Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 15:56:26 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Scott Crabtree Subject: Re: new bins MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rick; I've been using the Nikon superior E 8X32 binos for about 6 years as my mostly full time binos - the 10X42 SE's for about 8 years, used when I need some extra reach. As to your question about the use of 8X32 in low light conditions, I've had no problem with them in that situation, but admittedly, have not done comparisons with larger exit pupil binos under the same circumstances. Better View Desired did such a test a few years back, and Steve Ingraham found that the larger exit pupils only gave one an advantage for about 20 minutes at dusk and dawn. Detail could be discerned in, say, 8X50 binoculars for that period of time (approximately) before (at dawn) it could be seen in the best 8X32's. I think he did get some refutations to his test, from people who had the larger exit pupil binos. It mostly comes down to whether you really need that extra light-gathering capabilities for certain conditions, and are willing to accept the weight/size trade-off. Some will argue that large objectives give better resolution, and objective size is the limiting factor in resolution in any optical system. However, one would have to have their binos mounted on a tripod to achieve that resolution limits. Large exit pupils do allow one to more easily center the eye on the image - again, a matter of personal use and preference. Finally, we all have to recognize that as we age, our pupils has increasingly less ability to fully dilate. The light gathering properties of a bino with a 7mm exit pupil (like 7X50) are lost on the eyes of someone over 55 or so, or so say the optometric graphs that I've seen. By that age, one's eyes don't dilate beyond about 5mm, according to these graphs. Scott Crabtree Chester, MD crabtree@myshorelink.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Sussman To: Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 7:45 AM Subject: [MDOSPREY] new bins > Hi all, > Finally after more than 30 years of birding, and having been through > pair s > of various binoculars, I have finally purchased what I hope will be my last. I > have been using Swift Audubon 8.5x44's for more than a dozen years (in various > incarnations), and before that a worthy pair of Bushnell 8x42's. Now I have > made the move to a smaller, lighter pair of NIKON 8x32 Premier LX's. > My biggest > fear before I ordered them was if I would be able to see well enough > in low > light conditions in early morning or dusk, or overcasr weather. > > They just arrived last night so I will give them a good workout for > the next > few days and report back. So far they seem to be excellent. My choice > was made > after a long-time birding friend and optics hound bought himself the > Nikon 8x42 LX's. I immedietely liked them, except they were very heavy > and had too > narrow a field for me. I didn't want to move up in weight, nor lose > much field of > view, as I do a lot of close-in warbler watching. I told him that when Nikon > made something lighter and with a wider field, they would have my attention. > Well, they did. > > Any one else out there use mid-size bins (8x28-32's) as their regular > full-time birding bins? How do you like them in lower than normal > light conditions? > Reviews? > > Rick Sussman > Ashton,MD > warblerick@aol.com > > ====================================================================== > = > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================