Leica Trinovid 7x35 Classic
Review
My mum was a keen photographer and she was very proud of her
beautiful 1950s Agfa Ambi Silette
35mm rangefinder camera. She travelled around Europe with it, documenting what
she saw. I still have it, a treasured possession. Perhaps that’s why I’ve
always liked the leather-clad look of optics from that era: it’s
what fine optics looked like when I was growing up. So
when Leica re-issued their original Trinovids, from that era and with that
look, I was always going to buy myself a pair.
I tried all three formats – 7x35, 8x40 and 10x40 – before
buying, but settled on these the smallest, lightest model because I love 7x
binoculars and it’s a rare magnification among premium binos
nowadays.
Leitz’s original Trinovids came out in 1958
and they were revolutionary at the time, their internal focusing, compact
design and superb optics the three new innovations their name promised. In
1969, a monocular version of the 10x40s even went to the Moon on Apollo 11. Presumably
these new Trinovids were released for that anniversary in 2019 and the promo’
video includes shifting black ‘Lunar’ sands and rocket sounds: enough already,
I’m sold!
So these re-booted Trinovid classics
are an evocative design for me and certainly look the part, but I expected them
to be a retro-indulgence, a bit like my valve Luxman hifi amplifier (see below). In other words, I expected them
to work well, but probably not up to the best modern designs. Let’s see if that
assumption was correct ...
The originals were from the 1950s, like my mum’s Agfa Ambe Silette.
Leica’s re-booted Trinovids: retro indulgence or serious
optics?
At A Glance
|
Magnification |
7x |
|
Objective Size |
35mm |
|
Eye Relief |
16mm |
|
Actual Field of View |
8° |
|
Apparent field of view |
~56° |
|
Close focus |
3.5m (4.0m – Leica) |
|
Transmissivity |
88% |
|
Length |
132mm |
|
Weight |
590g |
Data from Leica/Me.
What’s in the Box?
These Trinovids get the standard Leica classy green and
silver packaging which gives unboxing that real sense of occasion without going
down the artwork route of Swarovski and Zeiss.
Design and Build
These appear to be a close copy of 1980s Leitz
Trinovids (the 7x35s were sold from the 1960s into the 1980s), in both
appearance and materials. Nonetheless, Leica make a point of saying they incorporate
‘modern, premium optics’ (as we’ll see that’s absolutely true).
Other models in the range include an 8x40 and a 10x40, both
of which are just a little larger and heavier. Like the originals these come
with a rubber armoured option, but I’m not convinced they’re still available,
here at least. And don’t confuse these with the new Trinovid HDs, which come in
the standard sizes and a much more typical armoured body.
These are not a cheap binocular - a lot more than the
armoured Trinovid HDs - and so you might expect premium build quality. You get
it, and then some. These really are just beautifully put together, with simply
flawless quality. They’re just like a 1950s Leica Camera and it’s an aesthetic
I love. For what it’s worth, I thought build quality was at a more premium
level than Swarovski’s (admittedly much cheaper) leather-clad Habichts.
Like the Trinovid HDs, they’ve opted to manufacture these in
Portugal and not Germany, but I’m guessing that’s just to make them affordable
as a small-batch luxury item. Make no mistake, it doesn’t mean quality is in
any way lower (and in fact I found the Trinovid HDs to be well made too).
New Trinovids appear close replicas of original Leica and Leitz models (Leica marketing images).
Body
The body appears to be made entirely of black anodised aluminium
and covered in real leather (not suitable for vegetarians, I’m afraid). Even
the focus and dioptre knobs are knurled and anodised and engraved, just like
the original even down to the style of knurling, with no corners cut anywhere
that I can see. Of course, the thin leather isn’t as protective as rubber
armour and these won’t take brutal field use like a modern armoured design.
Leica say that these are ‘splashproof’ and they look quite
tightly sealed, but they won’t resist immersion.
These new 7x35s weigh a little more than the Leitz originals. Still, a claimed 590g (570g on my scales)
is less than most full-sized binoculars, less than many 8x32s (which collect
20% less light). What’s more, they are physically tiny too, so very compact to
carry or travel with. These 7x35s are the smallest of the three retro Trinovids
at just 132mm long and 115mm wide with the bridge flat by my ruler.
