Hr Wp 10 X 42 (1 Viewer)

For a number of years my wife has been using Imagic 10x42 bins for birding (one of my favourites until creaky finger joints made roof prism easier to hold) but wishes to upgrade while still sticking faithfully to porro models. Sticking to Opticron the best bet seems to be HR WP,anyone with experience of these ?

Hi Pete,

I owned one for some time, apart from a meagre fov the optics are first rate, easily the equal of roof prisms at twice the price, however for smaller hands the focus wheel can be difficult to reach, so an audition is a must IMO.

John.

John

A modification of WJC's recommended assymetric grip of large porro binoculars may help persons with small hands: Ie hold the far end of the barrel on the side of the dominant eye; hold the near end of the barrel on the other side; and focus with the first or second finger of the hand that holds the latter.

I attach a photo.


Stephen

Macaulay: 'It was the good practice of the Whigs to think much of convenience, and little of symmetry'

Pete,

The focusser on the HR WP is *very* slow. If your wife likes fast focus she'd better try before buying (or have a return option). Acording to Allbinos.com the Imagic takes 270 degrees from close focus to infinity and the HR WP 740... The optics on the HR WP are very nice though and handling is superb (for me).

George

Hi Stephen,

that`s pretty much how I held them, loved the handling and never personally had a problem with reaching the focus wheel, but some who tried mine commented on this as an issue.

George...I`d forgotten about the slow focus, although I don`t remember it being a big issue, it certainly reinforces the need to try before buying.

Unusually the diopter is on the left eyepiece on the HRWP.

Pete

Since your post suggests that your wife will be looking for a porro binocular that is easy to hold, I attach a photo of the 'steadying' hold that WJC originally introduced to the Forum by way of a 'port' from the Astro side*.

I did not mention it first because John specifically mentioned the possible difficulty of some persons in reaching the focus wheel.

The 'Astro' hold is easily practised with the big HR.WP. The barrel on the side of the non-dominant eye rests conveniently on the wrist without the need for any contortion.

Ie once you abandon symmetry, starting from the 'basic' Astro steadying hold, the HR.WP affords ample scope for experimentation with new holds, including holds that also permit you to focus at the same time.


Stephen


* I've found it! WJC's recommendation can be found in his own words in the second post of page 3 of the thread '8x vs 10x':

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=319277&page=3

Bill also enunciated the principle of directing the binocular by the view through the barrel on the side of the dominant eye, and letting the view through the other barrel look after itself

John & George

Snap! I presently rate depth of field over field of view, and rate speed of focus after them in third place, so am custom made for the 'unfussy' HR.WP compromise of features. But I am early into binoculars compared with you!


Stephen


George: Happy to have this opportunity to thank you again for the HR.WP in the photo!

Stephen Prower said:

George: Happy to have this opportunity to thank you again for the HR.WP in the photo!

Click to expand...

Thanks, I am happy it found a nice new home

After trying the HR WP bins my wife was not happy with the feel of them so,after looking around she has decided to replace her Imagic porro 10x42 with a new pair of the same.Phone call yesterday to a nice lady at Opticron who was going to pop them in the post yesterday so my wife should get them early next week. It was interesting looking round for porro prism bins while there is a reasonable choice in the lower end of the market very little in the mis/upper range.Shame really as I personally think they are better value and until recently swore by them.A recent problem with my hands forced a change to Countryman roof 8x32.