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Visionking 5x25 (4 Viewers)

looksharp65

Well-known member
Sweden
Found a pair of binoculars with quite remarkable specifications on that auction site.

Descriptions:


The Visionking 5x25 provide a field of view that is nearly twice as wide as conventional binoculars.Comfortable viewing.It's extra Wide Binoculars, perfect for spectator sports and theater or concert enthusiasts who want to see all of the action without constant movement.With compact body,light weight,very easy to carry for outdoor use.and it with full multi-coated green lens and Bak4 prisms for light transmission, so it has high resolution and good field of view. It also has rubber armored body for durable use.The most import is it with super big lens.


Specifications:

• Magnification 5x
• Caliber 25
• Prism System Roof
• Prism Glass BAK4
• Focus System Center
• Field Of View(m/1000m) 277
• Exit Pupil 5mm
• Waterproof Yes
• Fogproof Yes
• Nitrogen Filled Yes
• Eyecup Type Twist-up
• Eye relief 15mm
• Coating FMC-Green
• Close focus 3m
• Net weight 590g


Features:

• Super big ocular lens for comfortable viewing
• Durable and Protective, Rubber-armored
• Fully multicoated glass lenses deliver the ultimate brightness and resolution
• BaK-4 prisms offer the clear, bright and crisp images
• Long eye relief for eyeglasses wearers
• Smooth Central Focus Knob for quick viewing
• Nitrogen filled and O-ring sealed for Waterproof/Fogproof
• Extra Wide Binoculars

They undeniably differ significantly from pretty much everything else out there. It is truly refreshing to see someone has made an effort to provide usable binoculars with realistic specifications. That said, I wouldn't expect them to be high-end binoculars.

With such a gigantic FOV I would accept quite a lot of edge softness, decidedly low magnification and average eye relief.
The close focus seems to be one weak point. Their weight and barrel size suggest they are midsized despite their configuration, which leads the thought to compact binoculars.

Would I take the plunge? Nah, I have that nagging suspicion they focus anticlockwise |!|. Is someone ready to lose £50 to try them out?
Who knows, they may be the new BS binoculars. ;)
Oh sorry, I meant Blue Sky. 3:)

//L
 
A 70 degree AFOV with 15mm eye relief is certainly impressive. Unfortunately, there's no mention of phase coated prisms.

They have a 14 day return policy, but you have to ship them back to China at your expense.
 
I have looked over these for several weeks. I do buy innovative designs. I worry that it is just a skin over the simple low cost binoculars.

Look at this picture that is cashed on google

google picture of comparing the new 5x25 to an older 5x25

I know it does not have phase coatings on the prisms. I worry that it may just have an optical window on the objective end, with the actual objectives set inside.

It is bugging me that I do not know.

Rob.
 
Rob,

I'd guess that's just a window too. I wonder if the focus mechanism actually moves the internal objective group, like on the Bushnell Customs, rather than a separate focussing element so the window is just for weatherproofing?

David
 
LS,

Ok, lots to comment on here. For one, were you taking a jab at my Blue Skys with that BS comment?

;)

Two, I own a pair of Visionking 7x50s. The optical performance is actually quite good. The coatings are certainly first rate as the apparent brightness is as good as anything out there. Apparent sharpness is also very good but not quite as good as my best porros. I owned them at the same time as the Vixen Foresta 7x50s so I had a great deal of time to compare the two. Generally comparable with the understanding that the Visionking had a narrower field of view and slightly more edge distortion. The Vixen was more refined overall while the Visionking was more, uhm, whats the word I am looking for?

For $70 I am not complaining.

That is the good news. The bad news was that you are pretty much out of luck if you have to return it. Yes, they do have a good return policy but the shipping cost involved versus the actual cost of the item makes the situation pretty much pointless.

Rob,

I think you are correct in your assumption of a simple piece of glass "window" in front of the objectives. It is most likely just for waterproofing. I have the Bushnell 4x30 Superwides which are actually 4x22s if I remember the measurements correctly. They have the same external pane of glass. I believe the original Zeiss Conquest 8x30 had the same design as well.
 
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I've been looking that one over too...
it's probably not possible to have ultra-wide binoculars that are also ultra-sharp.
Not that I wouldn't love a big view, though. Phase-coating probably wouldn't
make much difference with the huge light angle you're admitting. Extra and ultra-wides
always pay a price in contrast.

The business about paying the freight to China for a return is still a \
sticking point for me. I worry a little about what shape the image is in
near the edges as well. I got some 8x25 ProMasters that looked fantastic
at the photo store but were fuzzy outside 50% fov and had a very shallow
depth of field. I didn't test enough at the time.
Everything was premium except the oculars. That's another
China 'amazing value' brand. Some models are great, others may have
odd compromises.
 
I have looked over these for several weeks. I do buy innovative designs. I worry that it is just a skin over the simple low cost binoculars.

Look at this picture that is cashed on google

google picture of comparing the new 5x25 to an older 5x25

I know it does not have phase coatings on the prisms. I worry that it may just have an optical window on the objective end, with the actual objectives set inside.

It is bugging me that I do not know.

Rob.

If there is a window, the window serves as part of a hood as well, which is actually
a great addition to an ultra-wide. Improves contrast a lot.
You can use the window for a seal, but it also keeps that hooding
from becoming a sinkhole for dust. At 5x25, and with modern coatings,
I wouldn't worry much about the light lost.
 
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. I have the Foton 5×25 which I love. it has very accurate optics although it is not phase coated as far as I know. The crescent Venus looks better in this than any other binocular I have used.
Also the Bushnell 5×25 which is very nice and useful except that it is 4.4 times magnification not five times.
The 4×21 extrawide fixed focus is interesting and apparently kids like it although I cannot focus anything except the edges, which is actually okay for looking at widely separated planets. The field is 18.5° but it is only 3.5 times, it is definitely not 4 times magnification.
the Dowling and Rowe 4×22 binocular is very useful and has a field of 16.5°.
there is the American 4.5 times binocular that is used in a similar way to spectacles and uses mirrors instead of prisms. This is expensive and I have not yet seen one. There are different views as to how good it is.

So I would be interested to try the 5×25 mentioned above, though I suspect that some of the specifications are not accurate.
 
One thing to watch out for in lower-powered binoculars: if you have glasses
and take them off to look, that can reduce the power.
 
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. I looked at the site regarding the visionking 5×25.
It seems likely that the 38mm is the diameter of an optical window and not the objectives.
I also suspect that the true magnification is less than five times although I would need to try one to find out. The field of 15.8° may or may not be genuine.

The surprisingly thing about the 5×25 Foton is that the objectives are 30 mm actual aperture. This may be to provide better edge illumination although the exit pupil shows that the aperture being used is 25 mm.
 
. It wasn't me although I wouldn't mind trying one.
I make the apparent field of view 79° in simple measure rather than 70°. That is why I doubt very much whether the specifications are accurate. If they were accurate it would be probably with extreme distortion and poor quality.
However, I expect that they may be okay and perhaps 4.5 times magnification.
they may actually be quite useful even if they are rather poor quality.
 
I suspect we generally don't want to take the chance that
5x would be a bit of a drudge to examine for details.
Could be more than I could take in cognitively.
Would be great for a 2nd lieutenant in a complicated raid, though.
Watch for flanking maneuvers.
 
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