Nikon 7x35 Action vs. Nikon 7x35 Action EX (1 Viewer)

Are the optics the same in these two units; with the additional cost of the EX going into the enhanced body?

Retailers around here only carry the less expensive model so there is no opportunity to do a SxS comparison.

Thanks,

CG

cycleguy said:

Are the optics the same in these two units; with the additional cost of the EX going into the enhanced body?

Retailers around here only carry the less expensive model so there is no opportunity to do a SxS comparison.

Thanks,

CG

Click to expand...

The Action extreme is better in many ways, optically. I have owned or
own several examples of the Actions. These are good beginner binoculars
and I have given some to others.

There is a current post over on Cloudy Nites, and EdZ, the resident binocular
expert, just posted on the very same question that was asked over there.
Maybe someone can do the link.

The one thing that I have noticed is that if you are not an eyeglass wearer,
the action is just a nice simple foldown eyecup, and as such you will leave
them up. The twist-up on the Extreme, is an advantage to glass wearers,
but they are not well made and can lose the stops, and don't stay put.
may lose its detents.

So, in my opinion, if I was going to use these quite a bit, I would go for the
Action Extreme, but if just a secondary, or car binocular, the Action, may
do the job.

Jerry

I tend to agree with Jerry's comments, especially the last paragraph.

I have owned both as well. The optics are very similar but the eyepiece designs are slightly different. The Action EX has greater eye relief than the regular Action.

NDhunter said:

...There is a current post over on Cloudy Nites, and EdZ, the resident binocular expert, just posted on the very same question that was asked over there. Maybe someone can do the link...

Click to expand...

Jerry hi, and thanks for the reference.

I think this is the post: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthre...4280/page/1/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Regards
Chris

cycleguy said:

Are the optics the same in these two units; with the additional cost of the EX going into the enhanced body?

Retailers around here only carry the less expensive model so there is no opportunity to do a SxS comparison.

Thanks,

CG

Click to expand...

Recycle Guy (okay, this time I am referring to you ,

I have tried both of these bins, and as Jerry said, the EX is the better of the two. Should be, it cost more. But not that much more, B&H Photo sells them for $104.

Ergos: I don't have the specs in front of me, but the EX feels heavier, and its body is bulkier. Just looked it up, 28 oz, about the same as the EL. The Action has more of a curved and less chunky body. I like the feel of it better.

Optics: The EX is noticeably sharper in the center, but about 60% out the image starts to blur, mostly field curvature. Considering the WF 9.3* FOV, that's not too bad. Very bright too, considering the price point. But my Nikon 7x35 WF has sharper edges than either model and is at least as sharp as the EX in the center. What it lacks is the latest coatings like the EX has.

The Action isn't as sharp on axis, but the edges are sharper. The fall off is more gradual. It has aspherical lenses.

Eyecups: AFAIK, the Action still has fold down rubber eyecups, the one I tried did whereas the EX has twist-up eyecups. The Action's ER struck me as being low, the EX better - 17mm - not sure how much of that is useable, if it's a requirement for you.

Distortion: I've noticed "rolling ball" while panning the landscape with the Action, you probably won't see it, and it wasn't extreme, but it was noticeable. I don't see RB with the EX, it does have field curvature at the edges, but much of it can be refocused.

The shortcoming of both bins for birding is their long close focus distance. For the EX, it's 16.4" - same as my 10x42 SE.

AFAIK, the Action isn't WP, the EX is. Considering the price of the 7x35 EX, they are a best buy, as long as close focus isn't a priority.

Eco Man

Ha... you make me laugh again!!!

Thanks for the inputs.

When I get the "curious to try another binocular urge", I might give the 7x35 EX a spin. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't the same glass.

Think I had a 12x Action Ex and a 8x Action at one point in time. Recall liking the optics and build of the EX better... but that goes way back in time so memory and reality could be different.

CG

cycleguy said:

Ha... you make me laugh again!!!

Thanks for the inputs.

When I get the "curious to try another binocular urge", I might give the 7x35 EX a spin. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't the same glass.

Think I had a 12x Action Ex and a 8x Action at one point in time. Recall liking the optics and build of the EX better... but that goes way back in time so memory and reality could be different.

CG

Click to expand...

