Steve C
Well-known member
I have had this binocular in hand for somewhat over a month. I have used it quite a bit and now it is time for the review.
Out of the box: Initial impressions are mostly favorable. This is a solid black binocular, covered with a tactile silicone/rubber skin that has a nice, leathery texture. The downside here is a visibly distinct appearance of mold lines in the armor on the outside of the tubes. That may or may not be seen as a downside to the binocular. It is of the correct dimensions and properly applied. There are no bulges, other deformities, or loose spots present. The size is pretty typical of the average 42 mm class binocular. The instrument has a tripod adapter. The binocular comes with a ballistic nylon carrying case, neck strap, objective covers a, rain guard, and cleaning cloth. The case lacks its own strap, but there are two loops on either side of the top interior of the case that will serve for a separate strap attachment. The typical tethered objective covers are have flaps to aid in removal. They are a nice tight fit. The tethers will stay in place on the tubes and the caps are easy enough to remove and replace while in use, and will stay in place until the user moves them. The rain guard is a stiffer plastic material seen on certain types of binoculars aside from Opticron. Sometimes this style will hang onto the eye cup assembly like grim death, and simply put, represent a pain in the neck. In this case the size is perfect. They are stiff enough to handle and slide easily on and off the eye cups. There is a slight wobble to the eye cup assembly when in full extension. The Opticron USA website shows an msrp of $715.00.
Specifications: The effective aperture is 42 mm and the magnification checks out at 8x. The actual measured fov matches the stated 375’ or 7.2*. It is 6.25 inches long in the fully extended position and weighs 26 oz without strap or lens covers. The IPD range on this unit is 57-74 mm. The eye relief is stated as 22 mm. That seems to match the actual measurement, as best I can measure it. The eye cup in the full down position comes within 2 mm of the lens surface. In full extension, the eye cup extends some 15 mm from the lens surface.
The focus is counter clockwise to infinity. From the close focus distance of a measured 6.5 feet, one turn of the wheel takes the focus to just about 75 feet. Another slight pull goes to infinity, leaving about one quarter turn of travel past infinity. From a distance of 15 feet to infinity the travel is just shy of one half turn. This makes relatively close in use pretty decent, and seems to closely match the Opticron claim. Total focus wheel travel is one and a quarter turns. The travel is I suppose best described ans being on the stiff side of smooth. It does not have the slick buttery focus feel, but the travel is easily accomplished and you do not have to apply enough pressure to force yourself past proper focus. It is generally stiff enough to require user interaction to move it. There is no slack in movement during change of direction. The unit has a right eye diopter adjustment which is pretty stiff and will not move after the user finishes adjustment. There is an ever so slight slack in the diopter movement. The diopter itself is a heavy, solid plastic, single piece ring.
Image performance: The binocular has what I’d call a well done classical edge. There is no field flattener technology used, but the field has a flat appearance. There is a little field curvature and some edge distortion in peripheral view. However when measuring the fov where I need to look directly at the edge, the numbers on the tape are clear and quite sharp. This presents a sharp, pretty distraction free across the field view. There is a slight yellowish-greenish color tint. The image presents a color neutral tone with a natural color rendition. The contrast is very good, edges are nicely defined and feather detail of even a drab House Sparrow are pretty well defined. I’d call the image sharpness very good. It fits right in with the binoculars I reviewed in the comparative review. They all seem to define the same group on a USAF chart at the same distance with equal clarity under the same lighting condition.
There has been some discussion about the relationship of the Opticron Imagic to the Tract Toric, both here in forum posts and in a couple of PM messages I have received. Here is what I can tell about the two. First the image is essentially inseparable between the two. In addition, the measured fov of the Toric is a little wider than the measured fov of the Imagic. They have the same size and focus action. I’d say it is quite likely they have the same housing. The eye cup assembly is different, while sharing the same wobble at full extension. Neither have screw off eye pieces. The Opticron has a much better diopter adjustment. The Opticron has primarily violet lens coatings, the Toric, primarily green. Looking through the objective end of the instruments, the visible surfaces, angles, and curves are not the same. The analogous surface is discernible in each, but they are different location and shape. It may be that the prism group is oriented differently to the axis of each, as similarities are greater when the barrel of one is rotated 90* to the other. Take this for what it is, my observations. I am not saying they either are or not the same. It seems any two binoculars of the same dimensions, both using Schmidt-Pechan prisms perhaps necessarily have more similarities than differences.
In previous reviews, I addressed Tract’s claim the Toric is the best binocular than can be had for less than $700, saying I was not going to dispute that assertion. Considering the relatively narrow price gap between this Imagic and a Toric, the Imagic needs to be included in that discussion. You loose very little and can save some money.
Overall, the Imagic is a solid, quite capable, field worthy binocular. As with any review I do, the question I ask is whether or not I would use the binocular without regrets for my own personal use. The answer is yes it is. The view is completely satisfactory and all that is needed for satisfied observation. As always, if you prefer different specifications, more expensive equipment from a company with a different history, there are certainly those options available to you. If you prefer to save some significant money, this is a very capable choice.
