Many regard Nikon’s Superior E range
of porro-prism binoculars as the finest ever made. In
this review I find out if that reputation is justified.
Nikon 10x42 SE CF
Review
A
decade or so ago, a famous birding website proclaimed Nikon’s 10x42 SEs to be
pretty much the best high-power binoculars ever. They won in every category,
beating much larger-aperture premium designs in resolution and low light
performance. Later, when the smaller 8x32 SE came out, the same website judged
them the best small binocular as well. That’s a heck of a claim.
Today
(2016) roof prism binoculars have done a lot of catching up, so let’s find out
if the (sadly discontinued) SEs still rank among the very best.
At A Glance
|
Magnification |
10x |
|
Objective Size |
42 |
|
Eye Relief |
17mm claimed, ~18mm actual |
|
Actual Field of View |
6 degrees (104m at 1000m) |
|
Apparent field of view |
~59 degrees |
|
Close focus |
2.5m |
|
Transmissivity |
Est. 95% |
|
Length |
192mm |
|
Weight |
710g |
Data from Nikon.
What’s in the Box?
Design and Build
The
Superior E range are all “old fashioned” porro prism
binoculars, the type with “shoulders”. In some ways, they are like
most of their type – they aren’t strictly waterproof and have old-style
fold-down eye cups. They focus with an external mechanism via a “bridge”.
But
behind the scenes, Nikon have used the very best materials and know-how (at
least for when they were designed more than a decade back).
The
SE range includes just three models: 8x32, 10x42 and 12x50. At the time of
introduction, they were said to compete with the aperture class above, i.e.
these 10x42s compared well to premium 10x50 roofs in the early Noughties.
Body
All
three Superior E models appear to share the same prisms and eyepieces,
differing only in the objectives. Both the 8x32s and 10x42s have quite short
objective housings and so are quite compact, whilst the 12x50s are much longer.
All three binoculars are light for their size because they have magnesium
bodies. The 10x42s weigh 710g (725g on my scales), which is still lighter than
any premium 10x42 roof-prism model, except for the non-armoured Leica Ultravid BLs.
In
most ways, the SEs appear to be conventional enough, although the body is
completely encased and sealed in grey, textured armour, unlike older porro styles. Nikon don’t claim waterproofing, but it is
clear that the only place water is going to get in is through the objectives or
the eyepieces (which have an ample cover), so in reality these will probably
survive rain but not immersion.
Build
quality is very high and reminiscent of the High Grade
line of roof prism binoculars from Nikon. Interestingly, the bridge bears the
designation “HGP”, so I suspect that Nikon view these as an equivalent
high-grade line. I have been told by binocular repairers that internal build
quality is outstanding.
Focuser
Focusing is by the conventional central knob
which moves the eyepieces up and down on a bridge. The focusing is smooth and
accurate, but perhaps not as quite light and quick as a modern roof-prism
birding binocular.
Neither focuser nor bridge have any free-play or
wobble to spoil the optical alignment like some porros
do.
Dioptre adjustment is also conventional, by
twisting the right eyepiece, but it’s stiff enough to avoid accidental
movement.
Optics - Prisms
These are of course a porro-prism
design. They boast no dielectric or phase
coatings, because porro-prism binoculars don’t need
them.
Optics - Objectives
The SE range all employ a cemented achromatic doublet, like
most porro prism binoculars. Chromatic aberration is
controlled by allowing for a generous focal ratio, rather than by using special
glasses. This would explain the long barrels of the 12x50 model (false colour
increases with a larger objective, but decreases for longer focal ratios).
Coatings are very good – doubtless the very best of the time.
However, they are a blueish hue, whereas most of the latest premium coatings
are pinkish and so give their maximum transmission in blue-green.
Transmissivity doesn’t look much worse than Swarovski’s latest though (see
below).
The barrels behind the objectives have a cast-in knife-edge
baffle and machined-in micro baffles behind it; and very careful blacking to
curb stray light.
Swarovski Habicht 10x40 (2016 model)
and Nikon 10x42 SE coatings compared.
Prism housings are ridge-baffled.
Optics - Eyepieces
The SEs have a five or six element eyepiece design that
incorporates a field flattener and allows for very generous eye relief of ~18 mm
from the rim of the eye cup when folded. This is plenty for almost anyone to
see the whole field whilst wearing glasses and must be a first - because it’s
actually more than Nikon claim!
