chris6
Well-known member
With the naked eye, it has been hard to identify my individual competition roller pigeons when they are flying.
Hawke Frontier 10x42 OH (£90 sh) and Bushnell Elite 7x26 Customs (£189 new) don't work well for this either, but the comments here in 2011/12 and the thread (in Nikon section): http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=227336 - have compared commended Pentax 8x32 ED DCF (on order, £351 new) for most of the usual qualities, and particularly for excellent control of CA and glare, which seemed to be the main problems.
Just for watching the pigeons, at the usual £600-800 I would not have bought yet another pair of binoculars, but at a much reduced price the Pentax 8x32 ED DCF was irresistible.
Ricoh's sport optic > archive> product comparison shows extra elements in the eyepiece of 8x32 cf. the otherwise similar 8x43, along with some other differences:-
.........................................ED 8x32...............................ED 8x43
Eyepiece construction ....5 elements in 3 groups...........3 elements in 2 groups
Lens construction...............4 elements in 3 groups............4 elements in 3 groups
Angle of View......................7,5°......................................6.3°
Field of View at 1000m.......131 m...................................110 m
Eye Relief............................17 mm.................................22 mm
Right diopter adjustment.....+/- 4 dpt..............................+/- 3 dpt
Focussing range .................1.5 m to infinity....................2 m to infinity
I had hoped that the Pentax 8x32 ED would still be heavy enough for steadiness, which is a problem with the Elites 7x (fov 363ft), as well as giving a bigger image, but not show so much CA against the bright sky, which spoiled the view of flying birds with the Frontier OH 10x (fov 330ft), and that the greater fov of Pentax ED 8x32 (fov 429ft) would also make it easier to pick up the team in the first place.
So did the out-dated bargain Pentax turn out, for me, to be any better for pigeon watching?
They should arrive in a few days....
Hawke Frontier 10x42 OH (£90 sh) and Bushnell Elite 7x26 Customs (£189 new) don't work well for this either, but the comments here in 2011/12 and the thread (in Nikon section): http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=227336 - have compared commended Pentax 8x32 ED DCF (on order, £351 new) for most of the usual qualities, and particularly for excellent control of CA and glare, which seemed to be the main problems.
Just for watching the pigeons, at the usual £600-800 I would not have bought yet another pair of binoculars, but at a much reduced price the Pentax 8x32 ED DCF was irresistible.
Ricoh's sport optic > archive> product comparison shows extra elements in the eyepiece of 8x32 cf. the otherwise similar 8x43, along with some other differences:-
.........................................ED 8x32...............................ED 8x43
Eyepiece construction ....5 elements in 3 groups...........3 elements in 2 groups
Lens construction...............4 elements in 3 groups............4 elements in 3 groups
Angle of View......................7,5°......................................6.3°
Field of View at 1000m.......131 m...................................110 m
Eye Relief............................17 mm.................................22 mm
Right diopter adjustment.....+/- 4 dpt..............................+/- 3 dpt
Focussing range .................1.5 m to infinity....................2 m to infinity
I had hoped that the Pentax 8x32 ED would still be heavy enough for steadiness, which is a problem with the Elites 7x (fov 363ft), as well as giving a bigger image, but not show so much CA against the bright sky, which spoiled the view of flying birds with the Frontier OH 10x (fov 330ft), and that the greater fov of Pentax ED 8x32 (fov 429ft) would also make it easier to pick up the team in the first place.
So did the out-dated bargain Pentax turn out, for me, to be any better for pigeon watching?
They should arrive in a few days....