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Porro vs. roof prisms? |
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www.technika.nu ![]() Optics Journeyman ![]() Joined: August/02/2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 611 |
Zeiss makes porros, but the importer in US are not importing it as they don't sell there.
But the 7x50B is still made and one of the absolutely best binoculars in it's class.
You can find them cheap on Ebay, usally sells for around 450-600 dollars.
Leica have made porros but it's long time ago.
Swarovski porros are better avoided.
I have a couple of 7x42 and they are miles behind the Zeiss.
I cannot really agree that roofs are more compact than porros.
They are more slim, but not more compact as a good porro like Zeiss is about 2/3 of the length of a equalivent roof.
Regards Technika Edited by www.technika.nu - March/28/2008 at 02:20 |
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koshkin ![]() MODERATOR ![]() ![]() Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 11855 |
Generally, a vey accurate statement. One minor correction though: there are a couple of different types of roof prism arrangements. The most common one, Shmidt-Pechan does require a reflective coating. A somewhat rare one (used by Zeiss, bit not many others) is Abbe-Koenig which does not require that reflective layer, but at a cost of a longer binocular. ILya |
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RifleDude ![]() MODERATOR ![]() Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 15138 |
Correct on the AK prisms not requiring reflective coatings. In the interest of brevity, I didn't include it as an exception in my response, but I'm glad you reminded me of this topic, because I've wondered what the optical advantage the AK prism still offers now that there have been so many advancements in dielectric coatings & Phase coatings. Is there anyone else besides Zeiss in their Victory FL (42mm and larger objective models) and Conquest ABK that is currently using them?
Lucznik, you're dead on. Porro prism binoculars are currently out of favor with serious optics enthusiasts and the manufacturers are taking notice and responding to what sells. As roof prism binoculars get better and better, manufacturers are dropping their premium quality porro prism designs from their lineups and they're slowly being relegated to the "bargain" priced, low end models. So although theoretically porro prism binoculars can provide optical advantages over the roof prism at lower cost and complexity, practically speaking, most of the top end binoculars currently being manufactured are roof prism designs.
Technika, roof prism binoculars may not always be more compact, and are frequently longer than porro prisms, but they have the potential to be more compact in the shorter focal length, mid-size objective models. For instance, some of the premium 32mm objective roofs such as the Zeiss FL 32, Leica Ultravid 32 are more compact than any equivalent porro prism binocular of equal magnification, FOV, and opjective diameter. With the same objective lens diameter, a roof prism binocular will always be at least narrower, if not shorter than a porro prism bino.
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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koshkin ![]() MODERATOR ![]() ![]() Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 11855 |
Ted, the only other roof binoculars that I can think of off the top of my head that have AK prisms are Optolyth. I was impressed with a 7x42 Via Nova.
ILya |
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Bird Watcher ![]() Optics Master ![]() ![]() Joined: August/30/2006 Status: Offline Points: 1523 |
Here is a good website for newbies:Binoculars Edited by Bird Watcher - March/31/2008 at 21:23 |
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