thisdudeisgood
The Dude Abides
Ive owned a pair of these for around 2 years and can report that they are a very well made and bombproof binocular giving a superb image for the price, it is obvious when you pick them up that you are holding build quality on a par with the best of the best. Very rugged and durable. Mine look almost new despite hard use on camping trips etc. Magnesium chassis shrouded n thick green tactile rubber, superb!
For a non ED binocular the CA is very tiny and I can't notice any most of the time even when looking for it, I would say that the negligible CA is the most remarkable thing about this binocular. Contrast and sharpnes are spot on and the field of view is very generous, nice and bright for an 8x32, phase coatings on prisms etc. Very neutral colours that I feel display very true to life images. The anti fog coatings do what they say and are very tough. Ive had mine over two years and still not a scratch to be seen despite some rough use. I used to own a pair of Trinovid 10x32 BN but found the very small eye lenses steamed up whenever the weather was humid or I was sweating, I also found the coatings on the Trinovid quite delicate. I dont get this problem with the DCF SP. If you are considering buying a pair of these I think you will be very pleased with them, the overall image is very close indeed to a Trinovid of a similar size although in my opinion not quite as pleasing but very close. For the money of the DCF SP surely this must be amoung the best images you will get.
The 3 criticisms I have is firstly the rain guard is hopeless, hard cheap plastic that is very loose and very badly designed, it does become irritating over time. The second is the depth of field is not the best, compared to a leica 10x32 BN I once owned there is substantially more adjustment of the focus required to get the view you want. Lastly and most importantly I would say that the main flaw with this otherwise superb binocular is how it handles stray light. I find that as soon as autum arrives and the sun gets low and lighting conditions get more difficult out in the open the dcf sp shows a great deal of flaring that is very distracting. If you get yourself back into shade or the sun behind you then the problem goes away and in the summer the flare problem is much reduced. All round this is a super binocular and a pleasure to own and use. If you manage to get a well cared for used example then you would be getting a glass that is very nearly as good as a Trinovid for not a lot of £ or $.
For a non ED binocular the CA is very tiny and I can't notice any most of the time even when looking for it, I would say that the negligible CA is the most remarkable thing about this binocular. Contrast and sharpnes are spot on and the field of view is very generous, nice and bright for an 8x32, phase coatings on prisms etc. Very neutral colours that I feel display very true to life images. The anti fog coatings do what they say and are very tough. Ive had mine over two years and still not a scratch to be seen despite some rough use. I used to own a pair of Trinovid 10x32 BN but found the very small eye lenses steamed up whenever the weather was humid or I was sweating, I also found the coatings on the Trinovid quite delicate. I dont get this problem with the DCF SP. If you are considering buying a pair of these I think you will be very pleased with them, the overall image is very close indeed to a Trinovid of a similar size although in my opinion not quite as pleasing but very close. For the money of the DCF SP surely this must be amoung the best images you will get.
The 3 criticisms I have is firstly the rain guard is hopeless, hard cheap plastic that is very loose and very badly designed, it does become irritating over time. The second is the depth of field is not the best, compared to a leica 10x32 BN I once owned there is substantially more adjustment of the focus required to get the view you want. Lastly and most importantly I would say that the main flaw with this otherwise superb binocular is how it handles stray light. I find that as soon as autum arrives and the sun gets low and lighting conditions get more difficult out in the open the dcf sp shows a great deal of flaring that is very distracting. If you get yourself back into shade or the sun behind you then the problem goes away and in the summer the flare problem is much reduced. All round this is a super binocular and a pleasure to own and use. If you manage to get a well cared for used example then you would be getting a glass that is very nearly as good as a Trinovid for not a lot of £ or $.