tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3695253101786279996.post4001791686372685603..comments2019-11-26T09:10:38.657-08:00Comments on The Oregon Review: My OpticsAlan Contrerashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05151043022057689513noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3695253101786279996.post-78063929158556501542013-03-08T16:17:25.239-08:002013-03-08T16:17:25.239-08:00When my old armored Zeiss 10x42s got stolen some y...When my old armored Zeiss 10x42s got stolen some years back, I decided I didn't really want to spent 4 digits for a pair of binoculars. In my life, that money is better spent on camera optics.<br /><br />So I bought a pair of Leupold roof-prism 10x50s.<br /><br />Optically, they're great. Less chromatic abberation on the edges of the image circle than my old Zeiss (I'm sure modern offerings by Zeiss have improved greatly, though), less curvature of field (not really important for binoculars) etc.<br /><br />I'm extremely happy with them.<br /><br />I think one thing you get with both high-end birding optics and high-end camera optics is robustness. My old zeiss survived 15 years of being bashed to the ground while trapping hawks for banding, they were really beat up.<br /><br />The Leupold's are a bit dainty, the one time they were dropped, into fairly thick gravel, an eyecup got messed up and now won't extend all the way. A minor nuisance, but I baby these while I was reasonably certain the old Zeiss would stop bulllets.<br /><br />Then again, given the price I paid, I could destroy two copies of this binocular and after buying a third replacement would still be ahead of the price of pair of Zeiss or equivalent.<br />dhogazanoreply@blogger.com