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Questions related to GPO (1 Viewer)

GPOSurujh

Optics professional happy to help when needed
Hello everyone,

Wanted to re-introduce myself as I am now associated with GPO after having spent more than 11 years with Meopta. If anyone has questions related to GPO binoculars I would be happy to assist.

GPOSurujh
 
Hi Surujh

It is a pleasure to welcome you to Bird Forum.

Do you plan to add an HD 8x32 to the GPO range?

Lee
 
The GPO binocular lineup currently;

HD (Premium): 8x42, 10x42, 8.5x50, 10x50, 12.5x50
ED (Mid-Level): 8x32, 10x32, 8x42, 10x42 ... All ED models are available in Black, Brown, Sand or Green

8x56 and 10x56 models (without ED lenses) will be available in 1-2 months.

At the moment a 32mm HD model is not in the works. If demand rises, we will address it.
 
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Surujh

I was going to ask you whether GPO defines the eye relief as from the surface of the top eyepiece lens to the exit pupil or some other method but I see this is clearly defined on the GPO website as from the last lens. It would be nice if all brands made this clear.

Lee
 
I have a question: Are the eyecups going to be made longer? I bought a pair of the 8x32s but reluctantly returned them because of the short eyecups. Several other reviewers have noticed this as well. This has been a problem with Zeiss Conquests but they at least have longer eyecups available.
 
Hi Surujh,

Thanks for stopping by to talk with us. I just wanted to echo Upland's call for eyecups with more extension in binoculars. With how few binoculars there are on the market that have adequate extension, I believe binocular companies are not aware there is a problem. Not enough extension leads to the eyes being too close to the ocular surface, meaning blackouts occur. It seems most users without glasses are currently getting by with resting the top of the eyecup above the eye and then tilting the bottom away until the blackouts are eliminated. I have seen this both from comments here and from watching other non-eyeglass wearers in my bird group. Binoculars are useable this way, but it is not ideal.

The ideal would be the ability to the entire eyecup against the face, blocking more ambient light from entering the eye and providing a more stable image. Very few binoculars are able to achieve this--all of the swarovision series (one of which I own largely for this reason), and from what I've read, the kenko/sightron/fujinon/pentax 8x32 and canon 10x42 IS.

I would love to see a line of binoculars with both long eye relief for eyeglass wearers, and long eye cup extension for non-eyeglass wearers. Adequate eyecup extension would probably be about two "notches" above what is currently offered by most binoculars. As Upland suggested, if this is a tough or expensive design, perhaps consider providing two sets of eyecups for every binocular like the zeiss conquest hd series. It just seems like such an easy thing to do compared to optical design, it irks me that this is such a problem.

Thanks for reading Surujh!


-Jack
 
Thanks for the feedback Upland and Jack Speer. Obviously when we come with products to market we try to make them as universally acceptable as possible. Personally I have not heard many comments about the eyecups on our PASSION ED series being too short, but now that I know I will pay attention to any additional feedback that comes.
 
Swarovski has eye cups with one stop to address the problem of eye relief for people who wear glasses and people who do not. Most other manufacturers have eye cups with multiple stops to solve this problem.

I am not sure why Zeiss could not have addressed the problems with the lengths of the eye cups on their Conquests in either of these ways.

Bob
 
All GPO binoculars have multi-position eyecups (minimum one stop). But the overall length is always sensitive depending on each user.
 
All GPO binoculars have multi-position eyecups (minimum one stop). But the overall length is always sensitive depending on each user.

Hi. It seems to me the issue is nothing to do with the length of the eye cup. What is at issue is whether or not the maximum as well as the minimum, collapsed distance or extension of the eye cup actually matches the specified eye relief. Secondly there seems to be some issue as to how accurate the specified distances actually match the stated eye relief. Certainly there are some personal issues unique to a particular observer, as we are not all built the same, or have the same eye sight abilities. Additionally no one particular binocular design will ever work for everybody.