I also owned a 12x50 EX, same size sweet spot, but much less FOV than the 7x35, so proportionally less sharp FOV. I felt it wasn't enough for stargazing, so I sold the 12x EX and bought a 12x SE, which I really liked for that application but not so much for birding.

<B>

cycleguy said:

Are the optics the same in these two units; with the additional cost of the EX going into the enhanced body?...

Click to expand...

Hi cycleguy
Just to confuse things: I have just had the chance to choose between two examples of 7x35 Action Extreme. One was described in the shop's stocklist as 'Model 7237' and the other as Model 'BAA660AA'.

After trying them out I concluded that the second pair had a wider area of clear focus, which extended to about 60% (>90% when looking more than 100ft away) of the distance between the centre to the outer edge of the fields of each barrel, and was clearer or slightly brighter. This had numbers on the box: "UPC #7237", and on another line "JAN BAA660AA". The box itself had a solid gold background colour which distinguished it from the box for the first example, which I think was light blue and black, like the box shown in a picture in this July 2012 review: http://www.opticsreviewer.com/action-ex.html

BAA660AA appears under the 'Product Code' in the January 2009 Factory Pricelist for Uk but, apart from the printing on the box I am not sure whether the optics of the two examples were really different in respect of their manufactured specifications, or whether it might just have been a random variation between the particular examples which I tried.

I think the UPC and model number was 7237 for both of them and that this is aka 'Nikon Product Code' but the second example (marked on the box JAN BAA660AA) came with a 5/10 years waranty papers which were not included with the first.

Elsewhere I have seen an advert for Nikon 7x35 EX with 'MPN 3081641, 7237, 7237NIK' and 'UPC 018208072378' and '1 year manufacturer's warranty'

In the shop's stocklist, there were also two designations for Nikon Action 7x35 (non EX), one of which was also termed 'VII' and 'Model 7215' while the other was plain 7x35 and 'model BAA650AA': I am not sure which I tried but thought it was VII, that the view was at least as good as EX, while it looked relatively old fashioned. Therefore I preferred the sleeker EX which, as mentioned above, has the 4-position eyecups and seemed more substantial.

However it looks as if there may have been at least two different fairly recent production runs of both Action and Action EX, and that it is possible that the earlier run may have turned out a slightly superior product, in a gold coloured box marked JAN BAA660AA as far as the 7x35 EX is concerned.

Regards
Chris

Nikon Action EX 7x35: Close Focus distance 8-9ft

Brocknroller, yes I see that for Action 7x35 EX close focus is currently usually given as 5m/16.4ft, which seems to be wrong as far as my example is concerned.

In practice, and at least for "JAN BAA660AA" both with and without reading or distance glasses, I find that sharp focus can be achieved at a distance between 8ft and 9ft, which is less remarkable but more useful.
The only date I can find on the enclosed leaflets is a note on the card describing the 10 year warranty which says "As of January 2010".

This amounts to a significant discrepancy, being enough for the close focus distance of '16 feet' elsewhere to be emphasised in a summary which came up when I searched for Nikon EX 7x35
http://www.consumersearch.com/binoculars/nikon-action-ex-extreme-atb-7x35

This seemed to be from April 2008 and commenced: "The Nikon Action EX Extreme ATB 7x35 has been discontinued...." which I had not noticed earlier, and nor had I noticed the prefix 'ATB' as a sign of a different model.

The article went on: "...For the best budget mid-sized binoculars, especially for beginning bird-watchers, reviewers recommend the waterproof, fogproof Nikon Action EX Extreme 7x35..." but finished with the caveat that it was this apparent replacement, EX Extreme 7x35, which would not be suitable for looking at garden birds on a feeder.

So maybe the business about discontinuing Extreme 'ATB', which looked as if it was being illustrated as the same as EX in the article, explains a confusion and why some of the specifications might appear to have changed without it being announced...

I note that the article also says: "the Action EX 7x35 provides an impressive 489-foot field of view" whereas current UK specs for it are usually quoted as "163m @ 1000m", which is equivalent to 534 feet @ 1000m.

and
Nikon UK and Amazon.co.uk refer to "Nikon Action EX 7x35 Binoculars, Model No.7237" and 163m @ 1000m
Nikon USA and Amazon.com refer to "Nikon Action 7x35 EX Extreme ATB Binocular, Model No.7237" and 487ft @ 1000m

Nikon UK gives the same specs for 7x35 'Action EX' and 'Action VII' models
Nikon USA provides a comparitor widget which shows Dielectric Coating for 'EX Extreme ATB' and '17.9mm' for relative brightness vs. ' - ' and '11.9mm' for the 'Action' model.
.

