Leica (“Leitz”) Trinovid 8×32

Specifications:

Objective diameter: 32 mm
Magnification:  8 x
Exit pupil: 4 mm
Useable eye relief (measured from rim of eyecup):  5.5 mm
IPD: 58  – 76 mm
RFOV (acc. to specs.):  8.5 degrees = 150 m
AFOV (measured, rounded): 65 degrees
Minimal focus distance (measured): 6.3 m
Focus type: CF (direction of rotation from close to infinity: > clockwise)
Degrees of rotation of focus wheel from minimum to infinity (measured): 240 degrees
Range of diopter adjustment (acc. to spec.): +/- 3 dpt*
Excess travel of focus wheel beyond infinity position (estimate): > 6 dpt
Prism system:  Uppendahl
Waterproof: splash-proof
Weight (measured, with strap): 505 g
Made in: Germany

Remarks:

Overall, partly due to technical / optical reasons, partly just because everything is bigger today (cars, watches, you name it), binoculars have been getting bigger and heavier over the last fifty years. This Trinovid, manufactured in the mid 1960s, is a reminder of that. Today, when birders are looking for a compact and light binoculars of a 8×30 / 8×32 type, they buy something like the Zeiss SFL (see separate post, https://binocular.ch/zeiss-sfl-8×30/). The Trinovid presented here is as light as the SFL and even 10% shorter. The 8×32 Trinovid line was produced between 1963 and 1975; earlier models like this one had bakelit eyecups, later models foldable rubber eyecups designed for spectacle wearers. The wide field of view is still impressive today; however, the lack of phase coating becomes obvious when you compare sharpness and contrast with a modern Trinovid version (e.g. the latest Trinovid HD, see https://binocular.ch/leica-trinovid-8×32-hd/). Again, that latest model is much larger and heavier than this early, elegant Leitz which is a joy to hold and still produces a nice, wide image.

Ratings:

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