Well, the UPS delivery truck showed up yesterday with the 8x32 Acadia in tow. I have to admit to being pretty surprised, as it was just a couple of days ago they said there might be a several week delay.
First impression is that at the price level they are keepers. While they surely aren't perfect, they are really impressive for the price.
The outstanding overall first impression was..."well these things sure are not very big". They are about an inch shorter than the ZRS 8x32 I got the day before these came in. The size is actually pretty well thought out as I see it. They are certainly small enough to really appeal to those with smaller hands, or for those uses where a small size and physical footprint is desired. On the other hand they are not so small as to feel overly cramped with larger hands. I wear a size XL glove and my thumb to forefinger measurement with hands spread wide is just under 9". They are fine for that size, but as yet I have not used them for extended periods of time.
The ZRS will be a better fit for similar quality and optics in a slightly bigger package. The Acadia weighs 15.9 oz with neither lens covers or strap. They are 4.3 inches high with the eye cups down, 4.65 inches with the eye cups extended, and 4.3 inches wide at 61 mm IPD. There are three stops for the eye cup. The minimum IPD is 57 mm. However it looks like a little less armor on the inside of the hinge should alleviate that. Eye relief is enough for me with non prescription reading glasses or with sunglasses.
Right eye diopter, non locking, without click stops. Well marked for easy adjustment.
Dull, gray, smoky day, so CA testing will have to wait for either better conditions, or when I have more time.
The Acadia is the same length as is the Opticron Discovery WP 8x32, but the Opticron has less armor and is trimmer. The Acadia looks like the Opticron with some bulk.
They focus close enough that I can focus on my shoe tip while standing up. The focus is counterclockwise to infinity. There is one turn between close and infinity focus, and nearly one half turn past infinity. Close focus to about 30 meters or so is 3/4 of a turn and 1/4 turn from there to infinity. The focus was a bit notchy out of the box, but after running the focus several times back and forth from stop to stop, that went away. Evidently the lubrication needed evening out.
The overall impression of depth perception is pretty good. As good as the ZRS, Theron, and Sightron, better than the Opticron and better than my memories of the Diamondback.
The field is listed as 7.5*. There is some distortion at the edge which is not curvature as it can't be focused out, some is likely pincushion and some likely astigmatism. But the sweet spot is pretty wide, at least 6* of the 7.5*, so should not pose a problem...Unless you are picky about edges, in which case you probably won't lie any $200 class binocular. The field performance (if memory does not fail me) is very much like the Sightron S II.
Image is pretty color neutral, with good contrast and color rendition. Contrast is good. Apparent sharpness is impressive for the price.
They have a unique non tethered, snap into the objective cover. There are detents on each side of the cover to depress and it snaps into and out of place. The will surely stay put, but my first impression is that they will be pretty easy to loose. The typical tethered covers such as what comes with the ZRS will work.
EDIT: Just heard from Leupold, the Acadia's will ship with a typical tethered objective cover.
There have been some postings now about the ZRS 32 mm stuff, and I pretty much agree with what was posted.
Both the Acadia and the ZRS are pretty well in the same optical quality league as the much discussed Sightron S II 8x32 or the Theron Wapiti LT 8x32 I decided on over the Sightron.
I have several 8x32's on hand now and hope to snag a new Mojave in 8x32 and think I can snag a Vortex Diamondback 8x32 as well. Whatever shakes out I will use for a shootout review.
This is all the time I have for now as I will be out of good electronic touch for a couple of weeks. I am however going to be out in the middle of the Klamath marsh National Wildlife Refuge, so the binoculars will get a workout. I will post more when I can. I will answer stuff through today and tonight, but I'm out of here at 0-dark thirty in the morning.
