple weeks ago...

Wonderful.

Thank you for your impressions, that was a good read.

I received a Trinovid HD 8x32 this week, too. Good times

 

[A2GG]

Wonderful.

Thank you for your impressions, that was a good read.

I received a Trinovid HD 8x32 this week, too. Good times

Did you get a chance to use it much yet? Let us know how you like it if you don’t mind.

 

[A2GG]

production date for my Trinovid HD was 2022 according to Leica.
The serial number begins with 22. Not sure if that’s coincidence or if the serial number is sequenced to reference the year.

 

[Alaska4me]

Did you get a chance to use it much yet? Let us know how you like it if you don’t mind.

I have not even unpacked it yet I am afraid. Being a Leica nut I think I will like it a lot. It is my 5th Trinovid

I am more than happy to report back.

 

[A2GG]

I have not even unpacked it yet I am afraid. Being a Leica nut I think I will like it a lot. It is my 5th Trinovid

I am more than happy to report back.

Leica’s box is the best.

 

[A2GG]

some other things I noticed last week:

CA can be seen towards the edges and can be strong under certain conditions .
I generally don’t find it in the center. I saw low intensity CA once on target when I was looking/testing for it. This morning was an overcast grayish sky and I didn’t notice any CA because I was concentrating on the wildlife and no longer looking for it. It may reveal itself unexpectedly at times but so far CA is not an issue and I don’t expect it to be for me.

The area of sharpness or ‘sweet spot’ is pretty big which helps with binos that have relatively narrow fov.

There’s some bending of lines at the edge. It seemed somewhat mild. The way the lines were bending looked like pincushion to me. Curiously I noticed this only on the left side of the field edge. On the right side the telephone pole looked pretty straight. I only did this one simple test for distortion. I don’t have the patience to do more than that.

 

[Thotmosis]

Improvements in the next Trinovid HD - maybe it will be named HD Plus - should be wider fov, better IPD range, lighter weight. These don’t need to be big adjustments in each area. The fov doesn’t have to be ultra wide. Just bring it up to 400ft at least. Reduce weight going from aluminum to magnesium body. This may reduce weight by only 2 ounces bringing it to about 21 ounces. Minimum IPD should begin near 56mm (instead of 58). Perhaps a different brand of ED glass in the next version to help control CA better. Not sure why some cheaper binos control CA better than Leica.

These small changes together would make a nice overall improvement in the Trinovid HD.

But then you get an Ultravid

 

[A2GG]

But then you get an Ultravid

lol ... true but with better eye relief 🙂

 

[Robert Moore]

Better eye relief than it will be the Noctivid. Lol. I love my 8x42 Noctivid the colors just seem to glow even compared to my 12x42 NL.

 

[A2GG]

This morning I did a comparison between Trinovid HD 8x32 and the first gen/original Swarovski CL 8x30. I mainly wanted to compare the FOV and colors.

They both list the same FOV - 372ft @ 1,000yds. FOV seems to match up.
I wondered if the Trinovid had a slightly wider FOV but it doesn’t appear so. I did the (unscientific) FOV check at an overlook.

Colors are a little more saturated through the Leica which isn’t surprising.
It’s just slightly warmer than CL and not as big a difference as I Imagined.
Color tones looked for the most part natural to my eyes through both binos.
Maybe the updated coatings in the Trinovid HD give it better color balance (less warm). When I first got the Trinovid I compared it briefly to the Monarch HG 8x30.
The HG had a noticeably warmer image (more yellow).

 

[A2GG]

what a turn around; my TVid was meant to be a backup binocular but it has become my primary bino. I use it most of the time now while my Swaro CL is used infrequently. I imagined I’d use the CL a lot more for its smaller size, lighter weight and great ergonomics but the Trinovid has taken over. Every time I use the CL I think ‘this is all I really need’. When I use the Trinovid hd I think ‘I don’t want to use anything else’. The Trinovid has nice ergonomics too and its size and weight are fine but it’s the beautiful image and ease of use - it just functions well - that makes me want to use it more. It’s more enjoyable to use and look through.

This morning I went to a grassland preserve to look for a Sora that was reported there at the little pond in the back. I didn’t find the Sora but had stunning views of Solitary Sandpiper, Bluebirds, Harrier and more. I saw such incredible detail of a rather close female Red-winged Blackbird. The color fidelity and clarity always impress through the TVid. I’ve been using it for about a year now and couldn’t be happier with it.

Lately I’ve been feeling I’m at a point of satisfaction with my binos and truly done with trying and buying. I have to stop at some point (I’m not rich).

 

[Thotmosis]

what a turn around; my TVid was meant to be a backup binocular but it has become my primary bino. I use it most of the time now while my Swaro CL is used infrequently. I imagined I’d use the CL a lot more for its smaller size, lighter weight and great ergonomics but the Trinovid has taken over. Every time I use the CL I think ‘this is all I really need’. When I use the Trinovid hd I think ‘I don’t want to use anything else’. The Trinovid has nice ergonomics too and its size and weight are fine but it’s the beautiful image and ease of use - it just functions well - that makes me want to use it more. It’s more enjoyable to use and look through.

This morning I went to a grassland preserve to look for a Sora that was reported there at the little pond in the back. I didn’t find the Sora but had stunning views of Solitary Sandpiper, Bluebirds, Harrier and more. I saw such incredible detail of a rather close female Red-winged Blackbird. The color fidelity and clarity always impress through the TVid. I’ve been using it for about a year now and couldn’t be happier with it.

Lately I’ve been feeling I’m at a point of satisfaction with my binos and truly done with trying and buying. I have to stop at some point (I’m not rich).

Satisfaction is priceless i guess, i had the same experience last weeks with an older model Leitz.

 

[mhasman]

Thanks for sharing!
I had similar experience, only... tested Trinovid for few days, then shipped them back and moved up, got Ultravid HD+ 8x32

 

[Ignatius]

what a turn around; my TVid was meant to be a backup binocular but it has become my primary bino. I use it most of the time now while my Swaro CL is used infrequently. I imagined I’d use the CL a lot more for its smaller size, lighter weight and great ergonomics but the Trinovid has taken over. Every time I use the CL I think ‘this is all I really need’. When I use the Trinovid hd I think ‘I don’t want to use anything else’. The Trinovid has nice ergonomics too and its size and weight are fine but it’s the beautiful image and ease of use - it just functions well - that makes me want to use it more. It’s more enjoyable to use and look through.

This morning I went to a grassland preserve to look for a Sora that was reported there at the little pond in the back. I didn’t find the Sora but had stunning views of Solitary Sandpiper, Bluebirds, Harrier and more. I saw such incredible detail of a rather close female Red-winged Blackbird. The color fidelity and clarity always impress through the TVid. I’ve been using it for about a year now and couldn’t be happier with it.

Lately I’ve been feeling I’m at a point of satisfaction with my binos and truly done with trying and buying. I have to stop at some point (I’m not rich).

After reading this, perhabs it is time I finally tried a Leica, and a Trinnie 8x32 at that.

 

[A2GG]

Thanks for sharing!
I had similar experience, only... tested Trinovid for few days, then shipped them back and moved up, got Ultravid HD+ 8x32

can’t blame you. I wish I could use the 8x32 UVid + but it doesn’t have enough ER for me.

 

[Trinovid]

...tested Trinovid for few days, then shipped them back and moved up, got Ultravid HD+ 8x32

I got an 'old school' 8x32BN, and went back and forth whether to sell it, or the HD+ before finally realizing that I was going to keep them both. To my thinking any model between those two is going to be a keeper.

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