Most immersive view possible through your glasses? (1 Viewer)

[Conndomat]

Also - the claim that they offer "NL like performance" has been utterly debunked. The problem with that claim in the first place is that bino performance is pretty good even with a cheapo Opticron porro. But if you want the best, you still have to pay for it. And the last few percent of performance cost the most money. That's a rule that will never be broken.

IMO this debate with the NL was fueled by a dubious review and some people jumped on the bandwagon.
It got to the point where some people thought that the BC was just as good as the NL even though they never had the NL in their hands.
The argument was that XY said it, so it would be true.
I have rarely seen such a post-truth discussion about binoculars.

It is legitimate that binoculars are rated differently, but in order to give a rating you should at least have tested the binoculars yourself, in the BF this is usually the case, but in another large forum it doesn't seem to be that important.

Andreas

 

[agus_m]

I am, they both use optical glass technology. You said binoculars are not cutting edge tech, I disagreed.


$500 is not cheap. That is the most the vast majority of people would pay for binoculars. Just tell the average person you payed more than $250 for a pair of binoculars and their eyes will pop out their sockets.

They all come with a tripod adapter and the manufacturer also markets them for stargazing. It's reasonable to assume some people will put them on a tripod.

I don't really know I understand what you are saying. I didn't say that optics in general can't be cutting edge. Binoculars or telescopes that we use at home aren't cutting edge. Of course, the Hubble, the Very large telescope and other observatories, etc use top notch optics technology, ASML machines too.
And I don't think these binoculars come with the tripod adapter, they can be mounted on a tripod, yes. But anyway, even with a tripod the human eye can't really see up to the binocular resolution limit without a booster.
Edit: typo

 

[Conndomat]

$500 is not cheap. That is the most the vast majority of people would pay for binoculars. Just tell the average person you payed more than $250 for a pair of binoculars and their eyes will pop out their sockets.

Complete agreement!

Most binoculars are bought in the low-budget range, hardly anyone out there is really interested in long-range optics, we "live" in an absolute microbubble here.

Andreas

 

[agus_m]

500 is not cheap. That is the most the vast majority of people would pay for binoculars. Just tell the average person you payed more than $250 for a pair of binoculars and their eyes will pop out their sockets.

Of course it's not cheap, it IS compared to something like a NL pure, which is 6 times more expensive

 

[wllmspd]

If you discount the NL (cost) and banner cloud (too new to know how they’ll age), then there really aren’t a lot of very wide l, decent correction, good with glasses, not too costly options?????

Peter

 

[Maljunulo]

$500 is not cheap.

That depends entirely on your personal circumstances, and the circles you travel in.

 

[tenex]

Getting back to the original request...

I'm looking for something that has a huge AFOV even through glasses, great glare resistance, and center sharpness and contrast.

The problem here is "huge AFOV", presumably more than your Aurora? Because for 40 years this was given up in favor of more eye relief. (And eyeglass wearers still complain!) So the only options are SF and NL (which isn't "great" in glare-provoking conditions) plus two outliers that won't stretch a limited budget: E II (though only the 8x30 has "huge" AFOV, and I'm not sure how they do with glasses), and now Banner Cloud. 10x42 is a great format, hard to improve on unless you came to want something different. What did you think of the NL?

 

[OrangeO]

That depends entirely on your personal circumstances, and the circles you travel in.

My personal circumstance is that I can't afford more than one binocular, the circle I travel in are people who think it's outrageous to spend more than $250 on a binocular and people who put their money into their camera kit and stick with budget binoculars.

 

[Akhil O]

I liked the little I used of the NL, in store. It's still hard for me to justify huge spending on binoculars right now, but I still wanted that large AFOV, and exit pupil.

I personally decided to try out 10x50s for now, to see that 5mm exit pupil and to see if that makes a difference. I got tempted by the proposition of the banner cloud after reading some of the hype, and decided to have a look myself (it's ridiculous how controversial things can get sometimes). Maybe I'll like them and keep them, and if not, sell them on and try a proven used alpha. Time will tell.. As long as they make our birding easier!

Thanks for all the advise and helpful discussion I'll keep you posted on if I decided to stick or upgrade after they arrive.

 

[wllmspd]

I’m waiting to see whether they make an 8x30 model as I don’t like carrying too much weight about.

Peter

 

[MiddleRiver]

I liked the little I used of the NL, in store. It's still hard for me to justify huge spending on binoculars right now, but I still wanted that large AFOV, and exit pupil.

I personally decided to try out 10x50s for now, to see that 5mm exit pupil and to see if that makes a difference. I got tempted by the proposition of the banner cloud after reading some of the hype, and decided to have a look myself (it's ridiculous how controversial things can get sometimes). Maybe I'll like them and keep them, and if not, sell them on and try a proven used alpha. Time will tell.. As long as they make our birding easier!

Thanks for all the advise and helpful discussion I'll keep you posted on if I decided to stick or upgrade after they arrive.

https://www.birdforum.net/threads/zeiss-fl-10x56-for-sale.456538/#post-4661726

 

[Akhil O]

The cloud banner 10x50 should arrive today, can't wait to see how they are! On paper that 70/75deg AFOV sounds promising, and the large oculars+ep might help placement on top of glasses.

I'll update on comparisons with the Opticron when I use them for a bit.

 

[Akhil O]

Hello all! Glad to say my search for binoculars is, I think, over for now. Initial viewing is proving the sr banner clouds are exactly what I wanted them to be!

No detailed review until I take them birding, but they go toe to toe with the Opticron Aurora 10x42 for sharpness, contrast and color reproduction. No CA in the very easy situations seen so far. The focuser is pretty good too except at the very extremes, where the drag changes, but no deal breaker. The wide view is easily accessible through glasses, and no black beans until I try to move my eyeball to access the extreme edges (which I never do). Wow!

Only negative so far is the close focus distance, and the strap.

 

[Montereyman]

When using a bird app on my iphone I need my eyeglasses. The rest of the time while out looking for birds I keep them in my pocket and use the binoculars without them. If I was nearsighted it would be different but like most people I wear eyeglasses as I have become farsighted with age.

I have compared Nikon Monarch 5 to equivalent Zeiss that cost 3x as much and preferred the Nikons. With my 10x25 binoculars the Swarvo provide me with a better image than ones from Leica and Zeiss. But this is entirely subjective.

Zoom lenses have benefited greatly from the availability of computers but not prime lenses uses with telescopes and binoculars. Weather sealing has improved and lens coatings have improved but lens formulations are little changed.