Out of the box: Initial impressions are mostly favorable. This is a solid black binocular, covered with a tactile silicone/rubber skin that has a nice, leathery texture. The downside here is a visibly distinct appearance of mold lines in the armor on the outside of the tubes. That may or may not be seen as a downside to the binocular. It is of the correct dimensions and properly applied. There are no bulges, other deformities, or loose spots present. The size is pretty typical of the average 42 mm class binocular. The instrument has a tripod adapter. The binocular comes with a ballistic nylon carrying case, neck strap, objective covers a, rain guard, and cleaning cloth. The case lacks its own strap, but there are two loops on either side of the top interior of the case that will serve for a separate strap attachment. The typical tethered objective covers are have flaps to aid in removal. They are a nice tight fit. The tethers will stay in place on the tubes and the caps are easy enough to remove and replace while in use, and will stay in place until the user moves them. The rain guard is a stiffer plastic material seen on certain types of binoculars aside from Opticron. Sometimes this style will hang onto the eye cup assembly like grim death, and simply put, represent a pain in the neck. In this case the size is perfect. They are stiff enough to handle and slide easily on and off the eye cups. There is a slight wobble to the eye cup assembly when in full extension. The Opticron USA website shows an msrp of $715.00.
Specifications: The effective aperture is 42 mm and the magnification checks out at 8x. The actual measured fov matches the stated 375’ or 7.2*. It is 6.25 inches long in the fully extended position and weighs 26 oz without strap or lens covers. The IPD range on this unit is 57-74 mm. The eye relief is stated as 22 mm. That seems to match the actual measurement, as best I can measure it. The eye cup in the full down position comes within 2 mm of the lens surface. In full extension, the eye cup extends some 15 mm from the lens surface.
The focus is counter clockwise to infinity. From the close focus distance of a measured 6.5 feet, one turn of the wheel takes the focus to just about 75 feet. Another slight pull goes to infinity, leaving about one quarter turn of travel past infinity. From a distance of 15 feet to infinity the travel is just shy of one half turn. This makes relatively close in use pretty decent, and seems to closely match the Opticron claim. Total focus wheel travel is one and a quarter turns. The travel is I suppose best described ans being on the stiff side of smooth. It does not have the slick buttery focus feel, but the travel is easily accomplished and you do not have to apply enough pressure to force yourself past proper focus. It is generally stiff enough to require user interaction to move it. There is no slack in movement during change of direction. The unit has a right eye diopter adjustment which is pretty stiff and will not move after the user finishes adjustment. There is an ever so slight slack in the diopter movement. The diopter itself is a heavy, solid plastic, single piece ring.
Image performance: The binocular has what I’d call a well done classical edge. There is no field flattener technology used, but the field has a flat appearance. There is a little field curvature and some edge distortion in peripheral view. However when measuring the fov where I need to look directly at the edge, the numbers on the tape are clear and quite sharp. This presents a sharp, pretty distraction free across the field view. There is a slight yellowish-greenish color tint. The image presents a color neutral tone with a natural color rendition. The contrast is very good, edges are nicely defined and feather detail of even a drab House Sparrow are pretty well defined. I’d call the image sharpness very good. It fits right in with the binoculars I reviewed in the comparative review. They all seem to define the same group on a USAF chart at the same distance with equal clarity under the same lighting condition.
There has been some discussion about the relationship of the Opticron Imagic to the Tract Toric, both here in forum posts and in a couple of PM messages I have received. Here is what I can tell about the two. First the image is essentially inseparable between the two. In addition, the measured fov of the Toric is a little wider than the measured fov of the Imagic. They have the same size and focus action. I’d say it is quite likely they have the same housing. The eye cup assembly is different, while sharing the same wobble at full extension. Neither have screw off eye pieces. The Opticron has a much better diopter adjustment. The Opticron has primarily violet lens coatings, the Toric, primarily green. Looking through the objective end of the instruments, the visible surfaces, angles, and curves are not the same. The analogous surface is discernible in each, but they are different location and shape. It may be that the prism group is oriented differently to the axis of each, as similarities are greater when the barrel of one is rotated 90* to the other. Take this for what it is, my observations. I am not saying they either are or not the same. It seems any two binoculars of the same dimensions, both using Schmidt-Pechan prisms perhaps necessarily have more similarities than differences.
In previous reviews, I addressed Tract’s claim the Toric is the best binocular than can be had for less than $700, saying I was not going to dispute that assertion. Considering the relatively narrow price gap between this Imagic and a Toric, the Imagic needs to be included in that discussion. You loose very little and can save some money.
Overall, the Imagic is a solid, quite capable, field worthy binocular. As with any review I do, the question I ask is whether or not I would use the binocular without regrets for my own personal use. The answer is yes it is. The view is completely satisfactory and all that is needed for satisfied observation. As always, if you prefer different specifications, more expensive equipment from a company with a different history, there are certainly those options available to you. If you prefer to save some significant money, this is a very capable choice.