I'd be very intrested in what you think, Frank. I stacked a Pentax 8X43 in both the SP and their new ED glassed version this last summer. I could, after a bit, see a very small difference in favor of the ED model as far as image clarity. That would be in 8X and with the Pentax SP lense design.
Since then, I've seen comments that indicate the difference in image quality between ED glass and the usual top quality glass only becomes apparent at 30X and above. So, I'm wondering if this will be the case with the new Nikons. I'd be surprised if there wasn't much of a difference. Nikon has a track record of doing what some thought no one could do. JB, for instance, never thought he'd see anyone beat the image quality of the Leica 8X32. Then Nikon did it. E
E,
I do plan on purchasing a pair of the 7x42s but I am holding off until I see what all of the specs look like. Despite our difference in opinion on field of view I do find it to be one of my primary considerations when choosing a bin. I have not seen that bit of info for the 7x EDG but I am hoping, based on the 8x numbers, that it is above the typical 420 feet found in some other high end glasses (SLC and Ultravid). I have some hope for this since it seems Nikon went with an entire redesign of the optical system instead of just switching from standard glass to ED glass as in the Ultravid/Ultravid HD scenario.
Because of this it may then be difficult to make a direct comparison between the EDG and the Premier LXLs. I am thinking along the lines here of the wide sweet spot/small field of view versus the smaller sweet spot/wider field of view comparison.
My initial comparisons are going to be between the EDG and the FL of the same configuration. However, I believe I can get my hands on one of the LXLs and possibly a standard Ultravid as well.
