ksbird/foxranch
Well-known member
Another birthday just passed, so I am an even older "old man" (61 yo) than before. One thing did brighten the day though, a very nice pair of binoculars, the Columbia Malheur 10x32. Columbia is the brand name for a sportswear company specializing in backwoods/camping/mountaineering etc. I think this is the company marketing these bins. There is a generally accepted limit of $200 on most birthday gifts so I assume these are very reasonably priced.
The carton and inner box both say the design uses fluorite APO objective lens and they seem to show there may be a field flattener right behind it. The rest of the design is typical for small roofers. I will comment on their ease of use when I add to this post.
I wanted a smallish, waterproof, 10x, to carry in my pocket. I have great 8x bins of this type, but the Zeiss Diafun 10x I was using seems a touch too large (although very light weight). The Prostaff 10x25 I normally carry is not really useful at dawn and dusk. There is still snow in the tall pasture grass and there were a few days near zero F (-17C) last week, with another such day tomorrow. If any farm animals are not in the barns by nightfall, you could lose them, so finding them at dusk is imperative.
I compared these bins to a wide range of others; 10x30 Zeiss Diaphun, Stellar 10x35 porro (JB4), a no-name 10x35 (JB133), Hertel & Reuss 10x35, Nikon 10x35 (2 models, the Mikron and the E), Prostaff 10x25, and the Leupold 10x30. The Prostaff, Leupold, Diaphun and Malheur are waterproof. The 10x35 porros are all large in the hand although the H&Rs are really lightweight with magnesium bodies. The Leopold is also very heavy, although I carried it in my pocket for 2 years, it isn't convenient. The Diaphuns are smaller than the Leupold and the 10x35s but larger than the Malheur, which is only slightly larger than the Prostaff.
The images on all of these bins is excellent so the competition is tough. Had I stretched this further to the 10x40 Baigish, 10x40 Agfa and 10x40 Habicht, the Malheur would have looked average at best. But in the group I chose for comparisons it was at least as sharp as any of the others. The Malheur's contrast is almost as vivid as the Diaphun & Nikon E, as good as the Leupold or Prostaff and slightly better than the rest of the group. The color correction was better than any of them, and this obviously contributes to the high ratings I gave them for sharpness and contrast.
While the Malheur FOV is obviously wider than the Leupold and Prostaff, and slightly wider than the Diaphun it is about equal to the Nikon E. The other 10x35 porros seem to have enormous FsOV by comparison. The H&Rs and Mikrons seem to have FsOV that are obviously wider and the 2 JBs should be classed as either Superwides or Ultrawides, so they provide a spaceview image. But I deemed the Malheur's FOV to be "wide enough" for my use since it was replacing 2 other bins with smaller FsOV. The edge-to-edge sharpness is quite surprising. Since my neighbor 500m/550yds away on the next hill west from my ranch, is a great viewing target, I can determine that the sharp part of the FOV on the Malheur extends about 75% across the FOV. Only the Nikon E had a slightly wider "sharp" FOV % (the 8 tall [and now barren] trees stretching along the upper ridge of my neighbor's hilltop property allow me to compare real distances for sharpness across the FOV). In reality, the Nikon E's sharp portion of its FOV is not much larger than the Malheur.
The color trueness of the view is quite neutral in the Malheur. The Leupold was the "brownest" "or possibly "yellowest", the H&R was the next "brown/yellowest" image, then the Stellar and Mikron were very slightly yellow/brown, the Prostaff seems the most neutral, with truest color. Then the Malheur came a close second to the Prostaff. The Nikon E seemed a tiny bit greenish, image-wise. The JB133 bin was the "coolest" image due to a slightly blue/violet coloration. With snow the slightly yellowish added color works fine. With vegetation the extra blue tone is good. The neutral color rendition of the Malheur and Prostaff work all the time.
I am not a roofer fan. In winter I'll use the Malheur for pocket carry and in spring/summer/autumn for events my wife will use them. They are very sharp with excellent correction for CA. I'll talk about how they are to use (although I already like the clamshell hard case, and hate the lens covers). These bins are made in China and while the performance is high, the cost is incredibly low.
Columbia is a very large company, making gear for outdoor activities. Their distribution is huge, so these bins will be in thousands of stores this year. With this volume, prices will drop and discounting will bring the price lower. Look for Celestron, major department/retail store chains and places like Bass Pro Shops to carry this model bin, putting even more pressure on the prices to drop. Close-outs through mail order sellers could make these less than $100 eventually. A non-waterproof 10x32 fluorite porro with the same objectives and flattened system, could be even cheaper and better (w/wider FOV). 10x30/32 is a great size for kids, and quite easy to handle. I generally use porros for everything and anything, but this is one roofer I will enjoy using any time I can.
