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Pentax UCF X II 16X25 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Cosme
- Start date
The Ricoh/Pentax website still lists it under Travel Binoculars. You can read it's specs here.
http://www.us.ricoh-imaging.com/sport-optics/travel-events
Neither Camera Land or Eagle optics list it but they have the 8x and 10x versions listed.
Bob
http://www.us.ricoh-imaging.com/sport-optics/travel-events
Neither Camera Land or Eagle optics list it but they have the 8x and 10x versions listed.
Bob
I think they were better quality in the past.
Stick to 8x25 or 10x25.
I have probably tried older 12x25.
8-20x24 can be very good, but they vary.
Watch for fungus, collimation. Say 15 years old.
Another Pentax 8x25 is awful say 5 years ago. Updated maybe now.
Be very careful testing Chinese made Pentax, especially lower priced ones.
Stick to 8x25 or 10x25.
I have probably tried older 12x25.
8-20x24 can be very good, but they vary.
Watch for fungus, collimation. Say 15 years old.
Another Pentax 8x25 is awful say 5 years ago. Updated maybe now.
Be very careful testing Chinese made Pentax, especially lower priced ones.
Cosme
Well-known member
The thing is, a friend of mine give me a 21 zoom binos that he dont use. I was expecting a absolute piece of crap, but hey, they are decent! I felt in love with that tiny reverse porro body, so i think to buy myself another with fixed Ep and 25 aperture, so must be even better. Any recomendation over or above 12x?
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. There was I think an old Minolta 25 mm higher power binocular. There is definitely a Minolta zoom perhaps 8 to 16 times, which can be good. I cannot remember the exact specifications. Maybe 27 mm?
I would try the 16×25 Pentax. If possible I would try between three and six identical binoculars and choose the best one, even if it is the demonstrator in the shop. You should only buy the best one that you test and not an identical boxed binocular.
If you take this approach you can indeed find a useful 16×25. The problem is though holding it steady. You will need to brace it somehow.
Although most people say zoom binoculars are useless. This is not always the case. If you choose carefully.
One advantage is that the eye relief is often greater with zoom binoculars than a fixed magnification because of the way the optical train works. And at the higher magnifications, zoom binoculars usually have the greatest apparent field of view, often similar to the same fixed magnification binocular. I would definitely avoid zoom binoculars with greater than a three-time zoom ratio. Also a maximum magnification of 25 times for a small binocular and perhaps 35 times for a big binocular.
It might even be possible to find a decent unnamed 16×25 as long as you carefully test many examples and choose the best possible one. This is because they vary so much.
I would not buy the 16×25 by mail order. Except, and I have done this, is to find a very cheap price and buy six of them. The best place in the UK to do this type of thing is from the Daily Mail. They offer, or at least did offer, a £1 comprehensive insurance whereby you can return any item and get an immediate replacement by return of post the next day. No questions asked.
I bought 6 identical 8 to 24×50 binoculars. I tested them immediately and found that only two were out of collimation or otherwise not good. I got two replacements the next day, returning the faulty 2 pieces to the Courier who delivered the two new ones. They cost £12.99 each, when they were selling in the shop for £70. I then gave two away as presents. I hoped that they would break, but they're still being used to watch horseracing at 16 times magnification. Apparently, this is good for the far side of the track. If and when these two binoculars break I will give them replacements.
So if you see a 16×25 for say £12 you could try the same method.
And it is much better to go to a shop or Lidl or Aldi who have a pile of 50 of these and just go through them and buy the best ones you can at maybe £10 each. I think they both have comprehensive return warranties where you can get your money back, but you should check this.
I will try to think if there are any other small 16 times binoculars worth having a look at.
I would try the 16×25 Pentax. If possible I would try between three and six identical binoculars and choose the best one, even if it is the demonstrator in the shop. You should only buy the best one that you test and not an identical boxed binocular.
If you take this approach you can indeed find a useful 16×25. The problem is though holding it steady. You will need to brace it somehow.
Although most people say zoom binoculars are useless. This is not always the case. If you choose carefully.
One advantage is that the eye relief is often greater with zoom binoculars than a fixed magnification because of the way the optical train works. And at the higher magnifications, zoom binoculars usually have the greatest apparent field of view, often similar to the same fixed magnification binocular. I would definitely avoid zoom binoculars with greater than a three-time zoom ratio. Also a maximum magnification of 25 times for a small binocular and perhaps 35 times for a big binocular.
It might even be possible to find a decent unnamed 16×25 as long as you carefully test many examples and choose the best possible one. This is because they vary so much.
I would not buy the 16×25 by mail order. Except, and I have done this, is to find a very cheap price and buy six of them. The best place in the UK to do this type of thing is from the Daily Mail. They offer, or at least did offer, a £1 comprehensive insurance whereby you can return any item and get an immediate replacement by return of post the next day. No questions asked.
I bought 6 identical 8 to 24×50 binoculars. I tested them immediately and found that only two were out of collimation or otherwise not good. I got two replacements the next day, returning the faulty 2 pieces to the Courier who delivered the two new ones. They cost £12.99 each, when they were selling in the shop for £70. I then gave two away as presents. I hoped that they would break, but they're still being used to watch horseracing at 16 times magnification. Apparently, this is good for the far side of the track. If and when these two binoculars break I will give them replacements.
