I am brand new to "good" binoculars, so keep that in mind as you read my review.
The "eye relief" is right on the edge of being usable with these binoculars and my glasses (I knew this could be an issue when I ordered them) but by using the eye cups all the way out, I can use them. By setting the right lens "Diopter Adjustment", I was able to adjust the binoculars so that I can push my glasses up on my forehead and easily use the binoculars without my glasses.
The 8 power magnification is excellent for me. I tend to be "shaky", and therefore anything larger then 8 power doesn't work well for me.
The field of view is great because I easily find my subject, and can see things on the periphery that I would never have spotted otherwise.
The "handling" of these binoculars for me is great. The are not so small that they are hard to hold, light enough that my arms/hands don't get tired from holding them (I spent about 1 hour continuously using them - amazing what you will do when you find binoculars that are comfortable), and not so light that they shake around in the wind. I have gotten to the point where I can pretty much follow the finches as they fly away, which for me is saying a lot because with every other pair of binoculars I have ever used, I had trouble finding things that were not moving. I believe the size and weight will be perfect for my mountain trips. I will put them on the Luepold X-treme binocular camera that I currently have on my camera so that they hang on my chest without bouncing around while I am walking, or put them in my Maxpedition Jumbo hip bag where they are easy to get to.
4/23/07:
UPS delivered my binoculars at around 7:45 pm MST.
The sun was setting rapidly, so the lighting was not very good.
I figured that with the lack of light, I would have troubles with them, but I did not. I could see the license plate on a car about 3 blocks from me, see the details on Pikes Peak, and found a small "yard ornament" windmill in a neighbors backyard about 2 blocks away that I did not know existed.
4/24/07:
Very overcast day with snow falling and blowing, but again, everything I looked at was crystal clear (other than the fact that the blowing snow we making it difficult to see anything very clearly).
4/25/07:
About 10" of snow on the ground, temp at about 17 degrees. Looking through the binoculars was somewhat difficult due to the glare from the snow, but it did not seem any worse than with the naked eye. Putting on my sunglasses helped but these particular sunglasses sit a little further from my face, so they don't work as well with the binoculars as my normal glasses. Using the binoculars with my contacts works very well.
I did not experience any fogging even though the binoculars went from inside (about 68 degrees) to outside (about 17 degrees).
I have not had any problems viewing the birds (Mountain Blue Birds, Red-Winged Black Birds, And Sparrows) on my back fence (about 1/3 acre from porch), the birds (Sparrows, Finches And Red-Winged Black Birds) on the feeder in my front yard (about 25 yards away) or the Pigeons and Crows on the roofs of neighbors houses.
If the snow manages to melt (which it is should if the weather forecast is true) by this weekend, I plan on giving them a good test by taking them out where I can use them to scan mountains looking for Big Horn sheep, Deer, Elk, birds, and any other wildlife that is out. This will be in mountainous areas with heavy trees where animals tend to blend in, and my old cheap binoculars did not work well.
After 2 days of having these binoculars, I have no regrets as to having purchased them.
I will post a further review when I get a chance to take them "out in the wild" and really use them.
Eric
The "eye relief" is right on the edge of being usable with these binoculars and my glasses (I knew this could be an issue when I ordered them) but by using the eye cups all the way out, I can use them. By setting the right lens "Diopter Adjustment", I was able to adjust the binoculars so that I can push my glasses up on my forehead and easily use the binoculars without my glasses.
The 8 power magnification is excellent for me. I tend to be "shaky", and therefore anything larger then 8 power doesn't work well for me.
The field of view is great because I easily find my subject, and can see things on the periphery that I would never have spotted otherwise.
The "handling" of these binoculars for me is great. The are not so small that they are hard to hold, light enough that my arms/hands don't get tired from holding them (I spent about 1 hour continuously using them - amazing what you will do when you find binoculars that are comfortable), and not so light that they shake around in the wind. I have gotten to the point where I can pretty much follow the finches as they fly away, which for me is saying a lot because with every other pair of binoculars I have ever used, I had trouble finding things that were not moving. I believe the size and weight will be perfect for my mountain trips. I will put them on the Luepold X-treme binocular camera that I currently have on my camera so that they hang on my chest without bouncing around while I am walking, or put them in my Maxpedition Jumbo hip bag where they are easy to get to.
4/23/07:
UPS delivered my binoculars at around 7:45 pm MST.
The sun was setting rapidly, so the lighting was not very good.
I figured that with the lack of light, I would have troubles with them, but I did not. I could see the license plate on a car about 3 blocks from me, see the details on Pikes Peak, and found a small "yard ornament" windmill in a neighbors backyard about 2 blocks away that I did not know existed.
4/24/07:
Very overcast day with snow falling and blowing, but again, everything I looked at was crystal clear (other than the fact that the blowing snow we making it difficult to see anything very clearly).
4/25/07:
About 10" of snow on the ground, temp at about 17 degrees. Looking through the binoculars was somewhat difficult due to the glare from the snow, but it did not seem any worse than with the naked eye. Putting on my sunglasses helped but these particular sunglasses sit a little further from my face, so they don't work as well with the binoculars as my normal glasses. Using the binoculars with my contacts works very well.
I did not experience any fogging even though the binoculars went from inside (about 68 degrees) to outside (about 17 degrees).
I have not had any problems viewing the birds (Mountain Blue Birds, Red-Winged Black Birds, And Sparrows) on my back fence (about 1/3 acre from porch), the birds (Sparrows, Finches And Red-Winged Black Birds) on the feeder in my front yard (about 25 yards away) or the Pigeons and Crows on the roofs of neighbors houses.
If the snow manages to melt (which it is should if the weather forecast is true) by this weekend, I plan on giving them a good test by taking them out where I can use them to scan mountains looking for Big Horn sheep, Deer, Elk, birds, and any other wildlife that is out. This will be in mountainous areas with heavy trees where animals tend to blend in, and my old cheap binoculars did not work well.
After 2 days of having these binoculars, I have no regrets as to having purchased them.
I will post a further review when I get a chance to take them "out in the wild" and really use them.
Eric