bavarian - Nie 18 Mar, 2007 Temat postu: Binocular for low light condition Hey all, I came across your site a few days ago. All these binocular tests are really amazing! Unfortunately I don't speak Polish. My question: I'm spotting for animals almost daily, mainly at dawn and nightime. I have a Meopta Mesotar B1 8X56 binocular, which I'm not so happy with. The picture is bright and sharp at daylight but under low light conditions contrast and sharpness begin to suffer dramatically. Its almost impossible to see details. Are Meoptas minor quality binoculars? I have never tested brands like Swarovski, Zeiss and Leica in the field so I can't tell if these binoculars have a so much better picture. What binoculars would you recommend for this purpose? Thanks so much. Matt. 
Arek - Nie 18 Mar, 2007 If you are young (before 40-45) you have chosen binocular with good parameters. According to our rank: http://www.optyczne.pl/in...e=8&srednica=56 if you want something better than Meopta, but you do not want to buy such expensive binos as Swarovski, Zeiss or Leica, you should be interested in Docter Nobilem 8x56. It is big and quite heavy Porro instrument with excellent optics. If you dont' like Porro binoculars, maybe it is worth to interest in Nikon Monarch 8.5x56 but I am not sure whether it is better than Meopta. Arek Wojtek_B - Nie 18 Mar, 2007 Matt, First off you should ask yourself if you don't expect too much. The surrounding world does become blurry and uncontrasty when it gets dark. The human eye is not designed to make out much detail at night and the sensitivity to colour is almost completely lost. I strongly suggest that you test some of the best brands you mentioned before you get frustrated. As long as you have no comparison with how it feels to look through top quality binoculars, you have no benchmark other than relying on what other users say about their binos but that, believe me, is so individual and often misleading. As Arek wrote, there are better binos than yours but still the Meopta B1 series is in the 1000$ price range so one would expect at least good performance from an instrument with such a price tag. On the other hand, the Porro Docter Nobilem (similar price) that Arek refers to has a measured light transmission efficiency of 98% which is nearly the maximum you should expect from any bino. The Meopta you own is a roof prism binocular and its light transmission will probably be at around 90%. This difference may be just what you are looking for. Another factor that often makes your night viewing better is the field of view. For many a wider FOV creates an illusion that they can actually discern more detail under low light. Well, sometimes it is illusions rather than facts that make us feel good. It seems to work for me as I have an 8.5x44 binocular with a FOV of 8.2 degrees and the viewing comfort resulting from this very wide field is enormous. Good luck! |
