John A Roberts
Well-known member
Roger has just added a review of the above to his ScopeViews site, see at: http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/BinoReviews.htm
The DCF ED series dates from the early 2000’s, and comprised four models in 8x32, 8x43, 10x43 and 10x50 *
The series is notable as it was a serious attempt by Pentax to equal the then first tier models
I’ve attached a copy of the the specifications from a 2008 catalogue (the DCF ED’s were not in a 2005 one)
The page confirms the presence of dielectric prism coating, which Roger thought might be present
The catalogue also includes details about the technology and optical construction, with a cross-section image of the 8x43 version
I’ve split the two page spread in two for greater clarity
* Pinac (aka Canip here on BF) indicates that the larger DCF ED models continue today in the ZD ED series, see at: https://binocular.ch/pentax-dcf-ed-8x43/
And also his see comments about the 8x32 at: https://binocular.ch/pentax-dcf-ed-8x32/
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Since the early 2000’s, progress in optical performance has been incremental, most notably in slightly improved transmission and lessened colour bias
(Dielectric coating of the non-Total Internal Reflection surface found on most roof prism pairs was introduced by Zeiss in 1998, and was then adopted by other manufacturers as standard. It improves the vibrancy of the image colours)
The most notable technical innovation since then has been in the proliferation of flat field optics. However, for many uses such a view is not a significant advantage. And alternatively, many users prefer the more traditional curved FOV
So providing that one is aware of their limitations and peculiarities, a previous generation alpha (or near alpha) roof prism binocular, can provide great value
For other possibilities, also see Roger’s reviews of the Nikon 8x32 HG/ LX and the Swarovski 8x30 SLC
And an even cheaper alternative, with its own mix of minuses and pluses, is a multi-coated premium Porro prism binocular from the 1990’s or later
e.g. see Roger’s review of the Nikon 8x30 E
John
The DCF ED series dates from the early 2000’s, and comprised four models in 8x32, 8x43, 10x43 and 10x50 *
The series is notable as it was a serious attempt by Pentax to equal the then first tier models
I’ve attached a copy of the the specifications from a 2008 catalogue (the DCF ED’s were not in a 2005 one)
The page confirms the presence of dielectric prism coating, which Roger thought might be present
The catalogue also includes details about the technology and optical construction, with a cross-section image of the 8x43 version
I’ve split the two page spread in two for greater clarity
* Pinac (aka Canip here on BF) indicates that the larger DCF ED models continue today in the ZD ED series, see at: https://binocular.ch/pentax-dcf-ed-8x43/
And also his see comments about the 8x32 at: https://binocular.ch/pentax-dcf-ed-8x32/
- - - -
Since the early 2000’s, progress in optical performance has been incremental, most notably in slightly improved transmission and lessened colour bias
(Dielectric coating of the non-Total Internal Reflection surface found on most roof prism pairs was introduced by Zeiss in 1998, and was then adopted by other manufacturers as standard. It improves the vibrancy of the image colours)
The most notable technical innovation since then has been in the proliferation of flat field optics. However, for many uses such a view is not a significant advantage. And alternatively, many users prefer the more traditional curved FOV
So providing that one is aware of their limitations and peculiarities, a previous generation alpha (or near alpha) roof prism binocular, can provide great value
For other possibilities, also see Roger’s reviews of the Nikon 8x32 HG/ LX and the Swarovski 8x30 SLC
And an even cheaper alternative, with its own mix of minuses and pluses, is a multi-coated premium Porro prism binocular from the 1990’s or later
e.g. see Roger’s review of the Nikon 8x30 E
John
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