New Leica Noctivid

[Broomd]

Lookin' good, Steve. That is the way I compare glass, literally inches apart and back and forth.

Have you considered an eye chart out there?
Something to really 'split hairs' with?

 

[elkguide]

Good glass for sure. What are your final results?

 

[Steve O]

BroomD--I've thought about the eye chart, but figure I'm going to be looking at horns and antlers and I'm not going into the optics testing business...


Final results from tonight's testing:

One thing I noticed in the fall was bright clear evenings made it easier to see the most subtle differences and put more time between when I would lose the detail in each piece of glass. Nights like tonight bunch up the field.

With the naked eye, I could not make out the rack at 6:10, the skull I lost at 6:30

Keep in mind these were subtle details at 113 yards.


The velvet on the main beam went away first. All of the binos lost it at 6:40. That was very subtle.

The 3rd point is a huge test of depth perception IMO. The Duovids were one minute behind all the others at 6:47, the rest were 6:48.

Again, the Duovids lost the detail of the eye socket at 6:48, the others 6:49.

Again these were minute details. All 4 still easily showed the entire rack and skull at 6:53 one half hour after legal sunset in 100% cloud cover thru a mist. That is impressive to me. If I had to rank them for brightest and this was very slight, the HD-B were slightly brighter than the EL's and Noctovids which were even, and slightly ahead of the 10x50 Duovids.

Another thing I noticed, just as there is no "replacement for displacement" in horsepower, when the Duovids were cranked up to 15, they could always pick up more detail than any 10x. I never checked the brightness at 15x but my Duovids will be the last binoculars I give up, they can do it all. Literally.

At some point I will get this all written up and posted. I've got a spreadsheet and some photos to share.

Every Alpha I've tried are worth it, once you get to the top level it is more personal preference than performance differences.

 

[handwerk]

Steve, thanks for taking the time to put the post together...good info there. Top shelf glass is crazy expensive, but once you get used to it, it's hard to imagine going with less.

 

[daddie63]

Thanks Steve. I know it's too early to tell and the testing has just begun but besides the Duovids which other bino would you keep, as of right now, if you had to whittle all those down to just 2 pairs?

 

[AGPank]

Great comparison Steve.

I've read great reviews on the Birdforum. I'm not one for spending over $2k on binos is my problem. $1,500 has been my limit.

Maybe next year some used ones will pop up.

I really like Leica glass. I have 10x42 Trinovids and 12x50 Ultravid HDs. The FOV on the Noctovids looks great.

 

[Steve O]

Which would I keep?

Right now, I can't say the Noctavids are that much better than the ELs that I would move to them. They are more compact but there is no good way to tripod mount them. That bulky Leica adapter more than denigrates any size advantage they have. The depth of field is amazing, everything is crisp in the whole field of view as well. I'm going to set a couple mounted birds in the yard and study them with the Noctavids and the ELs for color.

For sure the HD-Bs will go. They are an incredible feat of optical engineering but just too much of everything. They are big and heavy. If I made my living guiding, there is no doubt these would be my go to glass but they are way more than I want hanging off my neck.

 

[Steve O]

Great comparison Steve.

I've read great reviews on the Birdforum. I'm not one for spending over $2k on binos is my problem. $1,500 has been my limit.

Maybe next year some used ones will pop up.

I really like Leica glass. I have 10x42 Trinovids and 12x50 Ultravid HDs. The FOV on the Noctovids looks great.

I had a pair of the $999 10x42 Trinovid HD for a bit last fall as well. Those are a steal.

 

[daddie63]

Thanks Steve.

 

[Ronb]

Thanks Steve.

Hey Steve, have you ever looked through the 8 to 12 duovids. Seems like they might be pretty nice. The 10 to 15's are so heavy in comparison. Just wondering. Also the duovids are non hd Is that an issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Steve O]

My 10-15 Duovids are old. They are not HD and that has never bothered me--I'm hunting...period. I'm not worried about the most subtle color hues like the birders. I'm sure new ones would be even better whether they are marketed as HD or not. I bought them because I preferred them to the SLC 15s at the time with the added bonus of having 10s built into my "big eyes". I'd love to get my hands on a new set of 15s from Swarovski and 10-15 Leica to compare. I'm sure the 8-12s are fantastic. I've never, not even in the thick Michigan whitetail woods, felt overpowered with a good set of 10s so I've never given them a thought. I love having 15 for Coues, Muley's, Sheep, and Antelope hunting. 15 is a game change in the biggest country. SO is a tripod, I'm never without one.

 

[boom]

awesome pile of glass there.

i did a comparison once in the woods. i cut that warning label off the bottom of a camp chair and put it out there at 80 yards. and waited for the light to start going down.

i could still read how that chair is cheap, from china and flammable for a long time. i think reading text really helps the best glass stand out.

 

[CatlinBrewer]

I thought the optical quality on the Noctivids was outstanding (I didn't get to look outside in low light), but in talking to the Leica rep, there is no way to mount to a tripod without using the Leica style wrap around mount. There is no threaded adaptor in the front to mount an outdoorsman's style post to. He also said that any alteration to their binoculars (like adding the outdoorsman's post on my Ultravids) would void the warranty. I love Leica and to my eyes they look the best out of the big 3, but I hate the wrap around tripod mounts they have. I think they are missing the boat in producing an easily mountable product. Looks like my next upgrade will be Swaro. I also asked about a dedicated 15x and he said not anytime soon, said the engineers don't understand the need for them from western hunters.

There are often complaints about Leica's tripod adapter or lack there of. With that being said I figured I would take the time to explain their engineers reasoning behind this and why a threaded type system has not been added.

To start simply I will say shock absorption. As any serious tripod user will know, at some point in your use there will be times that you knock it over. When using a secure threaded type system your optics are taking 100% of the blow in these types of falls which often result in cracked glass, unaligned prisms, and other significant damage that may make or break a successful hunt. The idea behind the plate/strap system is to allow the optics to give during these unsuspected falls and greatly decrease the amount of forced energy brought to your optics.

The Leica tripod adapter also works great as a secure shooting stick for your rifle as you can strap it in much like you do your binos. On another note the "V" section of the plate also works great for handheld rangefinders as you can mount them securely with the rubber strap.

Just like anything rubber, the strap will eventually dry-rot. When this happens simply call the customer service line in Allendale NJ and they will send you a new strap free of charge.

 

[Hiwallman]

Nice collection of glass. I really want to look through an 8 x 42 Nocktivid. Still none to be found locally.

 

[Schaaf]

No Leica open Bridge design allows for the Outdoorsmans stud, correct?

Edit: Don’t know how I missed Catlin’s comment.