All too often the problems with a particular binocular are due to an outlying set of ergonomic circumstances particular to a certain observer, and the binocular gets the finger pointed in its direction. Further if the eye relief specifications actually matched the eye cup extensions, a lot of the ergonomic nits might be avoided. The latter it seems to me is all too common. However the GPO Passion HD and the Passion ED models I had did seem to be a much closer match between stated eye relief specifications and the eye cup extensions than is the case with some other manufacturers. Looks like sometimes somebody just throws some numbers into all the columns. I will say the construction of the GPO eye cup assemblies seem to me to be second in function and apparent robustness to nothing made regardless of brand or cost.
 
Steve is correct: the problem is whether the eye cup delivers the eye to the exit pupil at the two positions. GPO eyecups are indeed second to none when it comes to their construction, feel and appearance.

If I could have a wish, it would be that all eyecups would have two positions for spectacle wearers and two for those who don't wear spectacles. Having a 'stop' position in the middle seems a useless waste.

Lee
 
That sounds like a great idea Lee, for all binoculars, yes! More is always better, and 4 would probably be about right. Good call!
 
I agree the GPO eyecups are great but having to pull the whole bino down my nose made me feel they were too short. I like to be able to put binos right up to my face and not have to spend time fooling around with the distance they are from my eyes. They also leak in light when you have to pull them down and I tried eyecup shields with them but that ruined the feel for me. It’s a shame because they really were very nice in all other respects. Ive read several reviews that have stated the same thing about the GPOs so hope they’ll take steps to correct this on new models as I would like to own a pair.
 
Just curious if anyone who attended Birdfair had a chance to try out the GPO binoculars which were on display via infocus? Any thoughts, positive or negative, please post.
 
Hi Surujh,

I got InFocus to dig out the HD and ED 8x and 10x42s to look at. I preferred the HD 10x over the 8x, but perhaps it was the bigger beasts I should have been looking at? I'm pretty sure I was told they were listed around the £1000 mark for the UK. Is that right? I actually found the EDs slightly more relaxing to use. Unfortunately both samples had focus slop which was disappointing.

David
 
Hi Surujh,

I got InFocus to dig out the HD and ED 8x and 10x42s to look at. I preferred the HD 10x over the 8x, but perhaps it was the bigger beasts I should have been looking at? I'm pretty sure I was told they were listed around the £1000 mark for the UK. Is that right? I actually found the EDs slightly more relaxing to use. Unfortunately both samples had focus slop which was disappointing.

David
Hello David,

I noticed that the list prices for GPO at Birdfair were copies of the EUR pricing, so I believe InFocus did not have a chance to adjust them for the UK market prior to the fair. When just copied from Euro pricing they are higher than the products they are intended to compete against. For example PASSION HD should come in under the Conquest HD and B1 HD in the UK, as they already do in the rest of Europe.
Regarding what I believe you to be referring to as "free play" in the PASSION ED binoculars, InFocus have had their demo versions for T&E for several months and I am not sure why they did not mention that issue to me. Did you also have issues with the focusing on the HD models?
 
Hi Surujh,

They were bringing boxes from their shop round the back, so I think these were fresh samples. The HDs were fine, but there was a similar amount of free play on both ED samples I tried.

The pound is having a pretty miserable time these days, but you are suggest the HDs x42s should be less than £900 and the EDs below £400?
 
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I have been wondering about GPO as very few posts about them lately.

The Passion HD is the higher end model, and then the Passion ED. I am wondering about
where these are made. I suppose the HD is made in Japan and the ED model in China.

They mention that the ED is made in same factories as other German brands, that must be Zeiss.
And that is their comparison to the Zeiss Terra.

Free play is not a good thing at all to me, as it is easily handled by many mfrs. at much lower price levels.

I do hope you can report back about the Passion HD models.

Herry
 
Sorry for not getting back sooner, but to confirm; PASSION ED binoculars are manufactured in China while PASSION HD binoculars are manufactured in Japan. All industrial and mechanical designs were done in Germany beforehand and then each product is 100% inspected in Germany prior to being packaged and delivered to customers
 
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