[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings!

I currently own Nikon 8X32 HG (Venturer LX) binoculars. I absolutely LOVE them - and wouldn't trade them for anything. True optical perfection.

OK... now on to my question for you all.

I am interested in purchasing a set of 10X binoculars in a 50mm or larger objective size, for use when I want more detail over distance, and also for good performance when looking into dimly lit areas such as forests or twilight conditions. I have been looking through 10X glass with 43+mm objectives for several days now, and have narrowed down the contenders seriously - in fact there is really only one contender that really fits everything I am looking for so far: the Pentax 10X50 SP model.

Please note: I am NOT interested in non-waterproof binoculars like the SE (which I am already planning on purchasing in the future), but rather a set of full waterproof, rugged, armored roof prism design optics. I am also NOT interested in 43mm objectives, I have seen enough with my recent testing to know for certain that the light gathering ability of 50mm surpasses 43mm (yes, even Leica and Swarovski) optics to a noticable extent. I am also NOT interested in Leupold Wind River 10X50, nor the Brunton glass.

Are there any options I am not seeing here? Is the Pentax really the best glass for what I am looking for? I'm 90% certain at this point, but every bit of information would be helpful to make my final decision. Thanks in advance for any input you might have on 10X50 optics, it is VERY appreciated!

Best wishes,
Bawko

[pduxon]

Can't comment on the quality but you could consider

Leica Trinovid 10x50
Zeiss Victory 10x56
Swarovski SLC 10x50

flipping things are too heavy for me.

[Atomic Chicken]

pduxton,

I have examined all 3 of those options, and my opinions of them are as follows:

Leica Trinovid 10X50 - VERY close to buying these, but the image quality difference between the Pentax 10X50 SP and these is not worth the extra $900 price difference - at least for me.

Zeiss Victory 10X56 - I was not happy with the weight, fit and feel, but the light gathering ability was GREAT! If I was making my decision based only on light gathering, these would be my choice. Too expensive as well.

Swarovski SLC 10X50 - Best image quality of all the 10X50's I've seen so far, but again - the cost is WAY too high.

My objective with purchasing the 10X50 binoculars is as a secondary instrument, for special circumstances. My main carry binocs will continue to be the Nikons, they are SO sweet for everyday use. The special circumstances that would make me pull out the 10X50's for (very limited) viewing would be if the distance to what I am observing is quite large, or if it is approaching dark and I only have a few minutes of viewing left in the day anyway and want something to "break the shadows" a bit better.

Also, chromatic aberation and edge effects are not as important to me on my future 10X50's as they were when deciding what kind of 8X32 glasses to buy - again these are strictly a backup secondary purpose instrument for special circumstances only.

I agree with you that all of the 10X50's I have so far looked at are HEAVY, and these are DEFINITELY not instruments I would want to carry with me for any length of time. However, this is not my aim and this makes the weight fairly irrelevent (unless it gets out of hand, like the Ziess I looked at!)

Please - keep up the suggestions, I am VERY interested in knowing if there are any other 10X50 medium priced ($500-$1200 U.S.) binoculars I might be missing that would be worth looking into.

Best wishes,
Bawko

[Doug Greenberg]

I think you should think "outside the box" here and consider Nikon's 10x42 SE porros instead of necessarily going to 10x50's. They are VERY bright and clear and sharp and will give you the performance you want, even in low light. The price is in your range, as well.

[scampo]

Originally Posted by Atomic Chicken

Thanks in advance for any input you might have on 10X50 optics, it is VERY appreciated!

Best wishes,
Bawko

Await the soon-to-be-launched Zeiss FLs - sounds as if they are going to be a winner.

[njlarsen]

Hi Steve,
have you looked at the Optolyth Royal series? http://www.acecameras.co.uk/asp/web/...1/prodtype.asp shows e.g., 10x56 or 9x63 in the 500bp range. If you are living in the US, try out the Eagle Optics own brand in 10x50 (someone recently showed me his 10x40 and it was a great binocular, almost as good as my Leica), or look at all their applicable (+ some that are not) binoculars at this link
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp...bmitter=Search
Again, if you are in the US, Celestron also does several series of binoculars http://www.celestron.com/prod_pgs/bino/ - I have the feeling that the Eagle ranger might be made by them ?

HTH
Niels

[Atomic Chicken]

Originally Posted by Doug Greenberg

I think you should think "outside the box" here and consider Nikon's 10x42 SE porros instead of necessarily going to 10x50's. They are VERY bright and clear and sharp and will give you the performance you want, even in low light. The price is in your range, as well.

Doug,

Thank you for your reply.... however - I stated in my original post that I was NOT interested in the Nikon SE binoculars, because I am already planning on purchasing them in the future. My main objective right now is to obtain a pair of 10X50 waterproof roof prism binoculars - in the next month or two I'll be buying the SE glass.

Best wishes,
Bawko

[Atomic Chicken]

Originally Posted by njlarsen

Hi Steve,
have you looked at the Optolyth Royal series? http://www.acecameras.co.uk/asp/web/...1/prodtype.asp shows e.g., 10x56 or 9x63 in the 500bp range. If you are living in the US, try out the Eagle Optics own brand in 10x50 (someone recently showed me his 10x40 and it was a great binocular, almost as good as my Leica), or look at all their applicable (+ some that are not) binoculars at this link
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.asp...bmitter=Search
Again, if you are in the US, Celestron also does several series of binoculars http://www.celestron.com/prod_pgs/bino/ - I have the feeling that the Eagle ranger might be made by them ?

