Kowa BD-II 8x42 Reviews? (1 Viewer)

Hello everyone, in light of all the excitement surrounding the release of the new Kowa BD-II series I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to look thru or handle the 8x42 model? I'm looking to find a replacement for a pair of Zen Ray ED3's and was curious if any forum members had real world experience with the 8x42. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

I just got one, but I have not had a chance to properly field test it yet.

The initial impression is positive: excellent mechanics, a very nice finish and build quality (with clickstops on the eyecups that work very well).
The optics also make a good first impression; the field of view isn’t very wide like on the 6.5x32 model, but with 8.2 degrees = 143m is quite satisfactory, CA correction is good, the image appears as bright, central sharpness is good, off-axis sharpness is very satisfactory (actually better in my view than in the 6.5x32 model).

Eye relief is 17mm according to the specs; what I call „useful eye relief“ (measured from the rim of the eyecup) is still 15mm, so probably will work if you are wearing glasses while observing.

I plan to test it sometime against a number of similarly priced 8x42, but happy to answer specific questions, if any.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Canip