Greetings everyone,
I was buying peanuts for my birds when I saw a new binocular on display at my local bird supply store. Of course, I had to give it a go. The cost of this bin was $170 (USD).
The new bin is a porro prism design called the Audubon Raptor (not the EO Raptor) and the model I looked at was an 8X42. It also comes in a 10X42, but one of those was not available for examination. You can see the specs for yourself at:
http://www.audubonbinoculars.com/binoculars_raptor.html
The company, Audubon Binoculars, is located in Wisconsin and, as far as I know, is a subsidiary of Eagle Optics. If you send an EO product back for repair, you'll be sending it to Sheltered Wings (see bottom of web page). In any case, I failed to examine the bin for country of manufacturer, so I'll just say I don't know. If I get another look, I’ll let you know where it’s manufactured.
The specs are impressive. I wear eyeglasses and it has enough eye relief (17mm) for me, a nice wide FOV (430'), great porro handling, a very smooth focus mechanism, and it's supposed to be watertight and fog proof. I do not know what the minimum IPD is on this model, however, I could use it with no problem. I know it had to be at least 58mm; I think it was even lower because I had a nice, unobstructed view.
The thing that prompted me to write a review was the optical quality of this bin. Frankly, I was blown away that a bin under 200 bucks could deliver such a high quality view. I tested the centerfield resolution over and over again on close and distant targets and was truly impressed by the detail I saw. Conditions were dreary accompanied by periods of light rain...a good test day! Yes, as expected, the image deteriorated off center but the size of the sweet spot was larger than I expected. In fact, the sweet spot was large enough that I had to look for the deterioration off center. It's there, but not to the extent I would have expected.
I could not effectively check the bin for CA.
My first look at pincushion revealed much less than I've seen in expensive roofs and that amazed me. I did not carefully check edge sharpness. I verified the bin was properly collimated and I deliberately stared for a while to see if I could induce eye fatigue, which I couldn't.
I returned the bin to its display case and went about my shopping. Before I departed, however, I had to have another look just to be sure I wasn't kidding myself. The second time around I was just as pleased.
First impressions can often be misleading, however, I liked this bin the whole time I tested it. I had no trouble holding it steady for extended periods and every view was enjoyable. The bottom line: I saw bright, detailed, relaxing images and, if this was the only binocular I could afford, I’d be very happy.
John
I was buying peanuts for my birds when I saw a new binocular on display at my local bird supply store. Of course, I had to give it a go. The cost of this bin was $170 (USD).
The new bin is a porro prism design called the Audubon Raptor (not the EO Raptor) and the model I looked at was an 8X42. It also comes in a 10X42, but one of those was not available for examination. You can see the specs for yourself at:
http://www.audubonbinoculars.com/binoculars_raptor.html
The company, Audubon Binoculars, is located in Wisconsin and, as far as I know, is a subsidiary of Eagle Optics. If you send an EO product back for repair, you'll be sending it to Sheltered Wings (see bottom of web page). In any case, I failed to examine the bin for country of manufacturer, so I'll just say I don't know. If I get another look, I’ll let you know where it’s manufactured.
The specs are impressive. I wear eyeglasses and it has enough eye relief (17mm) for me, a nice wide FOV (430'), great porro handling, a very smooth focus mechanism, and it's supposed to be watertight and fog proof. I do not know what the minimum IPD is on this model, however, I could use it with no problem. I know it had to be at least 58mm; I think it was even lower because I had a nice, unobstructed view.
The thing that prompted me to write a review was the optical quality of this bin. Frankly, I was blown away that a bin under 200 bucks could deliver such a high quality view. I tested the centerfield resolution over and over again on close and distant targets and was truly impressed by the detail I saw. Conditions were dreary accompanied by periods of light rain...a good test day! Yes, as expected, the image deteriorated off center but the size of the sweet spot was larger than I expected. In fact, the sweet spot was large enough that I had to look for the deterioration off center. It's there, but not to the extent I would have expected.
I could not effectively check the bin for CA.
My first look at pincushion revealed much less than I've seen in expensive roofs and that amazed me. I did not carefully check edge sharpness. I verified the bin was properly collimated and I deliberately stared for a while to see if I could induce eye fatigue, which I couldn't.
I returned the bin to its display case and went about my shopping. Before I departed, however, I had to have another look just to be sure I wasn't kidding myself. The second time around I was just as pleased.
First impressions can often be misleading, however, I liked this bin the whole time I tested it. I had no trouble holding it steady for extended periods and every view was enjoyable. The bottom line: I saw bright, detailed, relaxing images and, if this was the only binocular I could afford, I’d be very happy.
John
