John Russell
Well-known member
I recently purchased a Kowa Genesis (Prominar XD) 8x33. My desire was for premium performance, but as a no. 3 binocular in addition to a 7x42 and 10x42 I could not really justify the higher costs of the Europran premium competitors.
The intended use was for travel, when also carrying scope and tripod, and as an alternative for my wife, whose own 900 g 7x42 is sometimes something of a burden. Unfortunately, the Kowa now seems to have been requisitioned by her and I must confess to my surprise at the enormous difference in carrying comfort of a 600 g binocular and one weighing 900-1000 g.
Neither of my two local Kowa dealers had the 8x33 in stock and so one of them arranged for me to collect it at Kowa Optimed in Düsseldorf, where I had the opportunity of selecting one (no significant differences noted however). I was not unfamiliar with the model, having seen the prototypes at Photokina (2008, I think), at subsequent Photokinas and various bird festivals.
The binocular comes with a limited 10 year warranty, 5 years parts and labour and just parts thereafter. A neat little cordura case is supplied but this is of limited use as it lacks a carrying strap or belt loop. The importer has promised to take this up with Kowa. The binocular strap is light and comfortable, if a little overdimensioned for such a light instrument and there is a serviceable rain guard and tetherable rubber objective covers. The latter seem to have a light tendency to mark clothing. Weaknesses in the accessories as with so many bins, but I have now almost exhausted my criticisms.
The Kowa has subdued gray-green rubber armouring with large elliptical but shallow depressions on the underside, which contribute to a secure grip. The rubber eyecups have 4 click stops and the plastic diopter ring on the right barrel has to be pulled out before it can be adjusted. Operation is smooth and the diopter setting is locked once the ring is retracted. There is a 1/4" x 20 thread under a cap at the front of central hinge for a tripod adapter and adjustment of the inter-pupillary distance (54-74 mm) is smooth but offers sufficient resistance to avoid accidental shifting. The central focussing wheel is anodized aluminium with a fine milled structure and is very fast, taking only 120° from 5 m to infinity. Minimum focus is 1,5 m. The operation on my sample is the best and smoothest I have experienced on any bin. Due also to the outstanding central sharpness, optimum focus is achieved instantly without any backwards and forwards searching.
My eyesight is no longer good enough to give a reliable assessment of the bin's capabilities, so I set it up on a tripod and aligned a 6x18 Zeiss monocular on a second tripod behind the oculars. The image was of course very dim (< 0,7 mm exit pupil!) but sharpness was well maintained considering the 48x magnification with mere 33 mm objectives. Other tests (the "Vögel" test, Holger Merlitz) have highlighted the outstanding quality of the Kowa Genesis binoculars as being their suppression of chromatic aberration, better than all competitors, and the overriding impression is of a supperbly clean and crisp central image, no doubt due to the use of two XD elements per objective. There is a moderate fall-off of sharpness at the field edges due to astigmatism. I would not attempt to quantify this in percentage terms as is done in the Albinos tests, as loss of sharpness, whether due to astigmatism or field curvature, is progressive. No ghosting or stray light was noticed and there was barely discernable pincussion distortion. I could not perceive any "rolling ball" but as a SV user, I have become desensitized.
Again on a tripod I measured the AFOV at 62° by viewing a distant building corner through the objective lens. This value in combination with the 22 mm eye lenses and 4,1 mm exit pupils would give a theoretical eye relief of 14,9 mm and Kowa indeed quote 15 mm. It is not enough for me to be able to view the whole field with my glasses with a positive correction (far-sighted) but might enable those with negative correction (near-sighted) to do so. A paper test revealed, as far as I could discern, a neutral colour balance.
The Kowa Genesis binoculars will probably not achieve great market penetration in Europe or North America. They are significantly cheaper than the premium European bins with which they compete, but do not carry their prestige. On the other hand, the 8x33 Genesis with a list price of around €1000 is more expensive than Zeiss' or Swarovski's second tier. I am however very satisfied with my purchase and would heartily recommend their consideration.
