justabirdwatcher
Well-known member
Since losing/misplacing my beloved little 8x32 Blue Sky's about 2 months ago, I've had a hole in my arsenal, and a critical one at that. My day-to-day vehicle binoculars are always a mid-size, mid-price pair like those Blue Sky's, for a number of reasons. They fit nicely in the pocket of my car door, they are not so expensive that if they are stolen or lost, I am out a whole lot of cash, and I tend to be a little less careful with them. They also serve as my hunting binoculars and my loaner binoculars, so if they are dropped (and they usually get dropped) I don't feel so bad.
I could have just bought another pair of Blue Sky's, but I've found I am liking the higher magnification of my 10x42 SLC's. A nice compromise, I thought, might be these two mid-size offerings from Celestron and Pentax. Both come very highly rated, and can be had for a little over $200 right now.
My initial impressions were as follows:
Granites come with more accessories, and appear to have a little more attention paid to the packaging, case, straps, etc. They come with a harness which I may or may not use, but at least it's an option. The Pentax is a very slim and trim and attractive binocular, but the accesories and case are very cheap. I didn't think I'd like the integral objective covers of the Granites, but they actually aren't that bad. I'll probably keep them in place.
In the hand, I prefer the Pentax. They are slightly slimmer, slightly lighter (18 vs. 20 oz.) and the feel is just a little better. The strap lug on the Granites is a bit sharp on the edges.
Focus wheel... this is something I've become very sensitive to lately after handling some good ones and some really bad ones. The focus wheel on the Granites was initially stiff and sloppy, but it loosened up. It's still got a little slack in it - which I don't care for - but thankfully there is no play once you set the focus. I think I can live with it. I'm not overshooting the focus and going back and forth like I was on the Zen's. The focus wheel on the Pentax is tight but very precise. It's quite good and I can tell would only get better with use.
Eye cups - the edge for me at least, goes to the Pentax. They are plastic, but they click into place tightly and they fit my eye sockets perfectly. In virtually every way ergonomically, these Pentax are nearly the perfect open bridge midsize binocular - much the same way I felt about the Blue Sky's. The eye cups on the Granites are metal, click into place with a little slack, and are larger. But not so large they create an issue for me. No pressure on the bridge of my nose like my Bruntons or the awful Leupold Gold Ring's that I sold for exactly that reason.
Hinges on both are fine. Good and tight but not stiff. Length is virtually identical. The Granites "feel" like a larger pair, mostly because the barrels are larger, but I can't say they really are that much bigger. The extra 2 oz. makes them feel larger too, I think.
Now for the important part. The optics.
The Pentax are honestly a little disappointing. First, the fogged up when I took them from my air-conditioned home outside to our "lovely" 90% humidity and 85 degree morning. The Granites didn't fog up at all.
After allowing the condensation to evaporate, the view of the Granite was darn near a "wow" view. Very sharp, very bright, no "rolling ball" and no glare or ghosting. Colors were good. Brightness and sharpness was closer to my SLC's than to the Pentax. Honestly, I'm very impressed with the Granites optically. For that reason, they are the clear winner in this battle.
The Pentax handle beautifully, but optically offer what you'd expect from a $200 pair of binoculars. They are okay, but certainly not great. The Granites border on great.
In addition to being optically better in nearly every way, the field of view on the granites is much better. The Pentax give you that "tunnel vision" look, sadly the same thing I didn't care for with my Blue Skys (the only thing I didn't like about them). No "tunnel vision" feel on the Granites.
Sweet spot was about 70% on the Granites and about 60% on the Pentax, but remember, the Pentax FOV is less already so it's about 2/3 the sweet spot that you get on the Granites.
I wish I could get the optics of the Granite and the ergonomics and handling of the Pentax. However, since that's not possible, I'm keeping the Granites and sending the Pentax back.
IMO, these 9x33 Granites are an absolute steal at the $224 price I got them for. Very close to the performance of my Brunton's as my memory serves (sold the Bruntons to buy these). I won't be missing the Bruntons now that I have seen these Granites.
If you've been looking at either of these, get the Granites. You won't regret it.
I could have just bought another pair of Blue Sky's, but I've found I am liking the higher magnification of my 10x42 SLC's. A nice compromise, I thought, might be these two mid-size offerings from Celestron and Pentax. Both come very highly rated, and can be had for a little over $200 right now.
My initial impressions were as follows:
Granites come with more accessories, and appear to have a little more attention paid to the packaging, case, straps, etc. They come with a harness which I may or may not use, but at least it's an option. The Pentax is a very slim and trim and attractive binocular, but the accesories and case are very cheap. I didn't think I'd like the integral objective covers of the Granites, but they actually aren't that bad. I'll probably keep them in place.
In the hand, I prefer the Pentax. They are slightly slimmer, slightly lighter (18 vs. 20 oz.) and the feel is just a little better. The strap lug on the Granites is a bit sharp on the edges.
Focus wheel... this is something I've become very sensitive to lately after handling some good ones and some really bad ones. The focus wheel on the Granites was initially stiff and sloppy, but it loosened up. It's still got a little slack in it - which I don't care for - but thankfully there is no play once you set the focus. I think I can live with it. I'm not overshooting the focus and going back and forth like I was on the Zen's. The focus wheel on the Pentax is tight but very precise. It's quite good and I can tell would only get better with use.
Eye cups - the edge for me at least, goes to the Pentax. They are plastic, but they click into place tightly and they fit my eye sockets perfectly. In virtually every way ergonomically, these Pentax are nearly the perfect open bridge midsize binocular - much the same way I felt about the Blue Sky's. The eye cups on the Granites are metal, click into place with a little slack, and are larger. But not so large they create an issue for me. No pressure on the bridge of my nose like my Bruntons or the awful Leupold Gold Ring's that I sold for exactly that reason.
Hinges on both are fine. Good and tight but not stiff. Length is virtually identical. The Granites "feel" like a larger pair, mostly because the barrels are larger, but I can't say they really are that much bigger. The extra 2 oz. makes them feel larger too, I think.
Now for the important part. The optics.
The Pentax are honestly a little disappointing. First, the fogged up when I took them from my air-conditioned home outside to our "lovely" 90% humidity and 85 degree morning. The Granites didn't fog up at all.
After allowing the condensation to evaporate, the view of the Granite was darn near a "wow" view. Very sharp, very bright, no "rolling ball" and no glare or ghosting. Colors were good. Brightness and sharpness was closer to my SLC's than to the Pentax. Honestly, I'm very impressed with the Granites optically. For that reason, they are the clear winner in this battle.
The Pentax handle beautifully, but optically offer what you'd expect from a $200 pair of binoculars. They are okay, but certainly not great. The Granites border on great.
In addition to being optically better in nearly every way, the field of view on the granites is much better. The Pentax give you that "tunnel vision" look, sadly the same thing I didn't care for with my Blue Skys (the only thing I didn't like about them). No "tunnel vision" feel on the Granites.
Sweet spot was about 70% on the Granites and about 60% on the Pentax, but remember, the Pentax FOV is less already so it's about 2/3 the sweet spot that you get on the Granites.
I wish I could get the optics of the Granite and the ergonomics and handling of the Pentax. However, since that's not possible, I'm keeping the Granites and sending the Pentax back.
IMO, these 9x33 Granites are an absolute steal at the $224 price I got them for. Very close to the performance of my Brunton's as my memory serves (sold the Bruntons to buy these). I won't be missing the Bruntons now that I have seen these Granites.
If you've been looking at either of these, get the Granites. You won't regret it.
