I've been looking for a good 8x30 bino on a tight budget, and decided to try the SR.GA:s after reading Martin Fagg's
review post in the binoculars sub-forum and this
review.
Bought them online from Birders Store, fast and good service. Costed me 129 (incl. UK shipping) + 15 extra for shipping to Sweden. :t:
The binoculars are light and easy to hold comfortably, even with small-average hands and it has grip-friendly rubber armoring. Eye relief isn't so good, so not the best for those that need glasses. Focusing is extremely fast, but once used to it, I found it prefect.
Compared to the Swift Audubon 8,5x44 roof, which is my other bino, it's a little brighter (in daylight), it's a bit sharper, has about the same amount of C A (not much, except at edges) and as the Audubon no color bias. It also has more sweetspot, wider F O V and much faster focus. The two latter is something I've often come to miss in the Audubon roof.
Downsides are that the edge sharpness is not the best (at about 15% of the F O V) and much increased C A at the edges. Others are that it's not waterproof, a bit less shockproof than a roof and the rain guard is not so good.
I found that it's very good as a "nice days birding in woodlands bino". It has a fast and approximately 3m close focus and wide F O V, well suited for close encounters in brushes and catching birds flying from tree to tree.
Maybe the SR.GA can be considered a "poor man's EII"... I think that (especially at the price) it's :king:!
I would only add that I found eye placement was exceptionally easy, especially for 8x32 and much better than e.g. Nikon 8x32 SE.
I think sharpness is exceptional too, and that the sweet spot is unusually large, having to look around within the view and nearly to the edge to see much deterioration. Brightness is good for peering into shadowy areas.