Hi.
I do possess a Nikon action VII 10x50 and i had a 7x35. The 7x35 had to be sold because i needed a waterproof version of it. I ordered today a 7x35 Action EX.
What i can say is that the 10x50 and 7x35 are extraordinary for their price if your brain mainly focuses on the sweet spot during observations.
My brain is reacting to resolution, contrast and colours, chromatic aberrations. The action series resolution is excellent, their colour rendition is almost perfect.

I am only using the sweet spot of a binocular when i'm watching. I am instinctively moving my head to look at an object instead of moving my eyes through the lens, which would force me to use the edges.
This is why i do not need perfect edges sharpness, and i can say the Action VII series are exceptionnal for some low cost porros.
The differences i saw between the action and action Ex, is a yellow cream colour for the EX (could it be the coatings or the waterproofing gazes?), and perhaps some resolution, not that sure about the latter.

Sure, they are not Swarovskis regarding image contrast, CA control, and low light use, but for daily use, Action series are the porro to have if you search for a good cheap set of optics.

Giorgio said:

Hi.
I do possess a Nikon action VII 10x50 and i had a 7x35. The 7x35 had to be sold because i needed a waterproof version of it. I ordered today a 7x35 Action EX.
What i can say is that the 10x50 and 7x35 are extraordinary for their price if your brain mainly focuses on the sweet spot during observations.
My brain is reacting to resolution, contrast and colours, chromatic aberrations. The action series resolution is excellent, their colour rendition is almost perfect.

I am only using the sweet spot of a binocular when i'm watching. I am instinctively moving my head to look at an object instead of moving my eyes through the lens, which would force me to use the edges.
This is why i do not need perfect edges sharpness, and i can say the Action VII series are exceptionnal for some low cost porros.
The differences i saw between the action and action Ex, is a yellow cream colour for the EX (could it be the coatings or the waterproofing gazes?), and perhaps some resolution, not that sure about the latter.

Sure, they are not Swarovskis regarding image contrast, CA control, and low light use, but for daily use, Action series are the porro to have if you search for a good cheap set of optics.

Click to expand...

Hey there Giorgio,

I've used both the 8x40 Action IV (or whatever number they are up to now) and the 8x40 Action EX. My impressions were that the EX was brighter and "sharper" on axis, but the Action IV had better edges. The image wasn't perfectly sharp but it did fall off more gradually than the Action EX, which is very sharp to about 60%, starts blurring after that and at 70-75%, it's the "pixel cliff" - steep field curvature.

I prefer the ergonomics of the IV to the EX, which is bulkier and with sharper edges on the prism housings. I haven't read Arek's review, but I would guess that there's no prism cutoff with the EX, the prism housings are quite large. I still prefer to hold the EX to any closed bridge roof. Plenty of "real estate".

The IV also seemed to have a bit of RB as I panned, which I didn't notice with the EX.

Unlike you, I find I can't ignore the edges when the fall off is steep like that in the EX. I could ignore any fuzz at the edges with the IV because of the more gradual fall off. But that said, for the price, the 8x40 EX is quite a bargain, "sharper" and brighter than roofs I've tried that were twice the price or more. If they could just knock down the weight a bit in the next generation, I might buy one.

The close focus is a bit long for birding, and the bin weighs more than I would like to carry, but for what you're paying, you can't expect to get it all. That's why they designed alphas!

<B>

Hola Brock

There could be some production irregularities regarding the coatings or simply the optics, as it's made in china and the lowest prices range of Nikon, perhaps irregularities are frequent and you could find a good pair of actions and a less coated pair of actions. Normally the EX and non EX are censed to be exactly the same optics according to Nikon, but a lot of person can clearly see optical differences between them.
You are right that the Actions are a real bargain compared to roofs that cost much more (im thiking about the 350$ Hawke frontiers, some Zen Rays, and even some Nikon Monarchs) that can reach here 500 euros...

But who nowadays if it's not you, me and a few aficionados will find that the view through a porro is phenomenal? People is kind of forced to be a Roof generation with the current marketing...