New Binocular Day. Kowa BD II XD 8x42 (1 Viewer)

[rdnzl]

I've already been enjoying the Kowa BD II XD 6.5x32, and I have been very impressed with them. So I ordered the 8x42 version, and they arrived this morning.

They are ever bit as impressive as the 6.5x32, and them some. The 6.5 focus wheel is a little light, moving quite easily, the 8x42 is perfect. To me it feels like thicker grease was used. Optically, really nice views. Bright sunny day today, and I was out watching squirrels gather food for the winter. Excellent details. Whiskers and fur were very discinct. Super nice contrast, and the colors have a pop to them, but very natural, and I don't notice any color tint. Really wide, with a huge sweet spot. I didn not notice any "rolling ball" effect. The very minimal CA at the edges, but I almost had to coax it out them them, showing just a tinge of blue on a powerline against a very bright background. Looking into a bright sky with the sun off to the left and right, I saw no reflections or glare. Very nice glass and coatings.

Shining a flashlight into the objectives reveal a super clean environment. Might be one of the cleanest I've seen. Not even a speck of dust.

The eyecups are really good. Four very positive stops, and they stay in place even if I push down hard on them. I like that a lot, I keep them all the way out, since I don't wear glasses. They feel like metal with fairly firm rubber. The diopter is not a locking type, but it is quite firm, and I doubt it will move much on its own. They did a good job on the eyepiece assemblies. The caps are a nice, thick rubber and so are the caps for the objectives. Decent strap, but the placement of the strap loops is a little odd, just like on my 6.5x32's. Kowa places them further to the backside of the tubes than most makers. It tends to make them hang a little weird, they do an inward nosedive. But I don't use neck straps on binoculars this size. I always use a wrist strap, so the positioning doesn't bother me.

The body feels very solid in my hands. Very firm rubber armor over what I understand is a magnesium alloy body. You feel when you hold them, that they are a quality instrument.
I have read a few reports of people getting a lemon, but I have absolutely nothing to complain about on this particular sample. They make me think of them being like a poor man's Swaro. I consider them considerably high in value for the money. They box way above their weight. I got them from B&H for $379, and they threw in a nice Vortex bino harness for free.

An 8X42 with such a nice wide FOV is very immersive. They claim 8.2 degrees. It's easy to forget you are looking through two small tubes.

Anyway, those are my thoughts so far. They will make great wildlife binoculars, and I suspect they will do well on the night sky, as well.

Good job Kowa.

 

[rdnzl]

I think it would be quite good. Nice wide angle views. But if you want to glass across canyons or to far away clearcuts, I'd recommend a 10x or 12x.

But these are very good binoculars. I have used them for birding, ship watching, some astronomy, and general use while hiking. I have nothing but praise for these. I hate to be so cliche, but they are a LOT of binocular for the money.

 

[Richard D]

Hey, I wanted to purchase a binocular for hunting but a little confused, this Binoculars are good for hunting or not?
Give me suggestion about this...

Wrong forum to ask on - hunting is a prohibited subject on this site. If you want to wild birds please stick around.

 

[rdnzl]

I spent a considerable amount of time with these the last few days. I am convinced that these could be the best 8x42 you can buy for $400. I like to post a followup a while after the "new binocular glow" wears off. I have only become more convinced how much I love these. Everything I posted in my first impression post still holds true.

 

[Canip]

I am convinced that these could be the best 8x42 you can buy for $400.

I also like the BD II 8x42, but:
How many other 400 $ binos do you own or have you tested?

 

[rdnzl]

Quite a few actually. Also, keyword: Could.

 

[Fmeireso]

I have thesame feeling about the Kowa's. Here on this forum there are some threads about less favorable specimens which confuse me. I compared them to my Fuji FMT 10x50 i have, as reference cause i know that is a very good bino. The Fuji is better off course , it has a few advantages but in terms of resolution, brightness and CA, taking in consideration the magnification and aperture difference, the Kowa holds up pretty well. The CA is less then in the Fuji,which at least tells something.
The only real flaw i found was spiking; At night, on streetlight, it shows diffraction spikes, four of them on every streetlight. Bothersome for some people probably, meaningless to me, cause i will not be using them at night. The spikes are not visible on bright stars, not even on Jupiter. Not been able to test on the moon.
I just can't help liking them. They are also very comfortable to view through, no blacking out or issues with eye placement. Fast and smooth focussing.
That is was i found in my specimen.

 

[MiguelATF]

Quick follow-up post to echo rdnzl's initial comments. I've had these binoculars for several years and they continue to stun me with their brilliance, their immersive relatively wide FOV, and their overall feeling of quality. They are simply great birding binoculars. Period.

Plus, and this is totally subjective, but... they look good.

 

[JTweedie]

I've just ordered a pair of these - expecting them in the next couple of days. My first pair of binoculars were basically toy binoculars given to me as a boy. They were shaped like vintage binoculars and were quite heavy so didn't feel like toys. But as I got more into birding I levelled up to Opticron Imagic TGA WP 8x42. They did me very well for many years, even though I'd still regard them as budget binoculars. But lately I've been finding them to be a little on the heavy side and also it feels like some water has got inside at some point as one of the lenses can on occasion steam up on wet days.

