Brief review of Fujinon HC (Hyper clarity) 8x42 (2 Viewers)

[jackjack]

Let's start with build quality
It have lots of metallic parts. bit look like future robocop binocular

It have really small size for 42mm

size comparison of binos. all except zeiss conquest is 42mm.

as many knows, KOWA BD and Nikon Monarch HG is well known for it's compactness.
but Fujinon HC is significantly better in terms of compactness.
it is not light bino (788g stated)
but because of it's short size, it have good weight balance

plus, you can see it have rather small focus wheel for it's size

eyecup differ.

as you see in photo below, Fujinon HC has very big eyecup.

conpared to Kowa bd2. which also known for big & thick eyecups.

HC have one of the most biggest and thickest eyecups I saw.
like Kowa bd2 and Genesis, it can be disturbing to western average eye sockets.
afterall, Fujinon is Asian brand. (but it's eyecup is even big for some asian including me.)

It have very nice build quality, but bit awkward ergonomics

first, It have metal scale on the hinge like some porro prism.
it seems good because user can check where his inter pupilary distanse is.
but, If you fold the hinge to match the pupil distance, the scale sticks out poking the finger.
giving unconfortabe grip.
especially when you hold it with one hand.

(It have bit fluid hinge tension. may be unpurpose. because it have scale for detailed adjustments. don't know it will loosen after long term use.)

and also, if you hold HC, usually your finger didn't go straight for the knurling on focus knob.

if you put your hand upward to make use of knurling,

your hand can be bothered by strap ring


It's focus is smooth and very light.
(feel like it have very little tension on the focus wheel compared to Zeiss SFL, Nikon EDG, Kowa Genesis.)

but it take 3and bit more rotation total.
most of the 8 power bino have 1.5 ~ 2 turns. I found my finger much busier while I bird with HC

it's eye relief is stated 18mm. but I think it has bit less real eyerelif other 18mm binos.

to summerize,

Fujinon HC has very good build quality.

very rugged build with unique design.
but as I said, it feel bit awkward when I use it.
like, they did very good job making great build quality, but didn't test their bino in real use.

 

[jackjack]

Brightness & Center sharpness.

doesn't stand out well on mid - high range

bit less then MHG 8x42, significantly less then Conquset 8x42

(have compared with 8x42 conquest too)

In korea, HC is sold around 800$. MHG is sold around 950$, Conquest is sold around 1200$.
I think sharpness and brightness goes similar with that price gap

Edge sharpness

comparison with MHG 8x42. which have about 82% sweetspot.

HC is about 80%, but it have much harder blurriness at the edge. as you can see from the photo

HC / MHG

it will make many users feel the edge sharpness worse compared to other bino which have smilar percentage of fallouts with HC 8x42
Color fidelity.

fujinon HC 8x42


nikon edg 8x42


zeiss conquest 8x32


as you see Fujinon HC 8x42 have just a bit larger fov then EDG (7.7 stated)
and you can see HC's color more transparent then other two.

edg has slight yellow tone with little orange mixed.
conquest has greenish yellow tone bit more distinctive the color cast on EDG.

HC has bit red tone but really hard to acknowledge.

HC 'Hyper Clarity' really stands out on 8x42 HC.
it's color fidelity is among the top. the only bino I saw to have color fidelity similar or more then HC was Zeiss SFL 8x40.

Fidelity doesn't mean it have better color, but in terms of fidelity only, Fujinon HC does a great job.

Amout of Pincusion distortion.

very low. not as low as Swarovski EL, but still


Stray light control & Ghosting.

not that good but acceptable. especially considering how short the HC is.

 

[jackjack]

Chromatic abberation (CA) control.

I post it separately because I have lot to say it.

Fujinon HC are known to have ED and lanthanum lens to reduce Chromatic abberation.

is it successful?

maybe yes and maybe no.

this it a center CA photo of
HC / MHG.

In the photo, MHG has more purple fringing


but if you fo right below the center, thing began to change.

at the edge, HC have much significant CA then MHG
and you can see they have diffrent color spectrum.

