A short Kowa story (1 Viewer)

[Damienz]

Went into the city this weekend to look into a new smaller binocular for birding, hiking and walking my dog.
I do have an reasonably old Nikon Monarch 5 8x42 which I like but I really wanted something smaller.

Anyways, I had my eyes set on either the Hawke Endurance ED 8x32 or Opticron 8x32 Discovery WA ED, sadly they didn't have the latter in stock.
They're really friendly there and let customers try the binoculars both inside the store and even take a brief walk with them outside.
The salesman also recommended the Vortex 8x32 Diamondback but I had some problems getting a good view through themwith my glasses on.

The Hawke was excellent, loved everything about it except the size. It wasn't that much smaller than my Nikon though felt sharper.
When standing there pondering about the purchase I was offered a peak through a Kowa BD II 8x32 XD and as soon as I got the first glance through them it felt like a relevation.
Never experienced a binocular with that sharpness and the field of view was amazing.

So I guess what I wanted to say was: I'm a happy owner of my own pair of Kowa 8x32 and so far I'm thrilled.
Now I just need to get my dog less interested in them, she thinks it's her new toy...

Disclaimer: I'm a beginner both when it comes to birding and binoculars. On top of that I have a eye problem since about 10 years back leading to my pupils being constantly enlarged and I can't focus correctly 100% with them by myself. Hence, my experience of what's sharp or being good binoculars might not be up to everyone's standards.

 

[Trinovid]

So I guess what I wanted to say was: I'm a happy owner of my own pair of Kowa 8x32 and so far I'm thrilled.
Now I just need to get my dog less interested in them, she thinks it's her new toy...

Disclaimer: I'm a beginner both when it comes to birding and binoculars. On top of that I have a eye problem since about 10 years back leading to my pupils being constantly enlarged and I can't focus correctly 100% with them by myself. Hence, my experience of what's sharp or being good binoculars might not be up to everyone's standards.

One of my friends who has a very wide range of binoculars always speaks highly of his little Kowa and I think it's a 6.5x32 so you're in good company with regards to the brand at least.

Buy another set for the dog.

 

[Damienz]

One of my friends who has a very wide range of binoculars always speaks highly of his little Kowa and I think it's a 6.5x32 so you're in good company with regards to the brand at least.

Buy another set for the dog.

After some googling I might just add this to my collection as a dog decoy.

 

[corvid-8]

After some googling I might just add this to my collection as a dog decoy.

Not a good idea especially if one day you place your real binoculars down and the dog thinks they are their toy. An accident waiting to happen

 

[Damienz]

Not a good idea especially if one day you place your real binoculars down and the dog thinks they are their toy. An accident waiting to happen

I'd of course need to have some intensive bino brand training with her

 

[Binastro]

I suppose a 10x25 would ensure only 2.5mm of the eye pupil is used.

Or an 8x20.

The Canon 18x50 IS also has small exit pupils.

Regards,
B.

 

[Binocollector]

@Damienz
Congrats on the new bino! I really like my 6.5x32 Kowa but the 8x32 is sharper towards the edge of the field of view. When I bought my 6.5x I wanted the larger exit pupil but in fact the 8x32 is more impressive when using it.
I think you're gonna have lots of fun with it. It's so small you can basically take it everywhere. So my 6.5x32 is one of my most used binoculars -- especially for hiking.

 

[Damienz]

@Damienz
Congrats on the new bino! I really like my 6.5x32 Kowa but the 8x32 is sharper towards the edge of the field of view. When I bought my 6.5x I wanted the larger exit pupil but in fact the 8x32 is more impressive when using it.
I think you're gonna have lots of fun with it. It's so small you can basically take it everywhere. So my 6.5x32 is one of my most used binoculars -- especially for hiking.

Thanks! I had actually ruled out the 8x32 from my shopping list when I went to the store due to the exit pupil & eye relief for my glasses but somehow they just nailed it anyways for me personally. The 6.5x32 looks really sweet too, once I stop working from home and have to bike to work I might look into that one as well depending on how the 8x32 feels weightwise

 

[mwhogue]

I'd of course need to have some intensive bino brand training with her

In the alternative you could adopt a cat to teach your dog to play with the packaging and ignore the contents. ;>).

Mike

 

[Cest]

I have the Kowa 6.5. It is quite good. It blurs a bit at the edges, but the fov is so wide that doesn't matter too much.

 

[Upland]

Congratulations! It’s all about what You like the best

 

[henry link]

Thanks! I had actually ruled out the 8x32 from my shopping list when I went to the store due to the exit pupil & eye relief for my glasses but somehow they just nailed it anyways for me personally.

Small exit pupil binoculars could be just the thing for your eye condition, since they would effectively stop down your eye to a smaller aperture with lower aberrations.

I've experimented with using very large exit pupil binoculars in daylight after returning from a trip to the ophthalmologist with artificially dilated pupils. The higher aberrations from my dilated pupils combined with the higher aberrations from the larger effective aperture of the binocular made the image quality truly awful in bright light.

You might try even smaller exit pupil binoculars, like 8x20s-8x25s. They might work even better in bright daylight. Do you know how large your pupil dilation is?

Henry

 

[Damienz]

Small exit pupil binoculars could be just the thing for your eye condition, since they would effectively stop down your eye to a smaller aperture with lower aberrations.

I've experimented with using very large exit pupil binoculars in daylight after returning from a trip to the ophthalmologist with artificially dilated pupils. The higher aberrations from my dilated pupils combined with the higher aberrations from the larger effective aperture of the binocular made the image quality truly awful in bright light.

You might try even smaller exit pupil binoculars, like 8x20s-8x25s. They might work even better in bright daylight. Do you know how large your pupil dilation is?

Henry

Interesting theory, I need to test it the next time I go to the camera & binocular store. Thanks for mentioning that angle of my problem.

Roughly I'd say my left eye's pupil is stuck at around 7 mm and my left eye at a constant 5 mm.

The second part of the equation is that they're not perfectly round anymore either but interestingly enough, with binos, I do still have sharp eye sight in the center when focused in.