Thotmosis
Well-known member
I understand. Have a great trip and keep an eye on the Swaro 🧐 👍
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Which binocular(s) did you use today? (10 Viewers)
- Thread starter Binocollector
- Start date
Pinewood
New York correspondent
Hello,
A very nice 8x30, of which I have an example. Apparently, the Swiss Army had a universal draft and long service in the reserves. Their binoculars have a wide dioptre adjustments to accommodate their soldiers.
Unfortunately, the individual focus is not well suited for bird watching.
Mine is a year older than yours.
Happy bird watching,
Arthur
Is yours a T* model or just T (single-coated)? If the latter, it really does underline the fact that for a lot of birding, you don't truly need superb optics. What can be more difficult than finding and identifying birds with older binoculars, though, is going back to a "subpar" experience once you're used to top class optics. I'm fortunate that my version of Dialyt is not far behind my usual birding binocular (10x42 Nikon SE).
Walked around the neighbourhood today with my mother's 8x25 Victory Pocket, finding 15 or so species, with particularly good views of white-throated kingfisher, magpie robin (a singing male) and a low-flying white-bellied sea eagle. I have to admit, for that kind of fairly casual birding at shortish distances, it's great. So light it feels like it's not there, quick on the draw (although one issue with the fast focuser is that to extract the absolute best from it, I find I need to turn it very carefully), eye placement seems easy enough (caveat: I wear glasses), and image quality is really extremely good. Super little device.
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William Lewis
Wishing birdwatching paid the bills.
I had a decent 5 hours out on the local patch this morning. Took my regular birding bins which for the last year or so have been the Swarovski SLC 7x42b neu. They continue to impress by being comfortable and reliable in use with a good depth of field, clarity and stability - the 6mm exit pupil was also welcome on the gloomy start. Got a decent list with them which is always a good litmus test!
Montereyman
Well-known member
I have numerous small birds at a feeder that is 30 feet from the window and I have gone from using 8x to 10x and then to 12x binoculars. In July I added the Sig Sauer 16x42 image stabilized binoculars and that is what I was using today. With image stabilization turned on it is like using 8x binoculars and much easier to use with the small birds than my 12x50 binoculars. Having a 50% greater amount of image magnification is great for the tiny songbirds.
My feeders and hedging are only around 30-40 feet away from my lounge window. I wanted a permanent pair of bins to leave at the side of the chair instead of keep getting my regular ones out then away again so went budget. Just got a pair of 8x42 Vector ones for £40 (on sale). Using them all the time, not got a problem, nice, sharp,clear and comfortable for what I need and the Zeiss can stay safe in the cupboard until I go out.
Just out of curiosity, why is the Zeiss not safe out of the cupboard?
Don't want to leave a decent pair permanently on the floor along with removing rainguard and objective covers everytime I want to use them. I can just leave the covers off the cheapo ones all day,pick them up and use them. Covers go back on overnight.
That'd be pretty wild. The birds probably look bigger in a 16x at that distance than they are in reality!
@William Lewis - funnily enough, I went around the park to the north of where I live yesterday with a 7x42 too (old P model Dialyt), just general birding at short to medium ranges. Your list was probably quite a bit better than mine, but I was able to manage some good views of my local kestrel pair and some redwings near the top of the hill, which I never really tire of seeing. I still think image quality is very nice - still pretty bright even by modern standards, sharp enough for me to pick out two peregrines on their usual building a mile off, and contrasty enough that I could see the reddish bits of the redwings (for North American readers - not quite as striking as an American red-winged blackbird!) on a cheerless gloomy grey winter day at c.75 yards. Handling for the most part was also fine - 7x depth of field mostly made up for the slow-ish focuser, and I could operate the focus wheel with gloves, although the outsized focus wheel of eg the FL would have been easier. But I can see how design and tech has moved on since this was the birders' choice (or one of their top choices anyway). This is one of the best binoculars for birding that wasn't designed for birding, but ... the later designs (FL etc) are better designed for pure birding.
NB. I will say the steadiness of 7x was really quite noticeable after a month of using the 10x40.
Thotmosis
Well-known member
The metal eyecups are very uncomfortable in cold weather and caused me a severe headache last week.
That is a picture of the 'House of Outdoor & Optics, Maarssen' and I claim my 20 Gulden reward. Dank u!
Nice photo setting and I like those eyecups for my Leitz's as well; where do I get them?
jafritten
Well-known member
Really, we should have a thread for binocular modifications.
Just look up microscope eyepiece covers/eyecups/eyeguards etc, loads on ebay in various diameters.
Thotmosis
Well-known member
Thanks, some children or kabouter worshippers made this in the woods.
You don’t win a beauty contest with this eyecups but they work very well, I got them here:
2PCS eye Replacement Eyecups for Binoculars Eye Shield Cup Eye Guard for | eBay
4pcs hair accessories Crystal Bride Wedding Hair Comb Hair Comb Set. The eye shield is universal for eyepiece. It is designed to the performance of virtually any field optics. Eye shield connects to the eye piece and fits most performance optics.
www.ebay.com
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