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Leica’s design sense… (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter John M Robinson
- Start date
Wow, that serial number!!Here's a nice one for a collector... Serial number 001/100.
NIB Leica Ultravid 8x32 HD-Plus Ltd Ed. Safari 2017 Binocular Serial #1 of 100 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for NIB Leica Ultravid 8x32 HD-Plus Ltd Ed. Safari 2017 Binocular Serial #1 of 100 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!www.ebay.com
Which one are you talking about? The 2017 Safari 8x32 HD+ is at $2,030 right now and two more days to go.
You are right....I am in Australia and when I go to the site it shows $3000 since US dollars is roughly 70% of Australian dollar. ... Still though, will see where it ends up. A good auction with a real interesting serial number binocular!
MiddleRiver
Well-known member
Interesting that flagship UV, and in 2017 presumably, was made in Portugal. Or perhaps the 8x32 Safari didn't come till later?
Alaska4me
Well-known member
Agree. Not only a mint, beautiful specimen with that 001 serial number but HD+ optics in a leatherette armored model as well. That's not something I had seen before.
Sharpness at distance and general detail at distance (colour rendition etc) is indeed a demanding test. Most binoculars deliver a good, often excellent image inside 100m and especially inside 50m - and I suppose the great majority of birding is indeed done within those distances, so they are quite probably optimized for that range. The further away the target is the more challenging it becomes to not only keep it sharp (precision in manufacturing and alignment must matter greatly here, especially in roof prism binoculars) and overcome how distance leaches colour away from what you're looking at. Modern coatings really shine in the latter situation - when comparing something like my old 10x50 Zeiss West (single-coated) against something with more modern coatings, the way in which the colour of distant buildings etc. shows up better is very apparent. I don't know whether it's the greater brightness that accounts for it, or some other aspect of how coatings perform, but it's one of the areas in which modern binoculars definitely outperform older ones.
All that said, it's worth noting that not all viewing is done at great distances. On my last overseas trip, expecting the birds to be well inside 500m (indeed mostly inside 100m), I didn't bring the best performer (optically) I have but one that points better, is more weatherproof and has slightly, but noticeably more field of view. Sheer optical performance isn't always the be-all and end-all.
There is a lot of truth in the above IMO. I remember once lending my old Zeiss West 8x30 to a couple who had asked me what I was observing across the river, and they were absolutely wowed by the more than 50-year old binocular. To most folks, who have only ever looked through mediocre or at best budget binoculars, most reasonable (by BF binocular nerd standards) binoculars are amazing.
Ha…. Not too many serial numbers ‘1’s’ floating around for any binocular!!! 😀
Alaska4me
Well-known member
I sure thought it would change hands for 3000 plus bucks.
