Atomic Chicken
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Bausch & Lomb Discoverer 10x42 Roof Review
Greetings!
My pair of Bausch & Lomb Discoverer roof prism 10x42 binoculars arrived today, after a 1 week wait. The wait was well worth it.
I have never purchased a pair of binoculars before actually looking through them, but in this case I had no choice. After buying my 7x42 Discoverers locally, I searched every local retailer with no success to find a pair of the 10x42 equivalents. I finally decided to find them online, and in short order I was extremely frustrated and almost gave up... they are quite rare at this point, and when I was able to find them they were priced double what they should have been. Luckily, last week on Thurs. I found an online retailer with one pair left, for $279 with free shipping. I immediately ordered them.
I have been looking through these all day, and feel very good about giving this review.
First off, Bausch & Lomb has made things unnecessarily complicated by creating unnecessary naming overlap and confusion in their product line. They market both roof prism and porro prism binoculars of the same power and objective lens sizes with the same "Discoverer" name. To further complicate the issue, they released both phase coated and non-phase coated versions, and also rainguard and non-rainguard coated external optics versions. Nothing, other than the model number, can be used to differentiate the wide variety of Discoverer binoculars. This review is for the model I received, the Rainguard coated and phase coated roof prism model - Discoverer 10x42 (Model #61-0142).
Let me say first that I am NOT a big fan of 10x optics, although I own several binoculars of this magnification. I have always found 7x and 8x optics more comfortable to use, and find that my ability to resolve detail is almost identical between all 3 magnifications. The increased depth of field, field of view, and brightness of the lower power optics have all contributed to my admitted bias toward lower power binoculars. However, there are two areas where I feel that 10x optics are clearly superior: detail resolution in conditions of low light, and long distance viewing where the bird is already very small and every extra bit of magnification helps. When I go birding in areas where I expect to encounter a lot of high flying or distant birds, I usually grab a pair of 10x binoculars.
OK... on to my review of the 10x42 Discoverer phase coated rainguard roof prism binoculars.
These are the first binocular I have used that would make me consider using a 10x as a more "general purpose" binocular, as opposed to the special purpose instruments that I currently view 10x binoculars as being. The main reason for this is the magnificent field of view, 341 ft. at 1000 yds. This computes out to a startlingly wide 65 Degree apparent field of view, which is considered by any binocular authority to be in the "ultra-wide view" category. Viewing this in person, it is truly superb - what some reviewers have called a "picture window" view.
These binoculars are very sharp, and quite bright (especially in overcast and dusk conditions - both of which describe most of the day today!). They exhibit almost no chromatic aberration, I would say slightly better in this respect than my Nikon 8x32 HG's. The sharpness extends to about 20% of the edge, making 4/5 of the view razor sharp and the outer 20% slightly soft... but not terribly or obviously so. The depth of field is about equivalent to my other 10x glasses - that is to say fairly shallow. The focus control is almost identical to my Nikon HG in terms of smoothness and speed, and is also identical to my other B&L Discoverer - the 7x42 roof prism model. The eye relief is not as long as my 7x42 Discoverers, probably about half... but I don't wear glasses so that's not a big issue to me. I have read two different published specs for the eye relief on this model, 12mm and 17mm... I do not know which is correct, but I suspect it is closer to 12mm than 17mm based on my own testing. Close focus on my pair is approx. 5.5 feet, a bit better than the published 7 ft. spec. The diopter adjust seems to have slightly more "range" of adjustment than my 7x42 model, which is also nice.
One of the features I REALLY like about both the 7x42 and 10x42 Discoverer roof prism binoculars is that they both have threaded barrels, allowing you to buy UV filters, polarizing filters, etc. and screw them onto the end of the objective lenses. I am unaware of any other binoculars that allow this other than the B&L Elites... which are several times the cost of the Discoverer models.
Back to the 10x42. Color purity is excellent, and the view has the same "3-D" look to it as the 7x42 model. Ergonomically, the two binoculars are identical other than a difference in the eyecap relief - which is shorter on the 10x42. These binoculars are built like tanks, with thick rubber armor and durable, SOLID feel to them. These are not as lightweight as some 42mm binoculars, but they are not overly heavy and they feel very good to use. I'm sure these will outlast every other pair of binoculars I own, given the same level of abuse (i.e. none in my case! )
Overall, these are a magnificent bargain if you can find them under $300, and even at the $400-$500 price that some online vendors who still have stock still charge for them they are a great deal. I highly recommend these, as well as the easier to find and less expensive 7x42 version. Very highly recommended - find a pair while they are still available.
