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Is it worth it to send old bins back to be refurbished? (1 Viewer)

J

John M Robinson

Well-known member
This could be a general question for all makes of binoculars, but I have a pair of Pentax 8x42 DCF I bought 10-12 years ago, so I'm posting in the Pentax area. I haven't had any problem with them other than the state of the art has passing them by. I haven't dropped them, they haven't fogged and other than normal wear on the rubber they are fine.

They have always been hard to focus, very course and imprecise, I assume that is just an issue with the design. If I send them back to Pentax with a nice note saying I'm willing to pay within reason,are there any upgrades or improvents I might expect them to make? An improved focus would be nice. If it was possible to change out some of the old uncoated glass for newer coated glass that would be very nice.
 
Hi John,

I think it reasonable to assume they could give them a good "tune up" - say, focus knob adjustment, cleaning, lubricating and the like. That might be worth it for a solid second or back-up pair of bins (now that you have those fine Leicas). Changing out glass, however, is something I doubt they'd consider or even have the abilility to do - let alone being something you'd want to pay for.

Cheers,

Robert
 
John M Robinson said:
This could be a general question for all makes of binoculars, but I have a pair of Pentax 8x42 DCF I bought 10-12 years ago, so I'm posting in the Pentax area. I haven't had any problem with them other than the state of the art has passing them by. I haven't dropped them, they haven't fogged and other than normal wear on the rubber they are fine.

They have always been hard to focus, very course and imprecise, I assume that is just an issue with the design. If I send them back to Pentax with a nice note saying I'm willing to pay within reason,are there any upgrades or improvents I might expect them to make? An improved focus would be nice. If it was possible to change out some of the old uncoated glass for newer coated glass that would be very nice.
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Don't expect that they will upgrade the binoculars to either a new focusing mechanism or newer optics. Too much work to be worth the cost. However, coarse and imprecise focusing could just be dried grease in the focuser. Unless the warranty is still good it's probably gonna cost $100. My suggestion would be rather than spending money refurbing an old pair that you try new ones. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
 
If you already have a new pair of bins for your birding how about donating them to a worthy cause in a third world country? RSPB have a good scheme in Britain for this.You would be surprised how many potential interested birders there are out in poverty striken countries that are hampered by a lack of binoculars.
Good Birding
Sue
 
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