I’m in the market for a new pair of binoculars soon and I have been searching the net to screen for makes and models that might be suitable for me. I currently own a 15 y/o Swarovski SL 8x56 B, which is not bad but does suffer from a lot of flare when viewing in the direction of the sun at dawn or dusk – also it is very heavy. What I’m looking for is a pair of reasonably lightweight binoculars – heck, everything is lightweight compared to the Swarovski – with good quality optics, reasonable low light performance and waterproof, since it will be used for bird/wildlife watching around dawn and dusk plus hiking. My research so far has brought me to the conclusion that a Pentax dcf SP 8x43 might be what I need. I live in Denmark where Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski have always been THE binoculars you want to buy in order to get quality optics but I wonder, whether the Pentax might offer near similar optics but with a lower price tag, allowing me to buy a telescope as well for the money I would have to spend on a European brand binocular?
Have any of you tried out the Pentax and compared it to other binoculars?
Have any of you tried out the Pentax and compared it to other binoculars?