John
The intended use was for travel, when also carrying scope and tripod, and as an alternative for my wife, whose own 900 g 7x42 is sometimes something of a burden. Unfortunately, the Kowa now seems to have been requisitioned by her and I must confess to my surprise at the enormous difference in carrying comfort of a 600 g binocular and one weighing 900-1000 g.
Neither of my two local Kowa dealers had the 8x33 in stock and so one of them arranged for me to collect it at Kowa Optimed in Düsseldorf, where I had the opportunity of selecting one (no significant differences noted however). I was not unfamiliar with the model, having seen the prototypes at Photokina (2008, I think), at subsequent Photokinas and various bird festivals.
The binocular comes with a limited 10 year warranty, 5 years parts and labour and just parts thereafter. A neat little cordura case is supplied but this is of limited use as it lacks a carrying strap or belt loop. The importer has promised to take this up with Kowa. The binocular strap is light and comfortable, if a little overdimensioned for such a light instrument and there is a serviceable rain guard and tetherable rubber objective covers. The latter seem to have a light tendency to mark clothing. Weaknesses in the accessories as with so many bins, but I have now almost exhausted my criticisms.
The Kowa has subdued gray-green rubber armouring with large elliptical but shallow depressions on the underside, which contribute to a secure grip. The rubber eyecups have 4 click stops and the plastic diopter ring on the right barrel has to be pulled out before it can be adjusted. Operation is smooth and the diopter setting is locked once the ring is retracted. There is a 1/4" x 20 thread under a cap at the front of central hinge for a tripod adapter and adjustment of the inter-pupillary distance (54-74 mm) is smooth but offers sufficient resistance to avoid accidental shifting. The central focussing wheel is anodized aluminium with a fine milled structure and is very fast, taking only 120° from 5 m to infinity. Minimum focus is 1,5 m. The operation on my sample is the best and smoothest I have experienced on any bin. Due also to the outstanding central sharpness, optimum focus is achieved instantly without any backwards and forwards searching.
My eyesight is no longer good enough to give a reliable assessment of the bin's capabilities, so I set it up on a tripod and aligned a 6x18 Zeiss monocular on a second tripod behind the oculars. The image was of course very dim (< 0,7 mm exit pupil!) but sharpness was well maintained considering the 48x magnification with mere 33 mm objectives. Other tests (the "Vögel" test, Holger Merlitz) have highlighted the outstanding quality of the Kowa Genesis binoculars as being their suppression of chromatic aberration, better than all competitors, and the overriding impression is of a supperbly clean and crisp central image, no doubt due to the use of two XD elements per objective. There is a moderate fall-off of sharpness at the field edges due to astigmatism. I would not attempt to quantify this in percentage terms as is done in the Albinos tests, as loss of sharpness, whether due to astigmatism or field curvature, is progressive. No ghosting or stray light was noticed and there was barely discernable pincussion distortion. I could not perceive any "rolling ball" but as a SV user, I have become desensitized.
Again on a tripod I measured the AFOV at 62° by viewing a distant building corner through the objective lens. This value in combination with the 22 mm eye lenses and 4,1 mm exit pupils would give a theoretical eye relief of 14,9 mm and Kowa indeed quote 15 mm. It is not enough for me to be able to view the whole field with my glasses with a positive correction (far-sighted) but might enable those with negative correction (near-sighted) to do so. A paper test revealed, as far as I could discern, a neutral colour balance.
The Kowa Genesis binoculars will probably not achieve great market penetration in Europe or North America. They are significantly cheaper than the premium European bins with which they compete, but do not carry their prestige. On the other hand, the 8x33 Genesis with a list price of around €1000 is more expensive than Zeiss' or Swarovski's second tier. I am however very satisfied with my purchase and would heartily recommend their consideration.
John
