pbjosh
missing the neotropics
This is all just based one one sample, of course, but the copy I received from Optics Planet didn't wow. I have a Nikon M7 8x30 here for comparison and the Opticron is definitely a touch better in available eye relief, perhaps offering 1-2mm more, which was my hope and which is why I ordered it. This slight increase in available eye relief makes it much easier for me to comfortably get the whole field of view with glasses on. I didn't measure but the available eye relief appears to come largely from eye cups that when down are a touch shorter than on the Nikon. I would be surprised if there was a 4mm difference in true eye relief as specs are given.
However the bin is noticeably less sharp at the edges, and has worse chromatic aberration. Keep reading for more about this.
Something odd which I don't fully understand is that the binocular is clearly far from sharp for the upper 25% or so of the Field of View, making the sweet spot asymmetrical. This happens in both tubes though seemingly worse in the left tube. As soon as I noticed it was in both tubes I assumed it was some weird eye placement issue. However, no amount of playing around with eye placement, with or without glasses, gets me a full FOV that has a symmetrical and appealing sweet spot. When viewing the full field of view I can get the upper portion of the field into focus by focusing further to infinity. As well, if I shift my eye's alignment with the exit pupil far enough down, the upper part of the field of view does come into better focus, but only after I am no longer able to see most of the field of view. I really thought I was going crazy and it was my fault for eye placement but I am not able to reproduce anything like this with three other pairs of bins I have handy here. Careful comparison between the Opticron and the Nikon shows a larger and perfectly symmetrical sweet spot on the Nikon, and I am completely unable to reproduce the out of focal plane upper part of the FOV.
I don't understand completely what would cause this, and it seems odd that it is in both tubes, but the end result is that I can't get a nice view from the bin so I am returning it. Unfortunately Optics Planet doesn't have another copy in stock and won't get one in a short enough time to work for me, so c'est la vie on that one.
For what it is worth the package appeared previously opened when I received it - the little black dot sealing the box shut was peeled up, the strap for the case was not folded neatly, and the ocular cover was on upside down. I can't say with any authority if it was a prior return or not, but it didn't strike me as an obviously factory fresh copy. Serial number for this copy is 0013202.
However the bin is noticeably less sharp at the edges, and has worse chromatic aberration. Keep reading for more about this.
Something odd which I don't fully understand is that the binocular is clearly far from sharp for the upper 25% or so of the Field of View, making the sweet spot asymmetrical. This happens in both tubes though seemingly worse in the left tube. As soon as I noticed it was in both tubes I assumed it was some weird eye placement issue. However, no amount of playing around with eye placement, with or without glasses, gets me a full FOV that has a symmetrical and appealing sweet spot. When viewing the full field of view I can get the upper portion of the field into focus by focusing further to infinity. As well, if I shift my eye's alignment with the exit pupil far enough down, the upper part of the field of view does come into better focus, but only after I am no longer able to see most of the field of view. I really thought I was going crazy and it was my fault for eye placement but I am not able to reproduce anything like this with three other pairs of bins I have handy here. Careful comparison between the Opticron and the Nikon shows a larger and perfectly symmetrical sweet spot on the Nikon, and I am completely unable to reproduce the out of focal plane upper part of the FOV.
I don't understand completely what would cause this, and it seems odd that it is in both tubes, but the end result is that I can't get a nice view from the bin so I am returning it. Unfortunately Optics Planet doesn't have another copy in stock and won't get one in a short enough time to work for me, so c'est la vie on that one.
For what it is worth the package appeared previously opened when I received it - the little black dot sealing the box shut was peeled up, the strap for the case was not folded neatly, and the ocular cover was on upside down. I can't say with any authority if it was a prior return or not, but it didn't strike me as an obviously factory fresh copy. Serial number for this copy is 0013202.