HTH
Niels

First off, it was me (Atomic Chicken), not Steve that asked about the 10X50's. Sorry for any confusion you might have had.
It appears that the Eagle Optics are basically re-branded Leupold Wind River binoculars, which I have already examined and have rejected for low-light performance reasons. The optics are clear and true enough, they just fall short when looking into dark areas and trying to resolve detail - I would say the Leica and Zeiss models I looked at are easily twice as good at low light detail resolution when compared to the Leupold Wind River 10X50's glasses.

Celestron is another of the binoculars I have looked at recently, I looked at the Noble (I think) 10X50 model and was not very impressed. The only binoculars I looked that that had worse optical performance (for my needs) were the Brunton Eternas - which failed DISMALLY in low light tests.

You know - I think that when most people look through binoculars, they look at typically lit scenes where almost any of the high end models will give a bright, clear image. Very rarely do I see anyone looking at the DARK parts of the store, trying to read box labels, etc. in the shadows. This is really the test I am looking for in the 10X50 glass I want to buy - and so far Swaro, Leica, Zeiss, and Pentax are the only ones that have really passed the test. The first 3 are FAR too expensive for my particular needs - I would be happy to buy them at those prices if they were my main "carry everywhere" binoculars - but since this is a backup pair to be used strictly for low light and long range situations, I just can't justify the cost.

Keep the suggestions coming - I grow more and more convinced that the Pentax are what I am after, but I'd love to be proven wrong and find something that will just dazzle me and be within the same rough price range! :)

Best wishes,
Bawko

[Doug Greenberg]

Whoops, sorry, Bawko, I guess I didn't read your original post carefully enough, or else it's the age-old "in one ear and out the other syndrome :(.

I guess I just reflexively feel really strongly that especially for the price, there is no matching the SE's. You can get roof prism 10 x 50's that will perform as well (or possibly better) than the Nikons, but you need to pay a lot more than the Nikons cost.

[iporali]

Originally Posted by Atomic Chicken

Keep the suggestions coming - I grow more and more convinced that the Pentax are what I am after, but I'd love to be proven wrong and find something that will just dazzle me and be within the same rough price range!

Hi Bawko,
How about Minox BD10x58ED BR, which received a very favourable review from Chris Garvey here http://www.brayimaging.co.uk/Astro/binoculars.html ? Heavy like hell (1.5kg), but low-light performance should challenge the Zeiss Victories. Price "normally" at Focuscamera 1148$.

Ilkka

[Leif]

Originally Posted by iporali

Hi Bawko,
How about Minox BD10x58ED BR, which received a very favourable review from Chris Garvey here http://www.brayimaging.co.uk/Astro/binoculars.html ? Heavy like hell (1.5kg), but low-light performance should challenge the Zeiss Victories. Price "normally" at Focuscamera 1148$.

Ilkka

Atomic Chicken: it might be worth you measuring your pupil dilation. There won't be much point in buying a binocular with a pupil of 6mm for example, if your pupil cannot open beyond 5mm. Before you ask, no I don't know how to measure pupil dilation.

You might get helpful answers on an astronomy forum such as Cloudy Nights. Amateur astronomers tend to use big binoculars unlike is birder types.

As as aside, and in reference to the review linked above, I remember Chris Garvey having a go at me when I suggested that one could review a binocular without including objective measurements such as MTF curves. And yet that is exactly what he has done!

[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings again!

Well... I did it. I went out yesterday and purchased the Pentax 10X50 SP binoculars.
I spent a little over 2 hours today at a local stream, viewing ducks and other smaller waterbirds through them at both close and distant viewpoints. I also "scoped" as many insects, small plants, mosses, tree barks, etc. as I could - all trying to determine the overall quality of these optics.

I am very pleased. While these are not in the same class as my Nikon HG 8X32 glasses, they are quite close. They were not meant to compete directly anyway, as these will be my high magnification "backup" optics for when I want a longer range view or a lower light image - which won't be that often. While I have not thoroughly tested the low-light abilities of the Pentax 10X50 yet, the tests I HAVE done so far have been quite favorable.

The weight of these binoculars is quite good considering the objective lens size, they weigh in at about 30 ounces, which is not a whole lot heavier than my normal carry 8X32 Nikon HG's. After the 2 hours of observation with these optics, my left arm had a small ache - but it wasn't that bad and I'm a slim fairly unmuscled person anyway. For someone of average build these should not be a problem to use for reasonable length viewing sessions.

In short - I like the binoculars a LOT, and would highly recommend them for a budget conscious buyer in need of 10X50 optics. They are less than half the cost of similar models by Leica, Swarovski, and Zeiss - but they are probably only 5 percent lower in image quality if I were asked to objectively quantify the differences.

I am happy with the purchase, and the birds looked great! :)

Best wishes,
Bawko

[Tero]

The trouble with all these big ones is that almost nobody wants to carry two pairs around. I am waiting for zoom binoculars to improve so you would get some 8x to 15x in the same pair. I can still hold 15x steady for a short while. AND, if you go down to 7x on zooms, they are very bright.

BUT, zooms are pretty annoying for us whose eyes are no longer 20/20. There are three things to fiddle with all the time.

For my all around (lengthy walks) viewing, I manage with 10x36. For some light birding, I will use anything that fits in my pocket, typically x25.

[brocknroller]

I am waiting for zoom binoculars to improve... BUT, zooms are pretty annoying for us whose eyes are no longer 20/20. There are three things to fiddle with all the time. For my all around (lengthy walks) viewing, I manage with 10x36. For some light birding, I will use anything that fits in my pocket, typically x25.

The best zoom binocular I've tried (and still own) is the Nikon 8-16X40 XL Zoom. Unlike the Action zooms, these have premium optics that compare favorably with the SE series, very sharp, very good edges, better than average FOV for a zoom (5.2*), and surprisingly light (26 oz.) and easy to keep steady. I can go up to 14X before "shakes" set in. Focus Camera sells them for $575.

Brock