[Kevin Purcell]

Mentioned by Colinvue here and in an effort to persuade him to post a review

http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.ph...3&postcount=47

where he points to this "review" (they sell bins hence the quotes!).

http://www.optics4birding.com/alpen-...rs-review.aspx

The product pages are here (but they omit the technical specs)

http://www.alpenoptics.com/html/alpen_products_10.html
http://www.alpenoptics.com/html/alpen_products_11.html

Specs

http://www.alpenoptics.com/html/binocular.html#WINGS

They say the roof prism has no mettalic coating but don't tout that it has a dielectric coating.

I see they claim a smaller minimum IPD of 52-73. The optics4birding measures a minimum of 54mm rather than 56mm. That issue has been brought up here before and might be a win for some.

And they come with the "Hawke" style case and holster (the Hawkes no longer do).

[collinvue]

+

Well Kevin, thanks for starting a thread, you really gave lots of links.

Here are a couple photos of my Wings ED 8X42
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1130/p1010080k.jpg
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1576/p1010083h.jpg


The Alpen Wings ED are not the same binocular as the Chinese ED OEMs,...Zen-Ray, Atlas, Promaster ED ect.
They are physically smaller, different frame & focus wheel mechanism.

The optics4birding review was was just a supplement to my own initial impressions,..please see
.http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.ph...3&postcount=47

There's not a whole lot more regarding a review,..a pair of binoculars just has to 'feel right'.
The most positive aspect of the Alpen Wings ED is they feel really good in hand.

I rather not say any negatives about the other bins I tested out;
just that the balance of mechanical & optical quality of the Alpen Wings ED works well for me.

Focusing at far distance only takes a tiny correction,.. fast at far distance, slower close up.
The focus wheel has a light action, which some people may like.
Edge to edge sharpness is quite good and I really don't see the pincushion Steve (optics4birding) saw.
Colors are better than a pair of Nikon porros I bought for my Father.

* The Alpen website is a huge mess, I'v contacted them regarding it,
misspelling & miswording throughout {they know about it.}

[Kevin Purcell]

Pictures are good (especially beside other bins people know ... sort of puts them in context).

How about describing some of their features and directly comparing them to other bins you know and use. That gives people and idea of your background and likes and dislikes and puts your comments in context of bins others have used.

Details always help as part of the trick with a review is understanding the reviewer. And negatives and positives are all part of every review until someone makes the perfect bins: weightless and transparent. Without those we have little context other than that you like these bins. But if you selected them over other bins then there must be positives and negatives to these bins and the other bins.

For example focusing rate seems to be middling (with the usual variation from slow at close and faster at infinity) e.g. from the review: "Starting at the minimum close focus [i.e. 7 feet], it takes a 0.25 turn to hit a focal distance of 8 feet, and another 0.25 turn to hit 10 feet. Continuing this, you get to about a 20-foot focal distance at not quite one full turn [i.e. another 0.4 turn]. In other words [????], from 20 feet to infinity occurs in about 0.7 turns.".

So the full 7 feet to infinity range is 2.2 turns (=0.25+0.25+0.9+0.7) turns. That's slower than the other Chinese EDs (but in the same ballpark). For my standard "birding range" 3m/10feet to infinity it is perhaps 1.2 (=0.4+0.7) turns which is about the same as the other Chinese EDs (except the Zen Rays). So they seem to have chosen a similar gearing ratio.

The reviwers turn this in to a positive though as we know here the trick is the make the focusing feel uniform across the range which actually means speeding it up at the low end (especially for close in birding).

Oh, and I agree about the Alpen web site. It is not very helpful.

[collinvue]

+

My Wings ED are 1.7~1.8 total turns for complete focus range,
with a light focus wheel.

.

[Kevin Purcell]

Hmm, that "review" is weirdly written!

What's the measured focuser turns for 3m/10 feet to infinity?

[Tero]

So it is another open bridge model for the same price as all the rest.

[collinvue]

+

The Alpen faceplate is fixed on the focus wheel, so its very easy to see its 1.7 or 1.8 total turns of focus wheel (from lock to lock)
....with the light focus wheel.

Close focus may be even less than 7 feet, I'll try to get a measurement on that.

EDIT: I took the close focus distance w/ a Metric tape measure,...
The Close Distance Focus is 2 meters exactly.

So, its 1.8 turns of the focus wheel to go from 2 meters to infinity.

(1 turn = 1 full revolution or 360 degree.)

[Kevin Purcell]

I know the close focus is < 3m.

What I'm interested in is a "standard" that I use to compare bins. It's a range that's most useful for birding and gets over the problem of some bins being very slow near close focus and others having a more distant close focus. So it gives and Apples to Apples comparison. There is a thread here at BF where I measured it for several bins.

So what is the focuser turns for 3m/10 feet to infinity? Easy to measure just place yourself 3m from an object focus on it then measure the focusing turns to infinity.

[Steve C]

What I'd like to see is birdazzLED's Adorama binoculars here on the thread, best bang for the budget buck and those Alpen Wings. They sure look a lot alike (as far as that comparison can go anyway).

[collinvue]

Originally Posted by Steve C

What I'd like to see is birdazzLED's Adorama binoculars here on the thread, best bang for the budget buck and those Alpen Wings. They sure look a lot alike (as far as that comparison can go anyway).

