Greetings, y'alls, it's me again!
After my previous first look at these bins here I have promised a more long-term dive into the subject, and here it is!
This review will also feature my older pair of bins as a reference and comparison point: Nikon ProStaff 7s 8×42
General observations
One of the first impressions that I managed to miss in the original article is regarding the binoculars case for the Terra EDs -- whoever designed them clearly did not consider the primary use case of these binoculars, which is with the neck strap attached. The bins will fit the case very neatly without it, but when attached you have a real brain-scratcher on your hands on how to pack it! Eventually I have managed to find a way how to put the neck strap around the perimeter of the case in such way that would still allow for closing it. The strap is fairly big and rather thick in the neck area, so just folding it in does not work.
Other than the neck strap puzzle, the overall experience with the binoculars has been great: I am enjoying the ergonomics very much, and the views are amazing (but not flawless). The focusing knob sensitivity that I highlighted in my original article turned out to be a nothingburger -- the focus is crisp, sharp, and very easy to nail down. I think I end up adjusting it less than with my Nikons even.
One thing I will still hand to the Nikons over the Zeiss is for the rubberized surface finish of the binoculars. I find the Nikon one to be more comfortably grippy than the Zeiss, but both are still very, very nice to hold in the hand. Nikons may have an edge in humid environments, when hands can get sweaty and slippery, though.
Field report
I grabbed both of the bins for my first outing in the field, with plan to test them side-by-side in both daytime and night-time.
In daytime the Terra EDs provide a gloriously crisp and contrasty view. There is very little of CA visible, you really have to try and push them to spot it. In comparison, the Nikons are a lot easier to spot the CA in, and there is no surprise there -- Zeiss uses ED glass from Schott, while Nikons use standard achromatic doublets as objectives. That said, the Nikons aren't too bad either, very much usable in the field, with sharp and crisp views all around.
The cross-eye collimation in Terra EDs is also spot-on, very much like that of the Nikons. I have never had any issues with bringing the two images together with either of them, which is often a problem with cheaper bins.
I did find myself enjoying the faster focusing of the Terra EDs more over Prostaff 7s, definitely comes in handy when trying to spot objects at different distances (animals, birds, etc.), and keep up with them as they move around.
I have also had a couple of local astronomy club colleagues over with me, and they unanimously put the Terra EDs as the better ones over the Nikons, though they did also say they found the Nikons to be very good as well. Most reactions were in the order of "Both are very nice, but I can tell these [Zeiss] have better glass."
Night-time viewing
In night time both of these binoculars performed very well. However, as I had expected, targets at infinity and general lack of brightness has put the two competitors much closer to each other than at daytime.
Star watching with the Terra EDs is as comfortable as daytime, and I had absolutely no issue focusing the binoculars down on the target. The field is nice and mostly flat, and the higher FoV over Nikons make the view noticeably nicer to just browse around the night sky.
Like many binoculars, even at the highest tier, Terra ED 8×42s have slight undercorrected spherical aberration (this is often caused by the erecting prisms, since while they normally do not bent light, they still affect how lens groups interact in terms of aberration correction. So do the Nikons, by the way. To my eye the aberration was unnoticeably on both, but I do have a friend who is very good at spotting these with his Mk. I Eyeball instruments, and I trust his findings.
Interestingly enough, night-time observation is where the opinions of my colleagues on which one of my binoculars is better diverged. While most still preferred the Terra EDs, the gap between them very much narrowed. And one said he would prefer the Nikons over Zeiss because the ProStaff 7s can pull the stars into tighter pinpoints than Terra EDs, even if marginally. Personally, while I can see the difference, I actually the way the Terra EDs render them, because it makes it easier for me to observe star clusters and general star fields in the sky.
Bonus points: Saturn was out, and we managed to spot the "ears" on it through both of the binoculars :)
Final notes
All in all, I am quite happy with the Zeiss Terra ED 8×42, and I will definitely be using them as my primary instrument, they have earned their place in my toolkit. I would gladly recommend them to anyone looking for a solid travel/astronomy optics with ED glass that does not cost an arm and a leg.
That said, I have decided to also keep the Nikons around as my second pair to give to people observing with me, especially at astronomy events. Primarily because they work so well, and because I have rather unique setup of diopter settings for myself, which makes constant re-adjustment to make it fit for others a chore. Having Nikons for that will be very useful. I would also wholeheartedly recommend the Nikon ProStaff 7s 8×42 (and their successors, the P7 8×42) for anyone looking for a solid, budget-friendly pair of binoculars for all-round use. And they are both weather- and water-proof!
