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Pentax 8x43 SP vs Vortex 8x42 Viper (1 Viewer)

sft

Member
Hi All,

Not really a birder but my dad needs a new pair of Bino's for general use and he will be travelling to the US next month and will bring back a pair and I have come to the conclusion that these are the 2 best models without going close to $1K or more Bino's. I keep reading that the SP's are excellent and the Vipers are new and also excellent and according to one blogger I read (who might not be completely unbiased as they seem to work for Vortex) the Vipers are brighter and have slighly more field of view and a flatter field curvature (luckily being a an amateur photographer (who uses a Pentax K10 by the way :) ) I know all about these technical terms such as CA, field curvature, etc). The Pentax I believe has the edge in sharpness, resolution and contrast however and I know that Pentax glass is good as I have excellent lenses for my camera.

My question is: is field curvature so important with a Bino wont you almost always center your subject with a bino (unlike taking a photograph) and is the difference notiecable and also just how much brighter are the Viper's if at all?

Generally which are considered superior optically? They both seem excellent and the SP's have a great reputation so its a tough choice. Any input appreciated.
 
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Thanks for the reply - the DCF SP has eye relief of 22mm and the Viper has 20mm - both seem very good - I hadnt read about this problem before but I think this shouldn't bee too much of an issue. Its preferabble to have a little more distance IMO (though of course if the eye cups are too short than some stray light may come in but I think by adjusting the eyecups a reasonable view should be fine) I am leaning towards the SP's right now over the Viper's but what I would really like opinions on is the optical quality between them besides what I was able to find out by some research. Thanks!
 
sft,

Also worth to take in consider is how much you can make use of the eye relief. The Pentax 8x43 DCF SP have (stated) 22mm eye relief, but I experience the Swarovski SLC 7x42 to have longer "useful" eye relief. The Swarovski 7x42 have stated 19mm, but the ocular lenses are not recessed as much as the Pentax 8x43. But as I use to say: "there is never too long eye relief but there are eyecups not possible to adjust to an optimal level". Personally I find the eyecups of the Pentax 8x43 DSC SP to be perfect, but this is individual.

Regards, Patric
 
sft,

Also worth to take in consider is how much you can make use of the eye relief. The Pentax 8x43 DCF SP have (stated) 22mm eye relief, but I experience the Swarovski SLC 7x42 to have longer "useful" eye relief. The Swarovski 7x42 have stated 19mm, but the ocular lenses are not recessed as much as the Pentax 8x43. But as I use to say: "there is never too long eye relief but there are eyecups not possible to adjust to an optimal level". Personally I find the eyecups of the Pentax 8x43 DSC SP to be perfect, but this is individual.

Regards, Patric

Good point Patric. Thanks for the info - I think it will be the 8x43 SP's then they should be a huge step up from the horrendous Bushnell Voyager 9-27x25 zoom's our neighbors dog decided to eat the other day - those things are really bad - 16mm eye relief but I have to press my face against the thing so I doubt the 16mm figure. CA is ridicolous and the things are just not sharp at all - in fact I dont even think they focus perfectly :) Really really bad binoculars so these SP's should be a whole new class. The Field of view was only 199 ft with the voyagers at 9x so the 330ft should be much better - field of view isnt terribly important for our aplications anways as long as its decent anyways (>300ft)

Also with 8x there should be no problems with hand-holding right?
 
sft,

I think 8x is a very good allround magnification. You will still have a stable image and you have better brightness (and mostoften field of view) than 10x.

In comparison to your "dogmeat" Bushnell 9-27x25 it will be just "out of comparison"... I have seen such zoom binos; the sharpness and contrast are so bad at the highest power that it's highly doubtful you will gain anything in resolution compared to the lowest power! And at the lower powers the apparant field of view is like looking through a pipe..

But if you have the possiblity to try the Vortex 8x42 Viper it can be worth to do it. Try the one which feels best for you: image quality, field of view, comfortable to hold...

Regards, Patric
 
Thanks again Patric, I am also curios about the 10x43 model as-well. I wonder just how much more magnification 10x is vs 8x. We were just a restaurant on a mountaintop and there they had some cheap (dont know the brand) 20x50 binoculars they bring for the guests to look at and 20x was OK to handhold - not great a little shaky of course but not as bad as I thought it would be so Im thinking 10x should not really be a problem just like 8x.

That said the 10x's have a 4.3mm exit pupil vs 5.4mm for the 8x and other factors change of course when you change the magnification. I do wonder what would be a better all around use bino? Cant really try name brand models where I currently am in a pretty remote part of Turkey though I may be able to find something but I'll have to ask around.
 
sft,

10x means that you will have 25% larger image scale, not a tremendous difference, but noticable.
If you consider the 10x version instead be careful to check that the eye relief is adequate for you, if wearing eyeglasses it's an important factor. If the eye relief is not adequate and you want 10x power the 10x50 model may be the alternative.

Regards, Patric
 
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Thanks again. None of us wear glasses but observing how my dad looks through the binos I see he likes to keep a little distance so more eye relief is always good. I read somewhere I think binoculars.org - Lauras reviews or something like that that the 50mm optics werent as good as the 43mm's according to her which I found a little curios. Is this an unjust statement or are the 43mm's better optics?