Best wishes,
Bawko
Greetings!
My pair of Bausch & Lomb Discoverer roof prism 10x42 binoculars arrived today, after a 1 week wait. The wait was well worth it.
I have never purchased a pair of binoculars before actually looking through them, but in this case I had no choice. After buying my 7x42 Discoverers locally, I searched every local retailer with no success to find a pair of the 10x42 equivalents. I finally decided to find them online, and in short order I was extremely frustrated and almost gave up... they are quite rare at this point, and when I was able to find them they were priced double what they should have been. Luckily, last week on Thurs. I found an online retailer with one pair left, for $279 with free shipping. I immediately ordered them.
I have been looking through these all day, and feel very good about giving this review.
First off, Bausch & Lomb has made things unnecessarily complicated by creating unnecessary naming overlap and confusion in their product line. They market both roof prism and porro prism binoculars of the same power and objective lens sizes with the same "Discoverer" name. To further complicate the issue, they released both phase coated and non-phase coated versions, and also rainguard and non-rainguard coated external optics versions. Nothing, other than the model number, can be used to differentiate the wide variety of Discoverer binoculars. This review is for the model I received, the Rainguard coated and phase coated roof prism model - Discoverer 10x42 (Model #61-0142).
Let me say first that I am NOT a big fan of 10x optics, although I own several binoculars of this magnification. I have always found 7x and 8x optics more comfortable to use, and find that my ability to resolve detail is almost identical between all 3 magnifications. The increased depth of field, field of view, and brightness of the lower power optics have all contributed to my admitted bias toward lower power binoculars. However, there are two areas where I feel that 10x optics are clearly superior: detail resolution in conditions of low light, and long distance viewing where the bird is already very small and every extra bit of magnification helps. When I go birding in areas where I expect to encounter a lot of high flying or distant birds, I usually grab a pair of 10x binoculars.
OK... on to my review of the 10x42 Discoverer phase coated rainguard roof prism binoculars.
These are the first binocular I have used that would make me consider using a 10x as a more "general purpose" binocular, as opposed to the special purpose instruments that I currently view 10x binoculars as being. The main reason for this is the magnificent field of view, 341 ft. at 1000 yds. This computes out to a startlingly wide 65 Degree apparent field of view, which is considered by any binocular authority to be in the "ultra-wide view" category. Viewing this in person, it is truly superb - what some reviewers have called a "picture window" view.
These binoculars are very sharp, and quite bright (especially in overcast and dusk conditions - both of which describe most of the day today!). They exhibit almost no chromatic aberration, I would say slightly better in this respect than my Nikon 8x32 HG's. The sharpness extends to about 20% of the edge, making 4/5 of the view razor sharp and the outer 20% slightly soft... but not terribly or obviously so. The depth of field is about equivalent to my other 10x glasses - that is to say fairly shallow. The focus control is almost identical to my Nikon HG in terms of smoothness and speed, and is also identical to my other B&L Discoverer - the 7x42 roof prism model. The eye relief is not as long as my 7x42 Discoverers, probably about half... but I don't wear glasses so that's not a big issue to me. I have read two different published specs for the eye relief on this model, 12mm and 17mm... I do not know which is correct, but I suspect it is closer to 12mm than 17mm based on my own testing. Close focus on my pair is approx. 5.5 feet, a bit better than the published 7 ft. spec. The diopter adjust seems to have slightly more "range" of adjustment than my 7x42 model, which is also nice.
One of the features I REALLY like about both the 7x42 and 10x42 Discoverer roof prism binoculars is that they both have threaded barrels, allowing you to buy UV filters, polarizing filters, etc. and screw them onto the end of the objective lenses. I am unaware of any other binoculars that allow this other than the B&L Elites... which are several times the cost of the Discoverer models.
Back to the 10x42. Color purity is excellent, and the view has the same "3-D" look to it as the 7x42 model. Ergonomically, the two binoculars are identical other than a difference in the eyecap relief - which is shorter on the 10x42. These binoculars are built like tanks, with thick rubber armor and durable, SOLID feel to them. These are not as lightweight as some 42mm binoculars, but they are not overly heavy and they feel very good to use. I'm sure these will outlast every other pair of binoculars I own, given the same level of abuse (i.e. none in my case! )
Overall, these are a magnificent bargain if you can find them under $300, and even at the $400-$500 price that some online vendors who still have stock still charge for them they are a great deal. I highly recommend these, as well as the easier to find and less expensive 7x42 version. Very highly recommended - find a pair while they are still available.
Best wishes,
Bawko