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Opticron BGA SE 8x42 (1 Viewer)

M

Martin Fagg

Guest
Hi everyone,

anyone got any experience of these bins? Have read good things about them but what do you think of them in use.

Quite narrow fov but I'm hoping it is made up for by the quality of the view.
How is the diopter adjustment? Doe it stay in place ok as it's not a lock in place type?

Thanks in advance,

Martin.
 
Hi Martin,

I have the 10x42 version of these binoculars and I'm very impressed with them, I find they have a rather good field of view for a 10x model and the image is sharp and natural. Good close focus ideal for insects etc. The focus wheel is perfect and has shown no sign of loosening up at all. The diopter ring is pretty stiff and has not moved at all since I set it up but it can be moved easily if required. I would give this model a big thumbs up. A great buy for the money and definately worth every penny. Hope this helps Martin.

Regards,

Barry.
 
barrybirder said:
Hi Martin,

I have the 10x42 version of these binoculars and I'm very impressed with them, I find they have a rather good field of view for a 10x model and the image is sharp and natural. Good close focus ideal for insects etc. The focus wheel is perfect and has shown no sign of loosening up at all. The diopter ring is pretty stiff and has not moved at all since I set it up but it can be moved easily if required. I would give this model a big thumbs up. A great buy for the money and definately worth every penny. Hope this helps Martin.

Regards,

Barry.
Click to expand...

Thanks Barry. Sounds good. I was looking for a bit of reassurance as I've just bought a pair on Fleabay. I have looked through a pair in a shop several years ago but I can't remember what they were like. Read a lot of good things about them on here and elsewhere though so I took the plunge.
Price was about a third cheaper than brand new so if they are in mint condition as claimed then I think I've got a bargain.

Best wishes,
Martin.
 
I just received my new pair of Imagic 8x42 today. I bought them to replace my trusty 4th generation 8x32 Imagics.
I decided to swap to the 8x42 as the 8x32 were just a bit shy on the eye relief and i found the contrast a bit flat when overcast. The 8x42 SE are quite a bit brighter and the depth of field is noticeably better. The better coatings on the newer model do help the contrast and the handling is better, they feel like 'proper' binoculars, i will definitely stick with 42's in future.
If you have £350 to spend you will not be dissapointed with these bins.
I'd say the free compacts are because a 7th generation will be announced soon but the current ones are fine indeed.
 
I purchased a pair last week.Very impressed.
Plan to spend a lot of time using them this weekend as I have not had much time during the week.
 
I sold my pair in the end. I din't find the many brighter at dusk or on dull days than my SRGAs 8x32s and Meopta 8x32s which is what I had hoped they would be.

Yesterday I received Opticron HR WP 8x42s. Tried them out for a couple of hours at the end of the day. Definitely brighter than the Meoptas and optically marvellous.
Although the fov is less than the BGA SEs it doesn't feel it. The eyerelief must be more suited to my eyes because the BGA SEs felt really tunnel like to me. The HR WPs a lot less so. Narrower fov but more comfortable to the eye, if you see what I mean.

I intend to post more about them in a new thread when I've had time to try them out a lot more, but for now I would say that if you want a bright, optically excellent, lightweight 8x bin these could well be what you're after. Especially if you are on a budget, but don't let the low price put you off if you have a lot more to spend. Optically I prefer these to the Meoptas which cost three times the price.
 
Martin Fagg said:
I sold my pair in the end. I din't find the many brighter at dusk or on dull days than my SRGAs 8x32s and Meopta 8x32s which is what I had hoped they would be.

Yesterday I received Opticron HR WP 8x42s. Tried them out for a couple of hours at the end of the day. Definitely brighter than the Meoptas and optically marvellous.
Although the fov is less than the BGA SEs it doesn't feel it. The eyerelief must be more suited to my eyes because the BGA SEs felt really tunnel like to me. The HR WPs a lot less so. Narrower fov but more comfortable to the eye, if you see what I mean.

I intend to post more about them in a new thread when I've had time to try them out a lot more, but for now I would say that if you want a bright, optically excellent, lightweight 8x bin these could well be what you're after. Especially if you are on a budget, but don't let the low price put you off if you have a lot more to spend. Optically I prefer these to the Meoptas which cost three times the price.
Click to expand...

I'm familiar with the HR WP 8x42, I owned a pair until the slow focus became too annoying...however the optics are incredible for the price. Would be interesting to see just how much you'd have to spend on a roof prism bin to match or better the optics on these!!!

Matt
 
Hi Matt,

indeed the focusser is the only issue that niggles after using them for a few hours. Looking at distance it's not a problem but if you have to move quickly from far to near, it doesn't half take a lot of frantic turning.
Also the habit of porros to start to show two images when close focussed seems particularly pronounced in the HR WPs. I need to start reducing the IPD looking at birds that are 30 feet away.
Did you find this? It almost feels like something is wrong with the bins. Would poor collimation show up in this way?