Internal build quality looks outstandingly high. The barrels
are lined with some kind of foam-textured blackening, not just paint. In the
focuser tubes that foam flattening is ridged into multiple baffles.
Focuser
You focus with the knurled and anodised wheel at the eyepiece
end of the bridge; the front wheel is for dioptre and is just a little smaller.
Focus action is silky smooth, accurate and free of shift or
backlash, effectively perfect. The front dioptre wheel has engraved markings
for zero and +/-. Again, the action is ideal – accurate and smooth and just
stiff enough to prevent you shifting it by accident.
I measure close focus at 3 ½ m (Leica claim 4m), but at that
it’s still easy and comfortable to view and fine for most nature viewing,
except maybe butterflies. Close focus to infinity takes exactly 1 ½ turns –
plenty fast enough for birding (including birds on the wing). They focus well
past infinity to cater for all and any prescription.
Optics - Prisms
These
have a standard Schmidt-Pechan (a.k.a. Roof) prism design, presumably with
phase coatings. This is a departure from the original, in line with that
‘modern optics’ claim: the originals had a special prism type called an ‘Uppendahl’.
Transmittance
is claimed to be 88%, a few percent less than most modern roofs, but this
doesn’t translate to a noticeably dimmer view and it’s worth noting again that
35mm objectives collect 20% more light than 32mm.
Optics - Objectives
The objectives appear to be triplets consisting of a cemented
doublet at the front and a single element behind separated by a large air gap.
Leica comment that these include ‘the latest glass types’.
Whether that means an ED element I don’t know; but false colour is low, as
we’ll see.
Coatings are typical of recent Leica’s, with a
greenish-tobacco hue and low reflectivity. Leica have included their premium
hydrophobic ‘AquaDura’ technology too.
Despite the careful stray light treatment in the barrels, the
objective hoods and lens rings aren’t blackened or baffled.
Modern coatings include Leica’s premium AquaDuraTM
technology.
Barrels have internal foam baffles to kill stray light.
Optics - Eyepieces
The eyepieces are small and slim by modern standards, but the
eye lenses quite large at 21mm diameter. As always, Leica are a bit shy about
optical details, but I’m guessing the eyepieces are some type of modified Erfle, probably containing five elements.
Leica claim 16mm of eye relief and that’s about what I
measured from the rim of the eye cup. It’s enough to be able to (just) see the
whole field with my spec’s on. These just don’t suffer from kidney-bean
blackouts as some high eye relief eyepieces do.
The field of view is 140m/1000m which equates to about 8°. That’s more than the majority of binoculars, even if the
apparent field is just ~56°. Binoculars with 7x magnification
always tend to have smaller apparent fields of view. Note that though this is a
bit less than the Leitz original, this new version
supposedly suffers fewer edge aberrations.
The eye cups are small and pull out (rather than twist) to
accommodate viewing without glasses. They are another example of subtle
updating – the Leitz originals had fold-down rubber
cups. There are four settings, i.e. three clicked-out
positions. Their action is smooth if a little less refined than the best
twist-out examples. They have a fine rubber lip to rest your glasses on and
only extend a mm or two beyond the glass, so don’t ruin the eye relief as some
do.
Accessories
The logoed soft leather and plush-lined case is classy and
retro, even if less protective than a padded cordura
case. It’s a big improvement on the soft pouch you get with the Trinovid HDs.
The are no objective caps and the eyepiece one is the
cheapest style, but doubtless authentic.
The padded neoprene/fabric strap is standard Leica - well
made and practical - but I’d expected a retro leather strap to match the style
of the case, like you get with Swarovski’s Habichts. I
can’t find an aftermarket one either. Leica are missing a trick here.
In Use – Daytime
Ergonomics and Handling
Leica call these a pocket binocular and that’s the truth,
they are very small and compact, perhaps more so than anything this side of
10x25s. They are very light to carry, with only the very lightest 8x32s coming
in under these on the scales.
The focuser is very smooth, progressive and accurate, but the
small knob is noticeably less speedy and twirl-worthy than the best ‘modern’
units with their big wheels and super-light action.
