Opticron Oregon 4 PC (1 Viewer)

L

lgc123

Member

• Aug 13, 2018

• #1

Hi,

on the market for 8x32 binoculars in the £100 range, and been considering the Oregon 4 (bang on budget), or maybe stretching to the Discovery. I've just noticed that there is a new Oregon 4 PC model on sale for £110, which now include phase corrected coatings.

I can't find any impressions/reviews online - anybody tried them? I'm new to this, so I don't know how much of a difference the PC coating would make (or if other aspects might have gotten worse in the process..)

 

T

typo

Well-known member

• Aug 13, 2018

• #2

Igc,

Phase coating counteracts the light loss which is a potential pitfall of roof prism designs. In bright, sunny condition I suspect few would notice the difference, but in murky conditions the loss in contrast is usually much more obvious. It's a feature worth having.

David

 

R

richard866945

Bino repair man

• Aug 13, 2018

• #3

phase coating

typo said:

Igc,

Phase coating counteracts the light loss which is a potential pitfall of roof prism designs. In bright, sunny condition I suspect few would notice the difference, but in murky conditions the loss in contrast is usually much more obvious. It's a feature worth having.

David

Click to expand...

Roof prisms have an inherent problem. They can't focus all the colours / wave lengths into a sharp point. Porro prisms don't share this problem so PC coatings correct this out-of-phase error and therefore allow roof prisms to be as sharp as the equivalent porro prisms.
I'm not sure that they counteract any light loss.

 

T

typo

Well-known member

• Aug 13, 2018

• #4

Richard,

I was trying to keep it simple.


As you know the Schmidt-Pechan prism creates two polarised light paths and their recombination results in interference. I'm yet to find a good scientific account of the consequences, but I believe it is the cancellation in the perpendicular axis to the roof edge which not only causes the loss in contrast and therefore resolution, but also results net reduction in total transmission. I'm keen to find more specific information if you have it.

David

 

Last edited: Aug 14, 2018

T

typo

Well-known member

• Aug 18, 2018

• #5

Had a quick look at the Oregon 4PC yesterday and rather liked it. The phase coating gave it a bit of sparkle that I felt it's predecessor was missing. I preferred the 8x32 over the 8x42.

The Adventure T WP 6.5x32 with it's 161m/483 ft view and huge DoF was great fun as well. It even worked with my glasses!

 

S

StephenHampshire

Well-known member

• Aug 18, 2018

• #6

typo said:

Had a quick look at the Oregon 4PC yesterday and rather liked it. The phase coating gave it a bit of sparkle that I felt it's predecessor was missing. I preferred the 8x32 over the 8x42.

The Adventure T WP 6.5x32 with it's 161m/483 ft view and huge DoF was great fun as well. It even worked with my glasses!

Click to expand...

Hello Typo, how did the Oregon sit with your spectacles??

 

T

typo

Well-known member

• Aug 21, 2018

• #7

Stephen,

Sorry about the late reply. I was away for a few days without internet access.

They seemed fine with my glasses. I now see the ER is listed as 15mm, which would normally be on the limit for the specs I was wearing, but might well be a rathet short for some. I recall I needed to twist out the eyecups on the 8x42. Probably 2-3mm, but nothing like the 7mm difference shown in the specification.

David

 

S

StephenHampshire

Well-known member

• Aug 21, 2018

• #8

No problem, thanks for the reply...I think I might go for the Discovery 8 x32's as I like the close focusing, butterflies and flowers interest me too.

 

T

typo

Well-known member

• Aug 21, 2018

• #9

I think the close focus was about 8 or 9ft for the sample of the 8x32 Oregon PC I tried. The spec for the Discovery is 1.2m.

David