HC mainly blue - red, MHG green - purple.


HC have good CA control. better then MHG even better then EDG.

BUT. ONLY on about 20 ~ 30 percentage of whole FOV.


below is the digiscoped photo of HC 8x42

heron and egret is at the center of the FOV (about 50 percent of diameter

x3 zoom using my phone. you can see blue CA on the left of the heron and only on the right side of the egret.


If I place egret at the righ middle of the FOV and take x3 zoom photo, CA almost disappears.

top two photo are both taken at the center where the focus is at the best fitted.
but CA differ highly with just a bit diffrence.

same with the flower too.


so, IF someone ask me whether Fujinon HC have great CA control in it's price point as it is said in some reviews,

My answer is NO.

many say human eye can identify about 50 degree AFOV at once.
Fujinon HC's CA starts about 20 percentage of it's FOV.
it's around 15 ~ 20 degree.

so, at least 30% of the part that HC starts to show blue CA can be seen easily.

and thats why I think HC cannot be advertised as CA free bino.

 

[jackjack]

Conclusion.

Fujinon HC 8x42 is not an ordinary bino.

no doubt of it's fabulous color fidelity and build quality, but there are some parts that HC didn't keep it up at is price point.

It is not a bad binocular. I also enjoyed it (partly)
but I think it didn't match Fujinon's name on porro prism.


*I tested 10x42 too

don't want to mention much about it

if HC 8x42 is OK bino for it's price, 10x42 is NOT in my opinion

much difficult for glass wearers, much weaker at stray light, more red coloring (inferior color fidelity) smaller CA sweet spot... etc...

even get shocked at the quality diffrence.


I have think of buying 8x42 HC for it's build quality and color fidelity
but never look back on 10x42 HC

please think HC only come out in 8x42. sincerely.

 

[Hermann]

Excellent review.

I reckon I can safely cross of the Fujinon off the list of binoculars I'd like to check out.

Hermann

 

[PatR]

Excellent review.

I reckon I can safely cross of the Fujinon off the list of binoculars I'd like to check out.

Hermann

I must admit that in a fit of GAS last week I dipped my toes into the Fujinon World and bought the 16x70 FMTR-SX bino's. Sadly it was a very brief dip as I have never experienced such a high level of Chromatic Abberation on a pair of bino's.

It was painful to see green and purple on every straight surface. It was such a disappointment as they are superbly made, very sharp and lovely to use but wow, unbelievable CA. I expected so much better as I have been a FujiFilm user for many years and appreciate the superb IQ and build quality of their cameras and lenses. I thought that the bino's would be the same.........

They have been returned and I too have struck Fujinon of the list for any future purchases.

 

[jackjack]

I must admit that in a fit of GAS last week I dipped my toes into the Fujinon World and bought the 16x70 FMTR-SX bino's. Sadly it was a very brief dip as I have never experienced such a high level of Chromatic Abberation on a pair of bino's.

It was painful to see green and purple on every straight surface. It was such a disappointment as they are superbly made, very sharp and lovely to use but wow, unbelievable CA. I expected so much better as I have been a FujiFilm user for many years and appreciate the superb IQ and build quality of their cameras and lenses. I thought that the bino's would be the same.........

They have been returned and I too have struck Fujinon of the list for any future purchases.

16x70 fmtr can have excuse pf It's CA
because it have very high transmission and magnification.
I think they made HC too short to compete successfully at the market

 

[jackjack]

Excellent review.

I reckon I can safely cross of the Fujinon off the list of binoculars I'd like to check out.