One downside of the Trinovid’s
small size is that big hands might find them a bit fiddly, gloved hands
struggle with the small focuser wheel.
These are, by my tastes anyhow, the most elegant of binos to hang around your neck, if that matters to you. I
reckon they are small and classy enough for the Opera at a pinch.
For me the most
elegant of binoculars.
The View
The view is very good indeed and first impressions are
bright, sharp and comfortable.
Typical of most 7x binoculars, the apparent field is fairly
narrow at only 56°, but it doesn’t feel too tight. Usable
true field width is actually near the maximum you ever get at 8°. Of those I’ve tested, only Zeiss’ 7x42 FLs had a wider true
field, but they also suffered more severe edge aberrations, so the usable field
was likely similar.
The eyepieces have enough relief for spec’s and with no nasty
blackouts, so comfort is spot on. There is plenty of extension on the cups and
they snap out easily and precisely, so comfort is good for non-spec’s viewers
too.
Resolution seems outstandingly good. Watching a crow
strutting in the rain, I can see every detail of feather and beaded droplets
shining on his back. Colour is naturally rendered and sharpness outstanding.
Focus snap is exceptionally good too, indicating high optical quality.
The low false colour, wide real field of view, high
resolution and good depth of field make these great for finding and watching
birds on the wing and I have fun watching my local Jackdaws wheeling about in
stormy winds.
Let’s get this straight: these look retro, but there is
nothing retro about the view.
Flat field?
Leica
tend to be old skool when it comes to field
curvature, but these don’t have the big field-edge distortions some do – it’s
all usable to the field stop. Aberrations creep in progressively from about 60%,
but are really only noticeable in the outer 20% and never descend into complete
blur. However, it’s not just field curvature (you can’t entirely focus it
away). There is minor distortion too. I really noticed it panning through a
filigree of winter branches, but not otherwise.
The
whole field is usable and aberrations only noticeable in the outer 20% or so.
Chromatic Aberration
False
colour is very well controlled and you’d be forgiven for thinking there’s none
at all. Actually, there is a trace of purple edging a chimney pot in silhouette,
or when panning through branches under a bright dusk sky; but even the field
edge, where other distortions creep in, doesn’t reveal too much. Viewing birds
in high branches is never an issue.
False colour levels are actually slightly lower than the
Trinovid HDs I reviewed.
In Use – Dusk
With an exit pupil of 5mm, these work well deep into dusk and
in bright moonlight too, noticeably better than 8x32s. If you’re not as young
as you’d like, you might find your own pupils can’t dilate to much more than
5mm anyway.
In Use – The Night Sky
As I’ve
said before, I really like 7x binos for deep sky, but
the caveat is dark skies. When I bought my first binoculars, 7x50s, I couldn’t
understand why Patrick Moore recommended them. The problem was the polluted
suburban skies where I grew up.
Living
as I do now under quite dark country skies, 7x gives wonderful views for
sweeping star fields and constellations, if not so much for hunting through the
Messier catalogue (but see deep sky section below). The low magnification and
light weight also make for an easy, shake-free view.
I had no
problems with stray light. Even the full Moon yielded just one dimmish ghost, a
security light ditto. This is another area they beat the Trinovid HDs, which
produced long prism spikes when set on a very bright light.
The
off-axis aberrations (some curvature but astigmatism too) affect the edges of
star fields a bit, but not enough to really spoil them. You can easily fit both
Orion’s sword and belt regions into the field with room to spare, but with both
Nair Al Saif and Mintaka distorted by astigmatism. I
didn’t really notice this too much until I’d been using Swaro’s
new NL Pure. After that the Leica field curvature and off-axis astigmatism
seemed much more obvious.
Centre
field though, stars are particularly pinpoint and star colours notably intense,
with Betelgeuse a burning orange – a result of the fine optics.
The Moon
7x isn’t
a great magnification for the Moon, but the Trinovids give a super-sharp,
dazzling bright view. There is no significant flare or stray light around a
full Moon and just one fairly dim ghost, well off-axis. The full Moon generates
no significant false colour.
Planets
Again,
low mags don’t reveal much on planets, but a dazzlingly bright Mars near
opposition shows its orange hue perfectly, with no significant spikes flare or
false colour, ditto Jupiter which reveals its Galilean moons.