Long eye relief sometimes comes at the expense of spherical
aberration of the exit pupil. This causes so-called ‘kidney bean’ blackouts
(see below). The SE range all suffer from this to some extent – the view will
suddenly black out as you move your eye around.
The eyepiece design allows a true field of six degrees, which
is quite wide, especially given that it’s essentially flat all the way across.
The eye-cups are the old-fashioned fold-down type which are
less convenient than twist-ups.
Accessories
The Nikon SEs all come with a high-quality soft leather case.
Objective caps are the non-stay-on type, whilst the combined eyepiece cap is effective
protection from rain. The strap is standard Nikon fare.
Nikon’s SE range get a nice soft-leather case.
In Use – Daytime
Ergonomics and Handling
The SEs are comfortable to handle. They are light and the
chamfered prism housings easy to hold. The armour is warm and grippy, but not
rubbery and sticky like some and doesn’t mark easily.
The 12x50 SEs feel front heavy, but these 10x42s are
perfectly balanced.
The focuser is smooth and precise, but not as
light and quick as the best roof prism focusers and not as good as the old
Zeiss Oberkochens.
The dioptre adjustment may use the old-fashioned
ring under the focuser, but it’s beautifully smooth and accurate.
Those eyecups are less convenient than
the twist-up type, especially if you share between users with glasses and
without. There’s masses of eye relief for specs
wearers, but more kidney bean blackouts than the best.
The SEs don’t have the classic
leather-clad elegance of Swarovski’s Habichts when
you wear them, don’t look bad either.
Example of ‘kidney bean’ blackout – it goes away if you move
your eye slightly!
Nikon 10x42 SEs are light, small and
unobtrusive to hold and wear, look fine with that dog-haired old Barbour.
The View
The view is very good indeed: bright and sharp and detailed
with a nearly flat field usable to the edge and with plenty of width, that
softens just a little towards the field stop. Resolution is excellent. Focus
snap is absolute, suggesting high optical quality.
Colours are natural, but a bit warmer than the latest HD
designs, probably due to the blueish coatings.
Flat field?
The SEs were one of the first widely available binoculars
with field flatteners. The field is indeed pretty flat as a result, with just a
little curvature at the very edges and almost no astigmatism or coma (all the
remaining fall-off in image quality off-axis can be focused out). By
comparison, the field is not quite as flat as Swarovski’s ELs’ though.
Chromatic Aberration
There are no exotic glasses or quadruplet objectives here,
but chromatic aberration is well controlled - similar to mid-price HD designs
like Leica’s Trinovid HDs, with a thin coloured
fringe on the highest contrast objects. Only the very best HD binoculars show
less false colour.
Control of chromatic aberration is
not up to the latest premium standards, but false colour is never a problem the
way it is even with Nikon’s premium HG roofs.
I often use the 10x42s as an
improvised telephoto lens for my phone camera when travelling. Below is an
example: Falcon Heavy sitting on launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space centre
ready to go. The image shows the SEs’ flat field, if a little pin-cushion
distortion (and some Florida-June heat haze):
In Use – Dusk
In deep dusk conditions the 10x42 SEs continue to
work when most 42mm bino’s would have given up - more
like 10x50s. It is quite possible to keep viewing with these binoculars even
when to the naked eye the shadows have already become solid and black and all
detail has gone from the view. It’s quite strange to have been enjoying a dusk
view through these, only to take one’s eyes away and find that it’s virtually
night. This low light performance shows the care with which Nikon has gone
about maximising throughput and contrast.
In Use – The Night Sky
On
the night sky the 10x42 SEs continue to perform like a good 10x50. Stars are
pinpoints and show excellent colour. Yes, the 12x50s go deeper and show more
detail on the Moon, make picking out Jupiter’s Galilean moons in twilight
easier, but the price is greater weight, a narrower field and a lot more
shakes.
A
telling comparison was with the latest Leica 10+15x50 Duovids
on their 10x setting, both in daylight and on the night sky. The Nikons were
much lighter, had a wider flatter field, a brighter view, even in low light
conditions and much better eye relief. “These are better” concluded my wife
handing back the Nikons; I had to agree.
Good
though they are, the 10x42 SEs are not quite perfect. The field doesn’t have
quite the flat-to-the-edge performance of the 12x50s. The eyepieces have masses
of eye relief, but the corollary is more tendency to black out (kidney been
distortion) than I would like. The HG roofs have just as much ER, but are less
sensitive to eye position.