The carton and inner box both say the design uses fluorite APO objective lens and they seem to show there may be a field flattener right behind it. The rest of the design is typical for small roofers. I will comment on their ease of use when I add to this post.
I wanted a smallish, waterproof, 10x, to carry in my pocket. I have great 8x bins of this type, but the Zeiss Diafun 10x I was using seems a touch too large (although very light weight). The Prostaff 10x25 I normally carry is not really useful at dawn and dusk. There is still snow in the tall pasture grass and there were a few days near zero F (-17C) last week, with another such day tomorrow. If any farm animals are not in the barns by nightfall, you could lose them, so finding them at dusk is imperative.
I compared these bins to a wide range of others; 10x30 Zeiss Diaphun, Stellar 10x35 porro (JB4), a no-name 10x35 (JB133), Hertel & Reuss 10x35, Nikon 10x35 (2 models, the Mikron and the E), Prostaff 10x25, and the Leupold 10x30. The Prostaff, Leupold, Diaphun and Malheur are waterproof. The 10x35 porros are all large in the hand although the H&Rs are really lightweight with magnesium bodies. The Leopold is also very heavy, although I carried it in my pocket for 2 years, it isn't convenient. The Diaphuns are smaller than the Leupold and the 10x35s but larger than the Malheur, which is only slightly larger than the Prostaff.
The images on all of these bins is excellent so the competition is tough. Had I stretched this further to the 10x40 Baigish, 10x40 Agfa and 10x40 Habicht, the Malheur would have looked average at best. But in the group I chose for comparisons it was at least as sharp as any of the others. The Malheur's contrast is almost as vivid as the Diaphun & Nikon E, as good as the Leupold or Prostaff and slightly better than the rest of the group. The color correction was better than any of them, and this obviously contributes to the high ratings I gave them for sharpness and contrast.
While the Malheur FOV is obviously wider than the Leupold and Prostaff, and slightly wider than the Diaphun it is about equal to the Nikon E. The other 10x35 porros seem to have enormous FsOV by comparison. The H&Rs and Mikrons seem to have FsOV that are obviously wider and the 2 JBs should be classed as either Superwides or Ultrawides, so they provide a spaceview image. But I deemed the Malheur's FOV to be "wide enough" for my use since it was replacing 2 other bins with smaller FsOV. The edge-to-edge sharpness is quite surprising. Since my neighbor 500m/550yds away on the next hill west from my ranch, is a great viewing target, I can determine that the sharp part of the FOV on the Malheur extends about 75% across the FOV. Only the Nikon E had a slightly wider "sharp" FOV % (the 8 tall [and now barren] trees stretching along the upper ridge of my neighbor's hilltop property allow me to compare real distances for sharpness across the FOV). In reality, the Nikon E's sharp portion of its FOV is not much larger than the Malheur.
The color trueness of the view is quite neutral in the Malheur. The Leupold was the "brownest" "or possibly "yellowest", the H&R was the next "brown/yellowest" image, then the Stellar and Mikron were very slightly yellow/brown, the Prostaff seems the most neutral, with truest color. Then the Malheur came a close second to the Prostaff. The Nikon E seemed a tiny bit greenish, image-wise. The JB133 bin was the "coolest" image due to a slightly blue/violet coloration. With snow the slightly yellowish added color works fine. With vegetation the extra blue tone is good. The neutral color rendition of the Malheur and Prostaff work all the time.
I am not a roofer fan. In winter I'll use the Malheur for pocket carry and in spring/summer/autumn for events my wife will use them. They are very sharp with excellent correction for CA. I'll talk about how they are to use (although I already like the clamshell hard case, and hate the lens covers). These bins are made in China and while the performance is high, the cost is incredibly low.
Columbia is a very large company, making gear for outdoor activities. Their distribution is huge, so these bins will be in thousands of stores this year. With this volume, prices will drop and discounting will bring the price lower. Look for Celestron, major department/retail store chains and places like Bass Pro Shops to carry this model bin, putting even more pressure on the prices to drop. Close-outs through mail order sellers could make these less than $100 eventually. A non-waterproof 10x32 fluorite porro with the same objectives and flattened system, could be even cheaper and better (w/wider FOV). 10x30/32 is a great size for kids, and quite easy to handle. I generally use porros for everything and anything, but this is one roofer I will enjoy using any time I can.