NL Pure 8x32 vs NL Pure 8x42?

[GlassSnob]

This is super helpful, may sway me towards the 12x. How are these as hand-held? Do you have the forehead rest?

Anything above 10x is generally too much power to hand hold. I've gotten away with sitting and stabilizing them, but only for a quick peek at something. I don't own the forehead rest mainly because I always use them on a tripod.

 

[FlyGuy]

I would go with the 8x32. I have a pair of 8x32 EL’s that I absolutely love. I also have a pair of 12x42 NL’s that I think are incredible for open country, big glassing hunts. But archery elk in the timber, the 8x32 can’t be beat.


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[supernova35]

I personally felt the 12x42s were a little shaky, not horrible, but more than I would like. FOV was impressive compared to lesser models. I returned them and will most likely settle on the 8 or 10s. 10s are appealing as they give the same FOV as the el8x42s...impressive.

 

[dwhicker]

I would go 42mm on the EL's

Now if your talking NL's they have a better field of view so 32 would be nice and small with good field of view and the 42s are even better. Its really a personal preference at this point. I owned the 12-50 EL's and sold them for the 12-42 NL's and absolutly love them. Nice and compact with lots of field of view with 12 power.

Any downside to the. 12’s that you’ve found? Really debating between those and the 10’s.


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[Kenn]

One thing that's important to me, but maybe not so important to others, is how they feel in my hands. If I love the feel of them I can sacrifice 4 minutes of daylight, especially since where I hunt if it's that dark I don't have enough time to do a stalk before it's too late.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

If you handhold way more than tripod go 8x or 10x
If you put your nocs on a tripod way more than handholding go 12x.
Once I understood how much more game I spot with a tripod I rarely handhold.
If you want 8x go 8x42 for open country but if in timber/archery 8x32 being smaller might be the ticket.

 

[wiz329]

Any downside to the. 12’s that you’ve found? Really debating between those and the 10’s.


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I ended up getting 8x, 10x, and 12x all in 42mm. I was expecting to lean towards the 12x myself. Haven't been hunting with them yet, but my wife strongly prefers the 8x for general nature viewing. Easier target acquision and larger FOV. I think if I could only choose one, I would go 10x. As is, we sold the 10x, and are keeping the 8x and 12x. The way I'd describe the difference is that the 8x are just much easier to use. Exit pupil is more forgiving, you don't have to hold them quite as steady, and they just appear a little brighter (to my eyes). But 12x will definitely get you more detail (especially on a tripod), but they're just harder to use to get that detail.


I am thinking of trading the 8x42 for a 8x32, but want to compare both first.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I ended up getting 8x, 10x, and 12x all in 42mm. I was expecting to lean towards the 12x myself. Haven't been hunting with them yet, but my wife strongly prefers the 8x for general nature viewing. Easier target acquision and larger FOV. I think if I could only choose one, I would go 10x. As is, we sold the 10x, and are keeping the 8x and 12x. The way I'd describe the difference is that the 8x are just much easier to use. Exit pupil is more forgiving, you don't have to hold them quite as steady, and they just appear a little brighter (to my eyes). But 12x will definitely get you more detail (especially on a tripod), but they're just harder to use to get that detail.


I am thinking of trading the 8x42 for a 8x32, but want to compare both first.

I spoke with Ryan at Outdoorsman yesterday on the same topic, 8x42 vs. 8x32, he has both and has done a side-by-side. He strongly prefers the 8x42 but states for elk/timber hunting 8x32 being smaller might be better for that purpose. He wanted to like the 8x32 because they are smaller but the difference in brightness was the deciding factor in favor of the 8x42.
FWIW

 

[Doc Holliday]

Pretty solid deal on these 8x42 demos at Eurooptic:

Like New Swarovski NL Pure 8x42 Binoculars w/ FSB Sidebag, Strap, Eyepiece, Lens Cover and Cleaning Kit 36008

Binoculars have a large field of view, which means you can see a wide area. Get Like New Swarovski NL Pure 8x42 Binoculars for sale here at EuroOptic. Free shipping on every order of Swarovski Binoculars online.

www.eurooptic.com

 

[trc199]

Thanks for this.

