Leica Ultravid 8X42BR.

[Rapid. 17]

Aha! A thread about binoculars - excellent. I use binoculars professionally and also for leisure pursuits and received a pair of 8x32 Leica Trinovids for my 50th birthday. I also have a pair of the little travel-sized Ultravids, 8x20 or thereabouts. I've used Opticrons for around 20 years at work and now have several pairs, the 8x30 Verano being my overall favourites. Recently, after a trip to an Essex Wildlife reserve, I added a pair of Swift 8x42 Horizons to my collection, having donated a few old pairs to their appeal.

So, where's this heading? Well, the Leicas are undeniably fine optics, although rather heavy for their size. The Trinovids have a nice-smelling leather strap and case. They also have a focussing wheel that feels as if it's been fashioned out of an old bleach bottle top, really unpleasant to use unless you're wearing gloves. The Veranos have excellent optics as well as a very smooth focussing wheel which lacks the stiffness of the Leicas and the "lost motion" of the rather quirky Swifts.

The big eye-opener was the Hawke range. Whilst at Hanningfield, I tried almost every pair of binoculars in the display case and I have to say that these Chinese Hawkes are excellent optics and astonishing value for money. The same goes for their scopes: I use Bausch & Lomb and Leupold but it's hard to fault these Hawkes. Again, value for money is amazing. Take a look at these things before you cough up for costly German or Austrian glass.

Finally to Bill Oddie. If you were watching closely during the last Springwatch series, you'll have noted that the famous Leicas were not in evidence. Bill kept his binox hidden under his arm for the most part but they looked like Swarovskis to me!

I noticed in Autumn Watch that Bill Oddie was now using Swarovski 's rather than Leica's


Geoff.

[manxteddy]

I noticed in Autumn Watch that Bill Oddie was now using Swarovski 's rather than Leica's


Geoff.

I think he was an adviser to Leica at one time.
Now I wish he'd buzz off as he gets on my nerves
And not because he uses another make of bino
Graham

[Nemesis]

I nodded off a fair bit during Autumnwatch but the Swarovskis were in evidence again. Last month, we went on a Johnny Kingdom safari and I spent 3 hours sitting next to the guy in his 4WD as we searched Exmoor for deer. As it was pi**ing with rain (real horizontal stuff) most of the time, we only saw a few brown blobs on the other side of various valleys. Johnny wasn't too impressed with my Trinovids and kept giving me his pair of Swarovski 8.5x42s to use. Very light but not optically superior to the Leicas, in my opinion. Nice strap, though.