Pentax DCF SP vs Bushnell Legends (1 Viewer)

Hello Everyone,

How do these binoculars compare to each other? Do the Pentax have better contrast and depth of field?

Thanks,

Hogjaws

Hogjaws said:

Hello Everyone,

How do these binoculars compare to each other? Do the Pentax have better contrast and depth of field?

Thanks,

Hogjaws

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Sometime at the end of September i had a chance to look through both of those (in 10x42/10x43) for about 10 minutes. There were some gulls on a lake, and the Pentax was far better: color, sharpness, and contrast were more, whereas, color fringes were less. The Bushnell was not really bad, but the Pentax had a clear edge. Depth of field and focusing speed seemed equal, but i don't remeber exactly and i did not pay much attention.

Here is somebody else's experience with the Legends:

"I bought a pair of 8x42 Monarchs from Eagle Optics and was very pleased with my choice. A month later I wanted to buy a different pair for my wife. I ordered a pair of Legends from Eagle Optics but they were not anywhwere close to the Monarchs in clarity. After a couple of weeks I returned the Legends and ordered another pair of Monarchs. My wife is very pleased with them."

The Pentax SP 8x43 is above the Monarchs. So, do the math...

My brother owns a 8X Legend and I have had some opportunity to use it. While nice and certainly worth the $300 you will pay for them, the Legends are simply not in the same class as the Pentax SP.
I know a lot of people who own the Nikon Monarch (both in 8X and 10X) and I would also agree with Otto, they too are better than the Legend. (So, since they cost about the same as the Legends, maybe the Bushnell really isn't worth the $300...

[/QUOTE]While nice and certainly worth the $300 you will pay for them, the Legends are simply not in the same class as the Pentax SP.

My feelings exactly. I believe I posted on your thread over on Opticstalk but would also comment here. There definitely is a quality of image difference between the SPs and the Legends. Only you, as a consumer, can decide if the increase in quality is worth the difference in price. Since you are looking though, and since someone else mentioned it, you might as well compare the Monarchs to the SPs as well.

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Yes FrankD, you did. And in both cases I agree with your assessment. I know, for example, that my brother with the 8X legend would not find any value in the differences in the optical quality. In fact, I doubt he could even see them. I have a brother-in-law whose binocular is an 8X32 Bushnell Trophy that I sold him cheap a few years ago. He would be in the same boat. In fact, he has even commented to me that he can't see any difference between the image he gets from his binocular and the one he sees through my Pentax. I on the other hand, readily see the difference and would always be willing to spend the extra cash for it.

It really is all dependent on what we value as consumers.