Eye-relief is pretty good on the 8.5x44, with the entire field usable with my glasses that require quite long E-R.
I posted this question elsewhere.. over 300 peeks and no responses… maybe I get something here….. Has anyone had any experience with Kowa (U.S.) service for binoculars?
Thanks,
Mike
Sorry, I don't know what the situation is in the US. I believe Kowa had an, at best, patchy reputation for after sales support over here. I was told a couple of months ago that Kowa were aware of the problems and had ditched it's previous distribution and service structure in Europe and were intending to manage it themselves. In the interim it was being handled directly from Japan until a more local structure was in place. I suppose it's possible something similar is happening in the US.
David
There is no difference. Perhaps in some countries "Genesis" is a registered trademark and so they don't use it.A useful thread.
Could someone explain the difference between the current Kowa Genesis 44 8.5x44 Prominar XD, and the Kowa Prominar 8.5x44 XD ?
I've pictured both below. Thanks !
Weight and Field of View are the only areas where this bino are lacking, I do believe. Even then, the balance is exceptional and the 7deg TFoV/59.5ishdeg AFoV are not bad in any way.
The warranty in the US is listed as a limited lifetime warranty with guaranteed parts availability of 10 years post-final production of that model. I think this is similar to those offered by Leica and Zeiss. I think EU warranties tend to differ, as I've read that you cannot warranty a product for >10yrs post-sale, but I'm not actually sure if this is the truth.
As a final note, I spent a lot of time speculating as to why these binos wouldn't be good enough but after having them in hands, I can safely say I had nothing to worry about as the few technical reviews available (e.g. Holger, Allbinos, Binomania) as well as the opinions of forum users here (e.g. typo, PhilR.) and elsewhere seem quite accurate.
Justin
Every time I pick up my 8.5x44 when wandering outside, I try my best to find a fault with them - maybe today they just won't seem as sharp, maybe I'll finally notice some glaring issues, maybe the control of CA wasn't what I hoped... but I just cant seem to induce any such issues. Even the somewhat narrower true field of view isn't bothersome as I thought it may be, due to the AFoV being very similar to many 8x I've used. In many ways, I almost WISH there was such an issue, so I could convince myself that I cannot justify the price and return back to my sweet spot of $400-600 binoculars, as I've always found the improvement from them to the approx $1000 binos was too little for the price.
But I cannot. These binoculars, any way I evaluate them, are alpha-level, and at their demo sale price, a steal. In some ways, even if I had my much lusted after 8x42 SLC-HD, I think I'd still pick these up often as the ergonomics are just wonderful for my large hands and there is something about the image that is just so... crisp, clear, lifelike, and easy. I could add more superlatives but at this point, I can't say much more than try a pair if you can, and I can promise you will not be disappointed by the image and mechanics (though I cannot promise the same about ergonomics as these are very personal).
I will say, though, that the rainguard is very... odd. It fits nicely in the sense that it slides right on and off without too little or too much resistance. But, at the same time, it feels cheap and isn't very malleable, so I fear it will break. I may contact EO and see if they can recommend a different one.