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Opticron Discovery 8x42 review (1 Viewer)

Petrus82

Well-known member
Being a huge Opticron fan, I am delighted to write this short review of the Discovery 8x42 which sits just below the Explorer at the top of the Chinese range (the more expensive models being made in Japan).


The Opticron Discovery 8x42 has a light weight magnesium alloy body and weighs in at 703g. It feels solid and well built. As you would expect, it is waterproof and fogproof. The rubber armouring is quite grippy, but soft to touch at the same time. It has a very comfortable feel in the hand.

The focussing knob is well positioned and is quite grippy too. The grooves are just about right. It focusses from right to left, from close focus to infinity in about one and a half rotations. The focussing is smooth, but the unit that I have has a little bit of "play". However, I find it very easy to obtain a sharp image.

The eye pieces are large. Eye relief, at 22mm is excellent for those who wear glasses. For those who don't, the eye pieces extend out smoothly. There are intermediate stops and when fully extended they stay in place well.

The field of view is an impressive 131m at 1000m. Close focus is an outstanding 1.5m although I could focus to about 1m which is really quite phenomenal. What's more, the image at close focus is very sharp and is really the outstanding feature of this binocular.

The image provided by the Discovery is just about right for the price point. It's bright and sharp. It's certainly not the sharpest binocular around and I have my doubts as to the sharpness at distance, but as I said, I think it's acceptable. I estimate the sweet spot is around 75%, after which the sharpness deteriorates quite rapidly. The outer 15% is unusable.

The Discovery is listed as Fully Coated as opposed to Fully Multi-coated and it is phase corrected. The colour seems quite neutral but perhaps a little "washed out". Chromatic Abberation appears to be well controlled. It's good in the centre but can be quite high out to the edges. Stray light management is good.

I think if the Opticron Discovery provides a good value binocular for someone on a tight budget. Given the excellent close focus ability this is also a good butterfly or insect binocular. My experience with the 8x42 has made me keen to try others in the Discovery range.
 
Great to hear a positive review on the Discos. As with all binos, everyone has different opinions and the rubber coating on the Discoveries is not grippy enough for me but the image is certainly very good for the price. Opticron's website states they are fully multi-coated which is what I suspected. The 8x32s are certainly worth a look at, really small and lightweight for a 32mm model! :)
 
Thanks for the comment. I wonder if Opicron has changed the coatings, or at least changed the description of the coatings? It seems to have stuck in my head that the optics were "Fully Coated" and I noticed you have written the same thing on your review:

"thanks to their physically small size and high quality full coated optics."

Maybe someone from OPticron could shed some light on this....

I love the 8x32! I carry it around in my pocket and find it as light, but way better, than a compact.
 
Hi Petrus82,

Thanks for the review. I can confirm that the Discovery range is fully Multi coated and always has been. There have been a few changes to the range over the years which included upgrades like phase corrected coatings, magnesium bodies and the latest lower IPD models.

Best wishes
Rob
Opticron
 
Hi Petrus82,

Thanks for the review. I can confirm that the Discovery range is fully Multi coated and always has been. There have been a few changes to the range over the years which included upgrades like phase corrected coatings, magnesium bodies and the latest lower IPD models.

Best wishes
Rob
Opticron

That's great to know.
 
Alex

The model tested in the above review is the 10x42 - I think that's the only one that I haven't tried. I don't think I can agree or disagree if I haven't tried it.
 
Petrus.
In the test, indicating the items for which I would like to draw your attention.
Could you define your vision about this items?
I don't really trust the Polish tests.

1. Chromatic aberration
2. Astigmatism
3. Distortion
4. Coma
5. Blurring at the edge of the FOV
6. Darkening at the edge the FOV
7. Whiteness of the image

Summary
Pros:

solid and compact casing,
slight distortion,
chromatic aberration quite well corrected,
very low brightness loss at the edge of the field,
sharp image already from the distance of 1.15 metres!
good quality of prisms.


Wady:

very narrow field of view,
low transmission,
average blackening inside the barrels,
significant coma,
not very fragrant rubber on the casing.
 
Petrus.
In the test, indicating the items for which I would like to draw your attention.
Could you define your vision about this items?
I don't really trust the Polish tests.

1. Chromatic aberration
2. Astigmatism
3. Distortion
4. Coma
5. Blurring at the edge of the FOV
6. Darkening at the edge the FOV
7. Whiteness of the image

Summary
Pros:

solid and compact casing,
slight distortion,
chromatic aberration quite well corrected,
very low brightness loss at the edge of the field,
sharp image already from the distance of 1.15 metres!
good quality of prisms.


Wady:

very narrow field of view,
low transmission,
average blackening inside the barrels,
significant coma,
not very fragrant rubber on the casing.

Alex,

Do you want me to apply those comments to the 8x42? I can't do anything else since I haven't tried the 10x42.
 
Alex,

Do you want me to apply those comments to the 8x42? I can't do anything else since I haven't tried the 10x42.

Petrus,
I want you to do a comparison of your binoculars 8x42 with Polish test 10х42.
 
Last edited:
I want you to do a comparison of your binoculars 8x42 with Polish test 10х42.

I can't really do that because I haven't tried the 10x42!!!!!!!!

In general, I think the "Pros and Cons" section is quite fair. Field of View on the 8x42 is wide, so that particular comment won't apply. Other than that, there's not much else I can say.
 
I can't really do that because I haven't tried the 10x42!!!!!!!!

In general, I think the "Pros and Cons" section is quite fair. Field of View on the 8x42 is wide, so that particular comment won't apply. Other than that, there's not much else I can say.

OK, Thank you.
Good luck.
 
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