These are not the bins for chasing small birds through dense woodland but for marshes and mudflats they're a marvel for the price.
 
Martin Fagg said:
Hi Matt,

Also the habit of porros to start to show two images when close focussed seems particularly pronounced in the HR WPs. I need to start reducing the IPD looking at birds that are 30 feet away.
Did you find this? It almost feels like something is wrong with the bins. Would poor collimation show up in this way?

These are not the bins for chasing small birds through dense woodland but for marshes and mudflats they're a marvel for the price.
Click to expand...

When I had my HR WP's I tended to avoid focusing on near targets, if memory serves me right I had them for two months during winter so never tried watching butterflies etc with them. I do recall the effect you mention about the two barrels murging away from each other however because I have quite close set eyes and had to have them closed fully I could never compensate!!

They would be true winners if they had a diopter adjustment on the right occular with a rapid focus speed!!

Matt
 
Hi Martin

As far as i have experienced (and heard via others) image overlap in a porro design tends to be more prevalent generally than a roof design though i have seen some roofs where the image collapses earlier than perhaps expected
Many of the porro s i own require slight ipd adjustment at close focus lengths to achieve a better singular image composition although some of the models i use do not show any pronounced overlap until a fair bit less than 30 feet
Proper Optic techy folk may correct me but i believe the actual close focus capability may result in overlap starting earlier out (not sure what the close focus is on your Opticron HR WP
Also i think as long as the overlap is even and the two halves of the image show things at the same height and in line etc i doubt there will be a major collimation problem its just a "feature"
Ironically one of the binoculars i own that shows the least overlap effect right down to almost minimum focus is a late Zeiss Jenoptem 10 x 50
Considering this is many years old in both design and use and has large spaced objectives i can only assume i am fortunate in having picked up a nice sample
Or maybe the Jenoptem plant collimated things very well at the time of manufacture
(God forbid i ever drop them or that will be the end of the road i think!!)

Regards
RichT
 
Hi Rich and Matt,

I had a bit of time at lunchtime today to use them again. Having done so, I don't think there's anything wrong with them. It's just what porros do.
I remember my old bins many many years ago doing it. I think it's to do with the size of them. These are 8x42s, my SRGAs are 8x32 and don't do it quite as pronouncedly.

I guess it's the compromise you have to make to get the lovely 3D view. I do love porros for that and these are the only porros that are good for all weather, year round use. So I'll have to lump it! :0)
 
Martin Fagg said:
I sold my pair in the end. I din't find the many brighter at dusk or on dull days than my SRGAs 8x32s and Meopta 8x32s which is what I had hoped they would be.

Yesterday I received Opticron HR WP 8x42s. Tried them out for a couple of hours at the end of the day. Definitely brighter than the Meoptas and optically marvellous.
Although the fov is less than the BGA SEs it doesn't feel it. The eyerelief must be more suited to my eyes because the BGA SEs felt really tunnel like to me. The HR WPs a lot less so. Narrower fov but more comfortable to the eye, if you see what I mean.

I intend to post more about them in a new thread when I've had time to try them out a lot more, but for now I would say that if you want a bright, optically excellent, lightweight 8x bin these could well be what you're after. Especially if you are on a budget, but don't let the low price put you off if you have a lot more to spend. Optically I prefer these to the Meoptas which cost three times the price.
Click to expand...

I feel the same about mine they are 10x42 and are still like looking down a narrow tunnel... to be honest i feel a lot happier looking through my nikon sporter 1's
 
Since my earlier post i have now had these bins for 2 months and they really are superb optics. The image is so sharp right across the field only softening slightly at the very edge. The contrast and colour are both brilliant and the oasis coating does make a slight difference under poor light compared with previous generations.
I spent some time comparing them to an Ultravid non HD 8x42 in the field yesterday and except the better field of view on the Leica there really isn't that much in it. I was comparing in good light though.
IMO, the huge increase in price for the Leica cannot be justified compared with the BGA SE.
 
BGA SE is a nice optics (I've used it for a year), but having comapared it to alphas I stated that the difference is clearly noticable. The question if the price difference could be justified by optical quality incerase is just a matter of individual taste and... wallet capacity ;-)
 
I have had my 8x42's for about six months now and i don't regret buying them one bit.
Very well balanced in the hand and a bright, very sharp image with fantastic resolution.
I can't recommend them enough. Also very impressive is the lack of obvious colour fringing as these do not have ED glass. I'm surprised Opticron didn't price them higher.
I was looking at how much it would cost me to upgrade to a better binocular and the options were £700 for the Aurora or Minox HG or £1000 for Nikon HG. These are a bargain at £360.
 
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