So this is my first upgrade since I got the Opticron. Now moving in to the budget to mid-range territory, so I hope I can see the difference. I'm hoping to order a Kowa TSN-88A Prominar scope soon too.

Last year I got the Kowa TSN-501 spotting scope to shove in my bag and use as a supplement to my binoculars when I need just a little extra reach. They've been fine, for example helping me positively identify a distant Little Ringed Plover by seeing its eye ring, but at the higher zooms the image quality degrades a lot, so I'm hoping going for a premium scope will be well worth it.

I had been looking at so many scopes and bins recently from Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, but Kowa seems to have grabbed me the most. I'm hoping these bins offer a step up on the Opticron and allied with a top-end scope I'll be well set for good birding days, and in time I might upgrade to more premium bins too but I'll see how these go - I'm sure they'll be fine for many years to come.

 

[PatR]

I've just ordered a pair of these - expecting them in the next couple of days. My first pair of binoculars were basically toy binoculars given to me as a boy. They were shaped like vintage binoculars and were quite heavy so didn't feel like toys. But as I got more into birding I levelled up to Opticron Imagic TGA WP 8x42. They did me very well for many years, even though I'd still regard them as budget binoculars. But lately I've been finding them to be a little on the heavy side and also it feels like some water has got inside at some point as one of the lenses can on occasion steam up on wet days.

So this is my first upgrade since I got the Opticron. Now moving in to the budget to mid-range territory, so I hope I can see the difference. I'm hoping to order a Kowa TSN-88A Prominar scope soon too.

Last year I got the Kowa TSN-501 spotting scope to shove in my bag and use as a supplement to my binoculars when I need just a little extra reach. They've been fine, for example helping me positively identify a distant Little Ringed Plover by seeing its eye ring, but at the higher zooms the image quality degrades a lot, so I'm hoping going for a premium scope will be well worth it.

I had been looking at so many scopes and bins recently from Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, but Kowa seems to have grabbed me the most. I'm hoping these bins offer a step up on the Opticron and allied with a top-end scope I'll be well set for good birding days, and in time I might upgrade to more premium bins too but I'll see how these go - I'm sure they'll be fine for many years to come.

Excellent! Must admit that I have been following the Kowa thread for a while and the wide angle bino's in particular. Never owned a Kowa but the ringing endorsements on this site and others scratched an itch.

I ordered the BD II XD 6.5x32's off Amazon about 5 minutes ago safe in the knowledge that they can be returned so it will be interesting to compare them against my Steiner Navigator 7x30's. They are excellent but the close focus of the little Kowa's does appeal, the Steiners are about 20'.

Lets hope that neither of us are disappointed!

 

[Cest]

I have the Kowa 6.5. Some seem to have gotten a bad sample. Mine works quite well. There is some falling off at the edges, but the fov is still very wide. The optics on mine are clear and sharp. The close focus is indeed handy, but not as close as the Pentax Papilio.

 

[PatR]

My Kowa BD II XD 6.5x32's arrived yesterday courtesy of Amazon UK via Leipzig in Germany. The outer box was creased in several places as they had seen fit to pack them loose in an unpadded brown envelope. One stab at a first impression and not the best start to my Kowa journey. I hasten to add not Kowa's fault.

On opening I could see no obvious damage. The bino's were packed in their case and wow! these really are substantially built and, externally, well finished and assembled. Getting better after a shaky start and then to test, or almost.

I found it very difficult to open the bino's. The hinge on this pair was super tight and I was worried that I might damage them but eventually they did prise apart and it was then that things went downhill.

I stress that this is me, with my eyes, but the drop in sharpness from the centre (which was exceptionally sharp) to the outer third was dramatic and almost as if a border of blurred glass had been placed around the circumference. I tried it at all eyepiece positions, at varying subjects and the 'cloudy ring' remained. I then asked my wife to have a look through and she saw much the same.

Yesterday was very bright here in Mid Wales so I waited until the evening approached and the light had changed to see it there was any difference. Sadly there wasn't. Night time came, I focused on a very bright star and then a distant outside house light and was astonished at the number of star spikes. I turned the bino's around to look through the objective lenses and a thin stripe of white light was evident in the centre of both barrels, at an angle and pointing inwards, as if the light had caught the edge of the prisms.

Add in a beautifully machined but imprecise, or sloppy, focus knob and I am afraid my first foray into the Kowa world is likely to be my last.

I acknowledge that the bino's may have been subject to rough handling in their unprotected envelope or that I may have the one pair that slipped through the QC checks but they are not for me and are being boxed for return.

I am disappointed, I had high hopes for these hitherto very well reported and respected bino's but it is not to be. I will continue my quest for a wide pair and at the moment the Nikon E II 8x30 is looking a likely replacement albeit at a higher cost.

 

[MGT]

I've just come back from a reputable optics retailer where I had the opportunity to test the Kowa BDII 8x42 XD in inclement weather and contrary to what I was expecting after reading some less than favourable reviews, they not only exceeded my expectations, I preferred them over similarly priced and several more expensive competitors. Had I been able to test the Kowa Genesis 8x33 side by side with the BDII's I would have been able to determine whether to go for a used Genesis at more than double the price or the new BDII's. As things currently stand, I am still undecided.