Hi Rokslide, I finally got to try Alpha Binos in person.

tl;dr - what in real world scenarios would the NL Pure 8x42 offer me when hunting that the 8x32 NL Pure couldn't offer? When testing, they both seemed virtually identical at very low light. Educate me.

-----

Though in store, we got a chance to take 3 alpha binos outside for 1 hour: 30 mins before - sunset - 30 mins after. We saw both good light and low light conditions, getting very close to last light.

We were looking across a harbour and a park approximately 0.5-1.5miles in distance.

I tried:

• Kahles Helia S 10x42 (formerly SLC 10x42)
• NL Pure 8x42
• NL Pure 8x32

My going in bias was toward the Kahles. I thought they would be best price to quality ratio (bang for your buck) and my less experienced eyes would not be able to discern a noticeable difference against the more expensive NL's. I didn't want to like NL's.

I was wrong! I took my wife, a non-hunter but with an eye for detail in with me as a pseudo-control group.

We were both shocked by just how much better all NL's looked to our eyes vs the Kahles. Going from reasonable light to low light, the level of detail and resolution we could still make out with both NL's to us was shocking. It didn't feel like a slight difference but a signficant, pleasurable and easier-to-look-through difference; a worth-the-increase-in-price difference. Dang. Wish it wasn't. My poor wallet...

Objects we knew were there before were starting to get fuzzy and colours were getting muted with the Kahles, the hazier peripheral view was getting ignored by my eyes whilst with both NL's I still felt like I could make out detail like the number of stars on a flag a mile away, the colour of the stars, the time on a clock tower 1.5miles away and the shades of red and brown of bricks on a wall a mile away. I could also still take in the wide FOV all the way to the edge.

Where i am now struggling with is this - mot a general 8x32 vs 8x42 debate but a specific comparison of NL Pure's 8x32 and 8x42.

We both gravitated repeatedly to the NL PURE 8 X 32 for 'just one more look'.

I would've bet my bottom dollar we would like the 8x42 more, especially approaching last light but we really honestly couldn't tell a difference except for what felt like an ever-so-slightly wider FOV on the 42's.

This is speculation, but given we both have smaller hands, I suspect the ergonomics and shape of the 8x32's were easier for us to steady quicker than the 8x42 so in lower light to us it equalled out performance differences the extra 10mm objective may have offered. Off a tripod it may have been a different story. I would've sworn 8x42 would've been noticeably brighter or usable for longer. So here are some pros and cons:

NL Pure 8x32 pros:

• AU$1000 cheaper for the alpha-est of alpha glass
• noticeably lighter
• easier to steadily one handed-glass with bow in other hand
• steadier to use when out of breath or high heart rate
• ergonomically more comfortable for me with my small hands
• A FOV still wider than almost any 8x42 on market except NL Pure 8x42
• I could still use at very, very low light
• Can glass quite long distances still (relative to my likely use scenarios)

NL Pure 8x42 pros:

• should theoretically be better in the lowest light conditions (I assume minutes before last light)
  • but I personally couldn't feel this. Does anybody have field experience with this occurring?
  • Is it perhaps more apparent off a tripod?
• Slightly wider field of view

Please tell me if there are any other pros to consider for the 8x42's over the 8x32 NL's that I am overlooking?

Thanks in advance all!



P.S. I went in expecting to prefer extra 2x magnification of a 10x but the wider FOV of an 8x was so much more desirable in person than expected. As a rookie the way I would describe it is: I could see and identify everything with an 8x that I could with a 10x but with 10x it was just slightly bigger. But with an 8x I could see more at once and get a better picture of the direction I am looking rather than the object I am looking at. It was more fun to not be so tunnel-visioned, less constricting and quicker to get onto moving objects like birds, planes, etc.. Yes not apples to apples as it's slc vs nl pure but I did get a quick look at 12x42 and again that restrained FOV which was equal to the 10x SLC's confirmed the same thing. Bigger, but I was craving wider. my $0.02.

I've got the 8x32 NL..