Pentax 10x50 DCF SP (1 Viewer)

I recently bought the PENTAX 10x50 DCF SP and though a personal review might be useful to others. I was originally looking for a good performance 8x40, but for many reasons drifted towards the 10x50. Overall my impression of usage and performance is good to very good. More specifically the 50mm lens give a bright image with no significant chromatic aberration. The image starts to go out of focus at about the 70% point of the overall view. The close focus is at about 8ft , much closer than the spec says of 11ft. The focussing wheel takes 1.5 turns from end to end. For a more practical range of say 20ft to infinity it takes about 0.5 of a turn. The weight of 850g is at the upper limit for me, I think this may be a little high for a slightly built woman. The eye relief is an outstanding 22mm, couple this with twist up cups an essential for a glasses person like myself. The FOV is below average for this type of bino, I could only find a better spec in the top end makes, with a hefty price and in most case’s weight increase. The nearest equivalent I could find was the MINOX 10x52 BD ALT, with the PENTAX only being slightly heavier but considerably cheaper. The SP range was put on the market in 2003 and I am surprised that it does not get much of a mention, if the rest of the range is as good as this one, then it is very underrated.

The close focus is at about 8ft , much closer than the spec says of 11ft.

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Pretty good. Are these porros?(OK, they are not) If so, even better. I have a hard time finding 10x porros I like. Waterproof, etc. Essentially same as 8x40 but at 10x and good close focus, as in yours.

There is now a thread asking about the ED version of these bino's. These are my best guesses. The spec looks identical except for the weight which goes up due to the heavier glass. The ED glass should lower the CA, but there is a huge price differential. I have not changed my opinion of my pair and use them mainly for "hide" work where I can support my elbows and the FOV is not an issue. The 5deg FOV does make it difficult to locate items, but as I said from a hide looking at water foul etc, this is not a problem and the extra mag and light gathering are a bonus.

Peter,

Your opinion about the 10x50 correspond well to my opinion of my 8x43.
The 10x50 was in my mind, but I chosed the 8x43 because I think it's a better configuration for allround use. A fairly guess to why the 8x43 and 10x50 models have not been very mentioned is that the 50deg AFOV by many is considered too narrow. A wider field would be an advantage, but I don't experience the 50deg as real narrow.
As with the 10x50 the close focus of the 8x43 is closer than the stated; it's closer to 1,5 meters than the stated 2m.

For the most users I don't think ED-glass is a real gain when the power is 10x or below. I have not seen any chromatic abberation with the 8x43 at any circumstances. Therefore I doubt it may be worth to get the much more expensive ED version, especially when the FOV is identical.


Regard, Patric