Bushnell 8x25 Powerview - an amazing bin or maybe I'm loosing my mind (1 Viewer)

All,

I'm wondering if any of you have looked thru/own a pair of the Bushnell 8x25 Powerview reverse porro and what you think of it... they are well pictured on the Adorama website and cost is about $37 w/ shipping.

Sometimes you stumble into something that just clicks with you.. and that is what this little inexpensive binocular did with me. I am amazed at how much performance you get out of this sub $40 binocular. (Working back from retail to wholesale and shipping around the globe, these things have to be getting pumped out for just a few bucks, which makes it even more incredible!!).

This really sounds crazy.... and I can't believe how much I enjoy these. If you had asked me a week ago about anything Bushnell with a $40 price tag, I'd be thinking it's going to be a POS.

There isn't much literature on them - a 340' FOV/1000 yds, fully coated optics, 9.1 ozs. No mention of multi coating, prism type and coating, waterproofing or fogproofing, and degree of diopter range.

You also get a padded vinyl case, neck strap, lens cloth, and caps for the rubber eye cups; and it all comes in a box (not a clamshell) which I find kind of cool.

I've only used these in optimal conditions and have no idea how they will hold up to adverse conditions like cold and rain or being dropped and banged around, or the test of time.

Too my eyes, the centers are reasonably sharp, the sweet spot ballparks around 75%, colors are neutral, and I've yet to see any concerns of CA and glare issues. The barrels are nice, dark flat black and the softening at the edges doesn't detract from the view. Distortion starts early and is more than mild but not severe. It shows up looking at hor/vert lines of the man made world, but not noticed otherwise; and is slightly less than that of the 30 year old Nikon 9x25 Travelites I have on hand.

The ergs work for me. It fits my hand and face well. The focus wheel is large enough for comfortable use with a bare hand, and it is relatively smooth in each direction, not too loose or too stiff, and doesn't have excessive freeplay. The hinge is sufficiently stiff to hold the binocular in its position during use. The checkered plastic sections of the body and focus wheel work and make the binocular grippy. The checkering is neither too sharp nor too rounded. Without strap and caps, they weigh in at 8.5 ozs on my scale. I also happen to like the all black, simple and plain looks of the binocular.

I don't wear glasses or have contacts, so I can't speak for those users.

If these hold up, I think I'll have stumbled into a little gem!!! :t:

Would like to hear what you all think of them as I know YMMV,

CG

P.S. Warranted to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for the lifetime of the original owner.

Specs from Bushnell website include BAK-7 prisms, fully multi coated, 12mm eye relief, min focus 1.8m, FOV 113m, NOT waterproof or fogproof. Available in the UK for £23 from Microglobe.

As you know, reverse porros punch above their weight, pricewise. My current glove box binos are my old Japanese-made Pentax UCF 8x24s, which serve very well for the occasional use they get, but their shorter ER and narrower FOV doesn't allow them to compete with my newer glass.

The Amazon reviews do have a lot of raves for that model.
I haven't gotten that model because I have others all around it,
Bushnell and Nikon.

For about $10 more, you can get the Bushnell//LL-Bean "Discovery", which is
that 8x25 plus BAK4 prisms and a slow focuser....for spectacular sharpness.
The eye relief also goes up to 18mm. They are also water-resistant.
That and the soft armor does make them bigger than the Powerviews..
so it's not all-things-better. The Powerview is more "compact'.

(The LL Bean blocks me from getting the Powerview, although I would prefer the Powerview's
harder casing and knurling). I assume the Powerview is as bright and almost as
sharp though, from the raves (many of them comparing it to pricier stuff).
Bushnell is maintaining their mechanical quality in the face of the Chinese assembly era.

Optic Nut,

I just looked that one up. It was listed with a 394' fov. That is very impressive for this class of binocular. Can you confirm, and ballpark the size of the sweet spot?

Leupold has a $25 dollar rebate on the 8x25 rogue, which brings it down to $55. Looks like this started today.

I'm going to have to order some other models and spend time comparing them.

CG

Also,

Forgot to mention the powerview has a listed 6' close focus. I've checked this on a tape measure and with my eyes the minimum focus distance is 6'9". I'm seeing longer minimum close focus on the other models i've read about.

CG

Also,

Finish surface of the powerview is not a hard plastic. It is a hard rubber that is still soft enough that you can push a fingernail into it and feel the material depress.

CG

cycleguy said:

Optic Nut,

I just looked that one up. It was listed with a 394' fov. That is very impressive for this class of binocular. Can you confirm, and ballpark the size of the sweet spot?

