CN FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: good birding binoculars

John,

I know you have already owned a pair (or two) of 10x42 IS L bins so we can rule that one out.

Tell me you didn't sell your 10x35 E2?! It has good edge performance, it's just shy of the 36mm lower limit, and it packs a lot of Wow! factor with its whopping 70* AFOV.

What's lacking in the 10x35 E2 that you would like to have in a roof? WP? Or just looking through the bent back tulips, to see how the other half live? Looking through Mr. Glass Onion. (I think I feel another parody coming on. :-).

I don't have a lot of experience with roofs either, I've owned only six, including the 8x36 Sporter I bought off you, and only four were p-coated roofs, three LXs, and one LX L.

But from the reviews I've read, I would wager a hard earned dollar that for $200, you will NOT find a p-coated roof that will beat the 8 or 10x E2 or even come close (I use the E2s for comparative purposes since they are two of the few bins you've held on to among your numerous optics purchases, so they must be a "yardstick" for you).

I would rate a good sample 8x32 LX nearly as high as a good sample 8x30 E2; however, as I've learned, comparing roofs and porros is not quite a stretch as comparing apples to oranges, but they are certainly not in the same fruit category (refreshing to get off the vegetable bandwagon for a bit :-).

Even at $500, it's still Slim Pickins (can't say that w/out picturing him riding the A-bomb to oblivion in "Dr. Strangelove" :-).

The 8x32 LX falls shy of your lower limit aperture, and it's pushing the upper limit of your budget, but if you are patient and vigilant, you can find one used for $500-$550.

On ebay dealer had a truckload of LX refurbs last year, and he gets them in from time to time. I almost bought a 10x32 LX from him, but balked because of the small exit pupil and the more than likely shallow DOF and objectionable CA.

The 8x32 LX has good edges, and sharp, HIGH contrast images. The CA is more than you've experienced with comparable priced porros, but except in high contrast situations, I don't find it distracting.

If you want a sweet birding roof that will fit in a fanny bag, and that's a Shaquille O'Neal jump above the Jap. 8x32 Noble you had, this could be it. I carry my 8x32 LXs in an EO 42mm Ranger Cordora case.

Distortions are fairly well controlled, just a small bit of barrel distortion. However, I cannot say the same thing about the full sized LX/LX Ls, which have way too much barrel distortion, IMO, even noticeable on the night sky. Want to see the "celestial sphere" the Greeks talked about? Buy a full sized LX. :-)

Of course, not all people see the barrel distortion, which astonishes me since it's so IN YOUR FACE obvious to me, and downright distracting.

But if you DON'T see it, the 10x42 LX gives razor sharp, extremely contasty images that I found (to my surprise, being a porromaniac) blew away both the 10x42 SE and 10x35 E2. The 19mm ER is great for glasses (which I don't think you use), but the twist up cups will allow you to adjust the ER to your preference.

For a roof bin, the 10x42 LX ergonomics are very good, particularly for large hands. The older LX is heavy, but that works to your advantage with stargazing, and if you could handle the 10x42 IS L, the LX should be a piece 'o cake.

The LX L is much lighter, but the optics are not on par with the LX from what I've sampled, too much selection of brightness over contrast, and it's priced way over your budget.

The $500 upper limit is really pushing it for a 10x42 LX, but they can be had for $699 used on eBay, and I've seen one go for as low as $479. I guess I don't have to warn you to be wary of sample variations since you wrote the book! :-)

For a more reasonably priced decent roof, check out the BF, Optics4Birding, and binoculars.org reviews of the Vortex 10x42 Broadwing and 10x42 Viper (the latter has ED glass, which should significantly reduce the CA).

Steve C. had a Leupold Cascade for about 30 seconds. :-) Not enough "nose relief", the oversized focuser protrudes above the EPs, I wouldn't like that either, but I can't recall what he thought of them otherwise. Perhaps he's reading this thread.

Okay, that's all the data in my knowledge base.

Gorgeous Day in Happy Valley, best one of the year so far. Of course, by saying that publicly, I've probably jinxed another gorgeous day for at least a month. :-)

Brock

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