I still think the 8x43's should be good but after trying that 20x I'm thinking a little more magnification at 10x wont be bad either so long as the general optical quality doesnt suffer though naturally packing more magnification into the same sized aperture will cause a little loss in light of course and of course handholding doesnt induce more shake which would render the increased 25% magnification pointless. Tough choice really :) Too bad no good stores close by to test some out really.

EDIT: I was suggested to read this site in a photography forum I contribute in http://www.betterviewdesired.com/Bird-Worthy-Binoculars.php
Quite a good read for anyone curios after reading this Im back to leaning towards the 8x43 as it seems 10x mag wont give me more details really (especially if I shake a little more after longer use). Its interesting about the long eye relief though they say very long isnt always good though the 16mm on my bushnells seems OK but not long enough so 22mm should be better I think :)
 
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If your dad will be in New York, Adorama has some great prices on Pentax products.

Having said that, does anybody know why Adorama's prices on Pentax products are so great? Is there something I'm missing?
 
Hi,

No he will be going straight to Cali. Having said that I have ordered lots of camera stuff from Adorama before - they are a reputable store and an actual brick and mortar store in Manhattan. So I dont worry about the products as long as they are not gray market and if they are Adorama states so these come with full US warranty.

Thanks anyways for all the advice I was given by you guys - I think the SP 8x43 is the best all around compromise and I think 8x will probably be a littler better for viewing and following sports than a 10x which is something I could use it for while my dad will use it for general stuff like landscapes, boats, yacths, wildlife and other general use. So it seems the 8x43 SP's it will be!
 
Abosultely - though it wont be for another month and a half or so by the time my dad goes to the US and comes back - but we will hopefully be going on a trip through the Southearn Meditarranean part of Turkey so it should provide very useful - he's also bringing me a back a couple of Pentax Limited lenses for my camera too :)

Still not 100% decided on the 8x vs the 10x model but its definetely going to be one of the two with the 8x being the favored model right now - though the thing is there are quite some large expanses and vistas around here but then again the 8x vs 10x difference is not that much really only 25% but the shaking is likely to increaese by more than 25% probably when going up to the 10x - especially for him I think, wouldnt want to buy a $500 bino and then get shake all over and thus not be able to enjoy it as much and since we cant play around before we buy seems 8x is a safe bet :) I'll post here once we order and then I'll post the impressions when I can play around with it.

PS. By the way Ive been to Sweden twice, Lovely country.
I have friends who live in Malmo and Ive been around southern Sweden with them as well as to Copenhagen.

Regards.
 
Hey Patric,

I would love to visit your country again and go on a photography tour of it actually. Hopefully one day.

Anyways just to let you know - I ordered the 10x43 SP's for my dad. We tried a friends 10x50 porros and we were both very comfortable with the magnification and shake (or lack of it) compared to our really bad Bushnell zooms at 9x so we are confident these SP's will also be ergonomically sound too. The FOV difference is not very important for our needs as non-biders but even still the difference is quite small at 330 vs 315 ft anyways. Thanks again for all your input and in the end I'm glad we went with Pentax me being an avid Pentax shooter with my dSLR. My first choice was still the 8x's but since they are for him and he wanted the extra 25% magnification - he decides of course :) Thanks again.

Cheers.

PS. I'll come back and post my impressions in a little over a month when he comes back from the US with them.
 
I have the Pentx 10x43s, and I think they are superb bins for the money. I compared them to a pair of Leica 10x40 (or 42s) Trinovids, and in terms of sharpness, I couldnt notice a huge difference. The Leicas felt a bit more "comfy" to use, though. However, given the price difference, I aint complaining. I have a detailed comparison on the main bino section, if you want to search for it.

Vandit
 
Follow Up

Hi All,

This is just a follow up message as my dad arrived from the US several days ago with the DCF SP 10x43's. Now I had never used high-end binos (barely even used mid-tier brand name binos) so when I put these to my eye I was quite shocked by the incredible sharpness and huge view. Very very nice. This thing is also solid - very solid. The build seems superb - the eye cups, focusing ring, locking diopter adjustment, etc. all top-class. Very nice indeed. The optics are also superb - great clarity and sharpness, excellent contrast and a very nice big view. The focusing is also very smooth and the transition from in-focus to out-of-focus is very smooth and even the rendering of the out of focus areas for example is smooth (in photography it is referred to as bokeh). Very very nice binos for sure. If I had to nitpick I would say that under very high contrast scenes there can be some CA/Fringing but it is a quite small amount and does not detract from the viewing experience. Easily within acceptable levels and under most conditions is not even observable. Also it is more toward the edges when in the rare instance it does show up and when I reposition the object to the center of the frame the CA is gone so it really is not a problem at all. Overall these things are a superb buy and I find 10X is quite handholdable and even my parents are comfortable with them - also the eye relief is excellent. Very happy to have purchased these and my dad sure is enjoying them! I am really impressed with both the superb build and ergonomics and the excellent optics!

Just wanted to post as a follow-up and thanks to all the nice people here who gave me info & advice.

Cheers.
 
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