Leupold has a $25 dollar rebate on the 8x25 rogue, which brings it down to $55. Looks like this started today.

I'm going to have to order some other models and spend time comparing them.

CG

Click to expand...

----With decent brightness outside, things stay sharp over about 90% of the field...very nice.
----Tempting on the Rogue. So many little price skirmishes out there! It's a biggie, a lot like the Bush./elite 7x26

If I were bold I would re-rig the LL Beans to get rid of the silicone.
Maybe some nice leather, or the hide of the dreaded Nauga.
I don't feel like I have bencw's talent in re-upholstering, though. ;-)

cycleguy said:

Also,

Finish surface of the powerview is not a hard plastic. It is a hard rubber that is still soft enough that you can push a fingernail into it and feel the material depress.

CG

Click to expand...

Ah...I would prefer that to my "Fleshy" Discoveries, heh.

Also, powerview focus wheel travel is 1.5 revolutions.

CG

Optic Nut,

When I saw the Discovery had 394' FOV I assumed the eye relief would be too low for me, more like the Powerview. That's usually how it goes with compacts. Is the Discovery really 18mm? Is the field really 394'?

If so, I'm trying that one!

Mark

The field width is indeed that big.

I folded the (silicone) eyecup back, and it seems the eye relief is good
for a decent image but it does trim the field ~5-10% with my glasses.
It's a close call, depending on your glasses.

There is slight blackout, but not with glasses (for a nearsighted person).
This is a pair I have dropped a -5D correction lens on (my astigmatism is low).
That opens the sharp-field range a bit as a bonus when I go concave-forward.

Thanks, O-Nut.

It sounds like they don't really have 18mm eye relief though, unless the eyepieces are buried down in the cups. I've never used a bino with 18mm relief that I couldn't see the field stop with glasses.

For some reason I won't live without seeing the fieldstop. I think it's because my first two binoculars both had miserably short eye relief and it always drove me nuts! Childhood optics trauma maybe?

Mark

PS: Thought I'd check the reviews (174 of them!) on LL Bean and several folks say they work well with glasses, so maybe I'll give them a try. Incidentally some of the comments suggest the LL Bean clientele aren't exactly optics mavens. One said the Discovery had "German optics." Another liked the weight because his old pair is "huge weighing at least 20 lbs." What on earth was he lugging around?!? Still another said they "focus two ways." Not sure what to make of those comments.

Yup, most clients for any binoculars are really impressed because they haven't seen
binoculars for a while or ever. some mention their experience, though. I had another
look last night. Up against the glasses I get around 95% of the field. It is a lovely
big field nonetheless. They have mid-sized glass for the ocular surface. That's the rub.
The eye-facing surface wants to be 20% more diameter to get ~5% more field stop.
Now....that concave cover lens does actually help with the field. I should see if that
still has benefits even with glasses on. It would reduce the power a little. External
diddling with oculars is fun..a couple little glue dots, no internal surgery. I'm getting
tired of surgery.

What's the minimum ipd on the powerviews? Can't find the specs anywhere.

I don't have any. If someone does (and has a ruler),
could you:
a) push the barrels all the way towards each other
and
b) measure center-of-eyepiece to center-of-eyepiece ?

OPTIC_NUT said:

I don't have any. If someone does (and has a ruler),
could you:
a) push the barrels all the way towards each other
and
b) measure center-of-eyepiece to center-of-eyepiece ?

Click to expand...

Easier to measure outside corner to inside corner

Now we just need a volunteer.

For the powerview (which is different than the LL Bean model also mentioned in this thread).

Hinge fully closed: approx. 2 3/16" or 56mm
Hinge fully open: approx. 2 13/16" or 72mm

CG

All,

More comments on the Powerview. I noticed that after three days of solid use the image sharpness was dropping off. My initial thought was that this is due to being cheap binoculars, however, I'm finding out that my eyelashes occasionally hit the glass and over extended use becomes a light smudge on the glass which I have to clean off.

The eyecups are rubber and pretty small and I tend to jamb them deep into my sockets.

My 11 year old loves them and is excited about getting views into focus, something she has struggled with with other binos I've let her use.

Since I have the ruler out, here are some other measurements.

Overall Height: 3 7/8"
Overall Width (hinge fully open): approx. 4" (strap lugs protrude about another 1/4" per each)
Overall Width (hinge fully closed): approx. 3 1/2"
Overall Depth: (hinge fully open): approx. 1 5/8"
Overall Depth: (hinge fully closed): approx. 2"

I fully expected this to be a binocular toy, what I found is a useful binocular tool.

CG