+

Hi Steve, they are different animals,...diopter is different,..eyecups are different.
(birdazzLED is like this Viking ED's http://www.vikingoptical.co.uk/acatalog/viking_ed.jpg)

~Best bang for buck becomes very subjective, literally endless debate.

I may have been slightly critical on the other bins I tested,
because now I'm convinced you can find something wrong with any binocular.

The Alpen Wings ED were good enough not to send back,..the positives outweighed any negatives,
and that's about it.)

Why do you buy a certain car,..or color of that car?....

[Kevin Purcell]

FrankD pointed me to this

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=163
http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=164

One of the few ZR versus Alpen Wings ED comparisons out there.

[A-bar]

collinvue are there reviews of these Viking's
http://www.vikingoptical.co.uk/acatalog/viking_ed.jpg)
I just like the look better then the Alpen Wings,

But looks only go so far if there's nothing to back them up.
Best Alan

[collinvue]

+

A-bar,..PM sent
__________________________________________________ ____

Here are the specs. from the newest version of Alpen Wings ED 8X42
These specs. are from the Alpen plant itself.
{I asked Alpen for the specs., they emailed a request to the plant & the following day Alpen forwarded them to me}

I don't know if the 'new version Alpen Wings ED 8X42 is officially released yet,
it is the unit I now have,..{I had both 393 FOV & 426 FOV}

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1576/p1010083h.jpg

**The two numbers I bothered testing are the close focus distance & FOV.
Close focus is correct (I measured exactly 2 meters)
and the FOV is essentially indistinguishable to a pair of Nikon 8x40 EXs' I bought my Father.
So yes, these specifications are correct.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++

ALPEN OPTICS 8X42 ED WINGS BINOCULAR (MODEL #592)

MAGNIFICATION:…………………………………………………………..…… 8x

OBJECTIVE:……………………………………..………………………….…… 42mm

FOCUS SYSTEM:…………………………………………………………..…….Center

PRISM:…………………………………………………………………….…..…..Roof

FIELD OF VIEW: (FT AT 1000 YARDS):……………………………….……...426

EXIT PUPIL:……………………………………………………………………….5.3mm

EYE RELIEF ABSOLUTE MINIMUM:………………………………………..…17mm

CLOSE FOCUS ABSOLUTE MINIMUM:……………………………………….6.5ft

WIDTH CLOSED:………………………………………………………………...115mm

WIDTH OPEN:……………………………………………………………….…...133.5mm

IDP OPEN:…………………………………………………………………………73.5mm

IDP CLOSED:……………………………………………………………….……..53.5mm

HEIGHT (EYECUPS EXTENDED):…………………………………..…………152mm

HEIGHT (EYECUPS RETRACTED):………………………………………..….144mm

NET WEIGHT (oz.):………….……………………………………………….………23

OBJECTIVE DIAMETER:…………………………………………………………….51mm

EYECUP DIAMETER:……….…….…………………………………………………40mm

PRISM MATERIAL……………………………………….BAK4

LENS COATING:…………………………………………FULLY-MULTI COATED PXA COATING

TRIPOD ADAPTABLE…………………………………...YES



DESCRIPTION:

COLOR: GREEN, BLACK, GREEN

TWIST-UP EYECUPS

EUROPEAN HINGE STYLE

[gcole]

Originally Posted by collinvue

+

Hi Steve, they are different animals,...diopter is different,..eyecups are different.
(birdazzLED is like this Viking ED's http://www.vikingoptical.co.uk/acatalog/viking_ed.jpg)

~Best bang for buck becomes very subjective, literally endless debate.

I may have been slightly critical on the other bins I tested,
because now I'm convinced you can find something wrong with any binocular.

The Alpen Wings ED were good enough not to send back,..the positives outweighed any negatives,
and that's about it.)

Why do you buy a certain car,..or color of that car?....

Hi Everyone .... I know this is a response to an Old quote but in responding maybe it will save another birdforum member some money regarding their choice of a good binocular & for the record I don't work for Alpen or do any family member ..... I have wanted to have a chance to look thru a pair of the Alpen Wings ED 8x42 & yesterday by chance I did just that. While walking in a local park with my pair of pentax 8x32 DCf ED binoculars I came across a man who was using a pair of the Alpen Wings 8x42ED(current model w/FOV of 426) & after a short introduction we were comparing the two. I found nothing negative, only positives. I agree with all the great comments about this greatly under rated China sourced 8x42 ED Bino. Not only did it perform optically as good as my Pentax, the compact size along with more than enough eyerelief for my glasses was a surprise. If I had not known they were made in China(not labled where they are made) I would have guessed USA, Japan maybe ? As quoted by Collinvue , their compact size & quality construction make them very different than the other low cost ED Bino's I have owned from China. If I had a chance to see these before my purchase of the Pentax 8x32 DCF ED's of almost $300 more ..... to save that much & have a 42mm bino which in size & weight was just a tad bigger would have been a no brainer. The man with the Alpens liked the Pentax's but wondered why anyone would pay almost twice as much. Now for around $300 or less one some sites the Alpens get my vote for the Best Bang For The Buck ...... gwen