PCF WP II 8x40 Prices and Any Good? (1 Viewer)

[markleewebb]

Is $78 US shipped for the PCF WP II 8x40 a good price? A reputable dealer here in US has several demo/open box PCF WP II 8x40 for that price. They still carry full new warranty and dealer is an authorized Pentax dealer, so purchase is safe. Is that a good price? Are the good birding binos? Near focus is around 11' with rather narrow 330' FOV @ 1,000 yards.

 

[Fowl Mouth]

These Pentax PCF binos are constantly bagged for their narrow field. I personally don't have an issue with the FOV, as I own these very binos. I payed $120 over four years ago for mine, and have always felt that for the performance I was practically stealing these. I find that for astronomical use the stars suffer slightly more from astigmatism in the right eyepiece (diopter side), no matter how much I work to dial it in. They are still enjoyable for sweeping the night sky, and provide accurate color representation and deep contrasty black skies. For daytime use they are the cat's meow. Birds detail is awesome in these. What I am mostly in love with are the eyepiece extenders, although I understand that some don't like the bulk of them. The good part, no matter how you look at it, is that I can easily and comfortably use them with my eyeglasses on due to long eye relief, while my wife and daughters can adjust for comfort without glasses. They are truly waterproof too, as many outings in the rain have demonstrated. $78 is a no brainer if you are looking for a pair of good quality porro-prism binos that will compete with binos that cost two to three times as much.

My only word of warning is that there seems to be a bit of reported QC variation in the PCF WP II series. It's hard to quantify since the bad ones always seem to get more press than the good ones. If this is a noted risk for you, them make sure you can return them if you aren't satisfied.

 

[BinoBoy]

The price of $78 delivered is very good. While the field of view is somewhat narrow, the optical quality is outstanding. When mine arrived, the focus was extremely stiff, but is has loosed up after a little use. I think they are an excellent value. I say go for it.

 

[markleewebb]

I went ahead and paid a little more - $114 shipped - from Adorama. The Wolf Camera/Ritz Clearance Center payment method looked a little odd and could have taken several more biz days to process, meaning it would be late for Christmas. Still, for optics, quality, and features they do seem like a steal at $114 and comparable to binos several hundred $$$ more; they don't seem to be a low-end started set.

 

[stereotruckdriver]

Mlw, congrats on your purchase! You did well, nothing wrong with the PCF II's. I own them as well. Bryce.

 

[markleewebb]

They arrived today. Ordered from Adorama $114 US shipped.

Ordered last Thursday/arrived on next Wednesday UPS. So about 3 days in transit.

I'll wrap them today and put them under our Christmas tree for Patty's Christmas surprise. Maybe it will be warm enough this weekend to get them out for a little winter bird activity.

BTW Adorama is now out of them. B&H still had them in stock same price $114. After doing research for a month on various brands - in particular Bushnell, Nikon, and Pentax - these PCF WP II's at $114 shipped is a killer deal. Supposed to be optics equivelent to bin's costing hundreds if not $1K more (they are phase coated) and fully water/fog proof. I chose them over any others because I'd have to spend a lot more on any others to get something comparable, and a lot more for phase coated optics.

I'll let you all know how they perform with a mini review after we get them out.