Veiling
flare is well controlled, but place a bright security light in the field and a very
faint ghost dances around the glass.
The Moon
The Moon shows a lot more detail than
with 8x binos and is very sharp and with minimal false
colour on the bright Lunar limb. Contrast is exceptional. Very minor ghosting
is apparent on a bright Moon. Overall, the SEs give a superb binocular Moon.
Jupiter
The Jupiter test reveals a clean disk with no spikes or flare
and the Galilean moons are easily visible.
Deep Sky
Bright nebulae are easy to find and
open clusters are lovely through these, thanks to tight stars and that flat
field. Star colours are excellent. The Orion Nebula showed a lot of nebulosity
for a 42mm binocular.
Nikon SE
10x42 vs Swarovski Habicht
10x40 W
These two fine porro-prism
binoculars are some of the last really top-notch examples commonly available
(though only the Habichts can be bought new now).
They are quite similar, so a point-by-point comparison is in order.
·
The Nikons are about 60g heavier than
the Habichts on my scales (The Nikons heavier than
claimed, the Habichts lighter)
·
The Nikons have loads
more eye relief, but some blackouts
·
The Nikons’ focuser is much more fluid
and easier to use
·
The Habichts
have a wider (6.6°vs 6°) field, but much more off-axis aberrations, so the
usable part is actually smaller
·
The Habichts
have a slightly cooler colour balance that is very noticeable, perhaps due to
coatings which transmit more evenly across the spectrum
·
Chromatic aberration is low and
virtually identical in both
·
I fancy the Habichts
might be slightly sharper and more contrasty centre
field, but not by much
·
Brightness is very similar, with
perhaps a narrow win for the Swarovskis to my eyes,
perhaps due to their latest coatings
·
The SEs show very minor ghosting on
bright light sources, like the Moon or a streetlamp; the Habichts
do not
·
The situation is reversed for flare
from bright lights outside the field
– the Nikons show very little, the Habichts quite a
lot (this might be a choosing factor for urban astronomy)
·
Depth of field is very similar in both
·
The Habichts
are fully waterproof, the Nikon’s are not
·
The Nikons are armoured, especially
around the barrels, and will survive minor knocks better
·
Given the 10% extra objective area and
similar transmittance, the Nikons go a little deeper on the night sky
Overall, the Nikons are a slightly
nicer binocular, especially of you wear glasses to observe.
Nikon SE
10x42 vs Swarovski EL 10x42 SV
The Swarovision ELs are
among the most perfect binoculars to date (early 2016). A comparison with the
Nikon SEs, which used to hold that title, is interesting.
·
The Nikons are about 90g lighter than
the ELs on my scales
·
Despite what the brochure says,
the ELs actually have a couple of mm less eye relief than the Nikons, but
less blackouts to compensate
·
The ELs have a wider (6.3°vs 6°) field
·
The ELs’ field is even flatter than the
Nikons’
·
The ELs have a slightly cooler colour
balance that is even noticeable if you project the exit pupil onto white paper
and which I prefer
·
The ELs have very slightly less
chromatic aberration centre field, but rather more at the very edge
·
Resolution, focus snap and depth of
field are all very similar
·
One clear win for the ELs is flare
and ghosting. The SEs show a bit of both on bright light sources, like the Moon
or a streetlamp; the ELs do not
·
The ELs focus closer
·
The ELs are fully waterproof, the
Nikon’s are not
Don’t
think that the ELs are much better than the Nikons, they
aren’t: the differences are small and overall performance quite similar.
However, I do prefer the wider, slightly less warm-tinted view through the ELs,
if money is no object.
Summary
Nikon’s 10x42 SEs remain one of my very favourite binoculars.
They provide a great view, day or night and are especially easy to handle due
to their light weight, compact size and long eye relief. They are noticeably
lighter to carry than most 10x42 roof-prism models (these are ~130g lighter
than Zeiss’ 10x42 HTs for example). I actually prefer them to the much larger
12x50s because they are much more comfortable to use.
The only minor downsides are eyepiece blackouts, a touch more
ghosting and a perhaps a little more false colour than
the latest HD models.
Sadly, Nikon have discontinued the SE range, but these 10x42s
make a particularly good general purpose binocular to
buy used.
Nikon’s 10x42SEs are no longer (quite) the
world’s best binoculars, but they still get my highest recommendation for an unbeatable
combination of modest price and premium performance.