Deep Sky
Perseus,
the Double Cluster and surrounds, the Pleiades: all wonderfully sparkly and
pinpoint. These are all about effortlessly sweeping a dark sky and many smaller
constellations fit in the field whole.
The
North American Nebula above Deneb is about as defined as I’ve ever seen: the
wide field and fine optics pulling it out of the background Milky Way.
As I’ve
said, this magnification isn’t ideal for finding smaller DSOs, but I went
hunting for brighter globular clusters and easily found the brighter ones,
including M15 above Enif in Pegasus and M2 below; I easily picked up M13 and
M92 in Hercules as well. Just fuzzy stars at this low power, but easy to find
given the excellent contrast.
Other
brighter Messier objects were easy too. M35 and the Auriga clusters were small
but easily found and resolved. The Trinovids fitted in the whole of the
Andromeda Galaxy (M31) with ease and found nearby M33 as well. But I did notice
that smaller nebulae, even M42 in Orion, were less interesting than at higher
powers, even at a similar aperture (e.g. Canon’s
12x36s).
The
Trinovids gave great views of Comet Neowise in late
July 2020, with its fuzzy head and twin tail just beautiful. Again, that wide
true field and great contrast framed and picked out the comet to great effect.
Overall,
the Trinovids make nice deep sky sweepers, but only under dark skies.
Leica Trinovid 7x35 vs Swarovski
Habicht 10x40
These seem a perfect comparison – both are leather clad retro
binoculars from premium European makers.
So let’s compare them:
·
The
Leicas have a more luxury and premium build and look/feel
·
The
Leicas are significantly more expensive
·
The
Leicas are much smaller and a bit lighter
·
The
Leicas have a smoother, faster focuser and better dioptre adjust too
·
The
apparent field of the Leicas is narrower (usual for 7x binos
– the 7x42 Habichts are much narrower still), but
suffers much less at the edges
·
The
Leicas have more eye relief and are much better suited to spec’s wearers
·
The
Swarovskis are brighter, day or night, due to their larger objectives and low-loss
porro optics
·
The
Leicas' case is a much classier item, but the Habichts’
leather strap is more in keeping with their classic look
·
Last but definitely not least:
the Habichts are fully waterproof!
These differences reveal a basic truth: the Leicas are a
cleverly packaged modern binocular that looks like the 1950s model, whilst the Habichts are in a sense original – they’ve never been out
of production and though they use the latest coatings, their design is
essentially 1950s.
Summary
I love to be surprised when I
review and these Trinovids did just that.
I expected to love the look and
feel of them and I do. But I didn’t expect their excellent overall performance.
The view really is right up there – sharp, high contrast, high resolution and
brighter than the numbers would suggest. The field is deep and quite flat, the
true field of view wide. False colour is very low. Eyepiece comfort with good
eye relief and no blackouts is excellent. Focus and dioptre action is first
rate too. The icing on the cake is their very compact size and light weight.
Leica has managed to retain the
exact look and feel of the old classics, whilst updating everything to exacting
modern standards. Yes, they’re chic and retro, but the old way of doing things does
make them more compact than a fully modern equivalent.
Forget any idea that ‘Made in
Portugal’ means build quality is second rate. These are some of the most
beautifully made binos, optically and mechanically, I
have ever seen, with flawless build and operation.
The only issue is the one you
already know about: that lovely anodised and leather exterior won’t take knocks
like a fully armoured binocular. And though these are likely rain proof, you
can’t go dunking them in the river. But before dismissing them, ask if you
really need protection against those things (and I’ve had a pair of sealed binos fog and need to be repaired after a few years
anyway).
If the honest answer is that you
keep your binos well shielded in the field, or if you
mostly use them outside for just short periods (for tourism etc), then these
are a wonderful all-purpose distance viewer. They’re great for birding and
nature viewing, but for stargazing (as opposed to more ‘serious’ DSO hunting)
too.
These get my highest recommendation for all but heavy field
use. Please don’t think of them as just some hipster retro chic. They do look
every bit as gorgeous as you expect, but performance is outstandingly good day
or night and they’re wonderfully compact and light too.
