rdnzl
Not Sure.
Got them about an hour ago. My first impressions are quite good. Great ergonomics. The shape of the barrels is really good, and the thumb indents are perfect. For a large binocular, they feel well balanced in my hands. Interesting design choice by Pentax to have the armor on the barrels be not completely round. The ridge on the sides come to rest at the base of my fingers, giving a very secure feeling grasp on the binoculars. Shining a light into the objectives shows they are very clean internally, with no dust specks or oil spots.
20x really does bring things up close and personal. I can hold them fairly still and I was able to read some very fine print on a no parking sign across the street. Quite sharp, and it remains sharp across the full view. I don't get the feeling of tunnel vision I was worried about. The eye cups are huge, and with them all the way out, I get no artifacts and they rest comfortably just under my eyebrows and on my cheekbones.
The focuser is very smooth with fairly stiff action. My middle fingers rest on the wheel perfectly. Pushing the wheel towards the objectives locks it in place. An interesting feature.
Using my Rick Young binocular harness, I can hold them pretty still for terrestrial viewing, since I can rest my elbows on my chest and the stretchiness of the harness puts tension on the binos, negating most of my shakiness. I was able to watch the Robins in my yard, pulling up worms, and the detail was very good. Very accurate colors. I watched the fattest Sparrow I have ever seen, sunning himself on a stump across the street. These things really do bring things up close and personal.
They seem to me to be quite a bargain for $200.
Here are my obligatory photos.
20x really does bring things up close and personal. I can hold them fairly still and I was able to read some very fine print on a no parking sign across the street. Quite sharp, and it remains sharp across the full view. I don't get the feeling of tunnel vision I was worried about. The eye cups are huge, and with them all the way out, I get no artifacts and they rest comfortably just under my eyebrows and on my cheekbones.
The focuser is very smooth with fairly stiff action. My middle fingers rest on the wheel perfectly. Pushing the wheel towards the objectives locks it in place. An interesting feature.
Using my Rick Young binocular harness, I can hold them pretty still for terrestrial viewing, since I can rest my elbows on my chest and the stretchiness of the harness puts tension on the binos, negating most of my shakiness. I was able to watch the Robins in my yard, pulling up worms, and the detail was very good. Very accurate colors. I watched the fattest Sparrow I have ever seen, sunning himself on a stump across the street. These things really do bring things up close and personal.
They seem to me to be quite a bargain for $200.
Here are my obligatory photos.