Nikon Action EX 7x35a (1 Viewer)

Nikon Action EX 7x35

Last fall when the family and I went up to Hawk Mountain I looked at a pair of the Nikon Action EX 7x35s that they had in the display case. I remember being fairly impressed with the view at the time and must have remarked as much to my wife. She just bought me a pair as an anniversary present (yes, she is a keeper ). I have to admit that these little bins are fairly impressive for their price. Image quality in the center of the field is very good. Resolution, color rendition and brightness are all very good. The outer portion (1/4 to 1/3rd) is pretty much unusuable but when you consider the bins sport a 9.3 degree field of view then it makes it easy to live with.

Ergonomically the bins are fairly good as well. From this perspective I would almost call them a "blocky" SE in that they have that same solid feel but are a bit less contoured. The focus is just a tad stiffer than I like but that may change with use. Throw in the fact that they are waterproof/nitrogen purged and weigh about the same as most of the premium, phase coated roofs and they become even more attractive.

I remember reading about them in the Cornell review but became confused when they first referred to them as the regular Action models in the text description and yet called them the EXs in the graphical illustration.

Definitely a good buy at just over $100. Thought I would share.

Are the optics not almost the same as the regular Action?
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=56653&highlight=Nikon+Action

Tero,

The EX version has much better eye relief and slightly different ergonomics. I have both side by side and the difference is pretty noticeable. In addition, the eyepiece bridge on the EX is much more rigid and apparently durable.

Yes, I got my EX specifiaclly to use with glasses and without. I am more comfortable with them and glasses than other pairs I own including the Monarch.

I find it really surprising how subtle some of the differences have become from one price point of binoculars to the next. I put the EXs up next to the Monarchs and LXs and compared their image quality. For someone with a familiarity of binoculars the differences are noticeable but for the average person that looks basically only in the center of the field of view I would be willing to bet that they would be just as satisfied with the EXs as they would with more expensive bins.

FrankD said:

for their price. Image quality in the center of the field is very good. Resolution, color rendition and brightness are all very good. The outer portion (1/4 to 1/3rd) is pretty much unusuable but when you consider the bins sport a 9.3 degree field of view then it makes it easy to live with.

Click to expand...

I have the Nikon Action 7x35 (not EX) that I got for $54 including shipping. I also have a pair of Zeiss 7x42s and a Leica 8x32. In comparing all three optically I have found the center 2/3 of the Nikons to be as good as the Zeiss and Leicas. The high-end binos have slightly better contrast but that's about it. So I would say the on axis performance is better than just "very good". If anyone can see any practical difference between the optical performance of the three they have better eyes than mine.

Also the outer soft zone of the FOV is very useful for keeping a moving bird within the field of view and is anything but "unusuable". I suppose Nikon could have limited the FOV to a perfect 350' instead of the 490' they gave you but would that have made them better for real world practical birding?

If you look at the Nikons simply as a tool to help you see better than your bare eyes alone than these inexpensive Nikons are as good as any other binos out there if not better.

I tend to agree with your comments but would still stick with my original assessment. Each of us brings certain expectations to the table when we pick up a set of bins. On a scale of poor, fair, good, very good, excellent, I would still be forced to say they are very good. That is pretty high praise though when consider the bins sell for around $120 (EX) and $60 (non-EX). If it means anything I would say that I do not think I would have any problem using them as a primary bin for woodland birding. Their wide field of view and excellent depth of field make them a pleasure to use.

I felt the need to comment further on this binocular for a few reasons. I have had them now for a few weeks and their center field resolution continues to surprise me. I had a soaring Red tailed Hawk over the backyard yesterday afternoon. It had to be up several hundred feet. I had no problem getting a very detailed view of the band across the breast of the bird. It almost felt like I would have been able to discern more detail had it not been for the lower magnification. Even the distortion across the outer part of the field of view has not been much of a bother when you are actually focusing on the birds and not the optics themselves. The super wide field of view really does make for an extremely pleasant viewing experience.

I am torn though. What do I chalk this up to? The 7x magnification or the porro prism design?

The binocular's durability also was put to the test. I dropped them from a distance of about 3 feet onto my asphalt driveway with no apparent damage to the bins. Alignment seems fine and there was no visible exterior damage. They were in the case though so I had thought that probably had something to do with it. Fast forward to Saturday evening. We had some relatives over for a bit of a cookout. While on the back deck I made the mistake of setting the binoculars down for a minute while grabbing a cheeseburger. As I sat back down in my chair they fell off the rail and down to the ground 15 feet below. They were not in the case this time.

After cleaning the dirt off of them I gave them the once over externally. No marks, scratches, dings, etc.. were apparent. I then peeked through them, fully expecting to see a loose prism or at the very least poor alignment. I did not find either. In fact I was unable to find one thing wrong with them optically or mechanically. I have used them several times since including that hawk experience I mentioned earlier and still cannot find a single thing wrong with them.

I never intentionally abuse my bins in such a manner but I feel very confident in knowing that these bins can take some abuse and yet still provide such a satisfying experience. For the price these sell for I think they are a true treasure.

Yes, we should all have lots of pairs to leave laying around, so they can fall down at any time. Its fun to have some pairs you don't worry about. The good ones have to hang around your neck so much.

We had the discussion of edge softness and loss of clarity. Is this a feature of porros more than roofs?

Tero,

Yes, one to knock down in the kitchen...one to knock down in the living room...one to knock down in the bathroom....etc...etc...

I do not believe that there is a distinction between porro and roof in terms of edge softness. As I mentioned in your binocular ramblings thread I believe that one of the things we pay for in continuously more expensive binoculars is less distortion. My Monarchs have less edge distortion than my Action EXs...my LXs have less than my Monarchs, and so on and so forth. I think it takes more glass and more expensive glass to correct for the edge distortion.

I don't own any highly rated porros, just the 8x Action EX. To me it seems that the part of the field in focus in the middle is exactly the same as the narrower area I see with my 10x Monarchs. So the part that is soft, slightly out of focus, is just the extra FOV I get with those porros. And it helps me find the bird. A lot easier for flying birds.