So if you see a 16×25 for say £12 you could try the same method.
And it is much better to go to a shop or Lidl or Aldi who have a pile of 50 of these and just go through them and buy the best ones you can at maybe £10 each. I think they both have comprehensive return warranties where you can get your money back, but you should check this.
I will try to think if there are any other small 16 times binoculars worth having a look at.
. I think it is more trouble than it is worth to try and get refunds from the UK to Spain or vice versa.
And I don't think you can use the Daily Mail.
However, may be a Spanish newspaper or mail order outlets can be used in the same way.
Do you have Lidl or Aldi?
But you must be experienced at testing binoculars to go through perhaps 20 binoculars one after the other quickly.
If the Pentax 16×25 is not expensive for you, you may wish just to take a risk. It should be at least of reasonable quality on average.
When Pentax were made in Japan I would definitely have bought a 16×25 binocular. However, my experience with Chinese made Pentax has not been very good.
If the zoom binocular you have is maybe a Nikon, maybe that is good enough for you.
But you could try to buy a Pentax 16×25 binocular and you may be okay with it.
I have a very old 8×24 Pentax, which is the equal of any binocular made at that time. The optical and mechanical quality is awesome. The only problem is it is not waterproof.
And I don't think you can use the Daily Mail.
However, may be a Spanish newspaper or mail order outlets can be used in the same way.
Do you have Lidl or Aldi?
But you must be experienced at testing binoculars to go through perhaps 20 binoculars one after the other quickly.
If the Pentax 16×25 is not expensive for you, you may wish just to take a risk. It should be at least of reasonable quality on average.
When Pentax were made in Japan I would definitely have bought a 16×25 binocular. However, my experience with Chinese made Pentax has not been very good.
If the zoom binocular you have is maybe a Nikon, maybe that is good enough for you.
But you could try to buy a Pentax 16×25 binocular and you may be okay with it.
I have a very old 8×24 Pentax, which is the equal of any binocular made at that time. The optical and mechanical quality is awesome. The only problem is it is not waterproof.
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Cosme
Well-known member
The binos are Esnechab or something like this ... got fmc and bak4 letters on it ... god knows :king:
The chinese problem is nothing new, i read it a lot of times on the scopes section, depend how the quality control was the day it was made you can get a good bang for the buck or a potato with glasses
And, by the way, these binos are not to replace nothing, just love the ergonomics and the pocket size, i want to have ones and enjoy the "stay and go" rather the "grab and go" ... maybe i should go with the nikons 12x25 and look for 16x50 for the hard work ...
The chinese problem is nothing new, i read it a lot of times on the scopes section, depend how the quality control was the day it was made you can get a good bang for the buck or a potato with glasses
And, by the way, these binos are not to replace nothing, just love the ergonomics and the pocket size, i want to have ones and enjoy the "stay and go" rather the "grab and go" ... maybe i should go with the nikons 12x25 and look for 16x50 for the hard work ...
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I think you mean Eschenbach. These will probably be Chinese although they used to make their own high-quality optics.
I think that they still probably make some of their high quality low vision optics and magnifiers.
If you are happy with the small zoom binocular, maybe you don't need any others.
But if you want a small fixed magnification binocular I would still be inclined to go with 10×25 rather than 12×25 or 16×25.
Personally, I don't think they're very pocketable. Although I do use a roof prism 10×25 Docter, which I just put in my pocket.
A full-size 16×50 is much easier to use successfully rather than a 16×25.
Mind you I have had three examples of the 8 to 20×24 Pentax. One was excellent, one was okay, and one was not good because of poor star images. The good one was particularly good for looking at the moon and for splitting close double stars.
I think that they still probably make some of their high quality low vision optics and magnifiers.
If you are happy with the small zoom binocular, maybe you don't need any others.
But if you want a small fixed magnification binocular I would still be inclined to go with 10×25 rather than 12×25 or 16×25.
Personally, I don't think they're very pocketable. Although I do use a roof prism 10×25 Docter, which I just put in my pocket.
A full-size 16×50 is much easier to use successfully rather than a 16×25.
Mind you I have had three examples of the 8 to 20×24 Pentax. One was excellent, one was okay, and one was not good because of poor star images. The good one was particularly good for looking at the moon and for splitting close double stars.
Cosme
Well-known member
Im "happy" because i dont even try to do any kind of serious watching with them. Its a bino to be in your pocket and use it while walking the dog or wathever daily situation you cant go with bigger binos on your neck. But since they are cheap i dont care to buy ones and if it possible to improve, welcome. The problem, sir binastro, and its a matter of personal taste, i dont find exciting anything below 15x!
If dont find the 16x pentax in Europe probably i buy the T11 8-24x 25 Nikon or the Pentax zoom , expecting to improve something these Eschenbach ... like i said, nothing serious, something portable ready to shot ... just like the phone cameras.
Demanding sharpness at 15x on small binoculars, i know there is no replacement for displacement without step on .000 numbers
If dont find the 16x pentax in Europe probably i buy the T11 8-24x 25 Nikon or the Pentax zoom , expecting to improve something these Eschenbach ... like i said, nothing serious, something portable ready to shot ... just like the phone cameras.
Demanding sharpness at 15x on small binoculars, i know there is no replacement for displacement without step on .000 numbers
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