Peter_Perfect
Well-known member
I recently bought the PENTAX 10x50 DCF SP and though a personal review might be useful to others. I was originally looking for a good performance 8x40, but for many reasons drifted towards the 10x50. Overall my impression of usage and performance is good to very good. More specifically the 50mm lens give a bright image with no significant chromatic aberration. The image starts to go out of focus at about the 70% point of the overall view. The close focus is at about 8ft , much closer than the spec says of 11ft. The focussing wheel takes 1.5 turns from end to end. For a more practical range of say 20ft to infinity it takes about 0.5 of a turn. The weight of 850g is at the upper limit for me, I think this may be a little high for a slightly built woman. The eye relief is an outstanding 22mm, couple this with twist up cups an essential for a glasses person like myself. The FOV is below average for this type of bino, I could only find a better spec in the top end makes, with a hefty price and in most case’s weight increase. The nearest equivalent I could find was the MINOX 10x52 BD ALT, with the PENTAX only being slightly heavier but considerably cheaper. The SP range was put on the market in 2003 and I am surprised that it does not get much of a mention, if the rest of the range is as good as this one, then it is very underrated.