Hermann

8x42 can be pleasent because of it's nice color fidelity.
it's color contrast doesn't shine like top bins but it's fidelity is certainly unique for it's price point

 

[Binocollector]

The Fuji HC is definitely better than the FMTR as everyone will notice who compares them side by side. It's sharper in the center and brighter in daylight than the 7x50 FMTR. Also - in Europe you can often find it for 200 or even 300 € less than the list price and for that price it's unbeatable. I have quite a few binos in that price range.
Also - CA is rather low. The sweet spot is definitely larger than stated in the review. And zooming in 3x times on an image will not show CA as your eyes see it.
So, yes, everyone should check the HC out as it's far better than the review makes it out to be.
I also compared the focus speed. Yes, there are faster binos but the main reason why it takes a few more turns is the insane close focus on the HC. A bit further out (where most of the birding happens) the focus is just as fast as on most other binos I compared it to.
I also never had any issues with the ergonomic aspects of the bino. The strap attachment never even comes close to my hand in use but I have large hands. And the eye cups are amongst the most comfy I ever used, except for the fact that they can get cold because of the slim rubber and large metal part on the eye cup.

 

[Binocollector]

@Hermann
Should you ever come near Bamberg, drop me a PM and you can have a look through it without buying one .

 

[jackjack]

The Fuji HC is definitely better than the FMTR as everyone will notice who compares them side by side. It's sharper in the center and brighter in daylight than the 7x50 FMTR. Also - in Europe you can often find it for 200 or even 300 € less than the list price and for that price it's unbeatable. I have quite a few binos in that price range.
Also - CA is rather low. The sweet spot is definitely larger than stated in the review. And zooming in 3x times on an image will not show CA as your eyes see it.
So, yes, everyone should check the HC out as it's far better than the review makes it out to be.
I also compared the focus speed. Yes, there are faster binos but the main reason why it takes a few more turns is the insane close focus on the HC. A bit further out (where most of the birding happens) the focus is just as fast as on most other binos I compared it to.
I also never had any issues with the ergonomic aspects of the bino. The strap attachment never even comes close to my hand in use but I have large hands. And the eye cups are amongst the most comfy I ever used, except for the fact that they can get cold because of the slim rubber and large metal part on the eye cup.

I have time to compare FMTR 7x50 and HC 8x42 at Fujinon launch party and at the flagship store. Color Fidelity is indeed lot better in HC then FMTR.
and also color contrast it better too.
fmtr has greenish casting.
there can be coating improvements in HC.
but, FMTR is brighter and sharper.

at the launch party, I ask fujinon japan official engineers about light transmission graph. to see what color they empisize and how much transmission they got.
they didn't give me an answer. saying it is secret
if HC has better transmission then their same price steady seller porro, they will gladly post the result.

and. about a zoom,
think of the real view, with object appeares much bigger then photo.
in every usages, I can see CA. bright blue and red spectrum.

look carefully at the every HC 8x42 photo I post.
you will not have too look carefully to find on.
(also see the photo you post on tread talking about Opticron aurora, Meopta meostar and more)

but like I said. in 20~25 % at center, HC deliver very nice CA control. but only for that range.

so, I don't say it is completely unsuccessful of correcting CA.

CA is indeed exaggerated in cameras. but camera didn't make CA that is not existing.
depends on how sensitive the user is.


1.5m close focus is indeed short, but not in term of insane. average 8x 32 ~ 42 has 1.8~2.3m close focus
which is not that much difference.

but HC's focusing is about 1 turn more then average. that is more insane.

If HC has 50cm Close focus. I can say it's slow because it's close focus.
but it is not.

I don't think fast focus is good focus, many people think 10 power conquest focusing too finicky because they have too fast focusing and shallow dept of field.

BUT. in terms of birding, focus speed matters more then focus precise.

gone birding several time with HC 8x42 and 10x42 both because I have to give feedback to Fujiflim Korea.
the focus, ergonomics, CA at this review is the key negative. feedback that I gave to fujinon managers and sellers.

size, color fidelity, price (cheaper then other MIG bin in korea) ar main positive feed back I gave.

and they completely agree with it.

HC '8x42' is pretty nice bino at 700$ range. if one could find it under 600$ it will be really tempting.

after all, it is overall superior then 500$ price rate....

 

[Patudo]

in a fit of GAS last week I dipped my toes into the Fujinon World and bought the 16x70 FMTR-SX bino's. Sadly it was a very brief dip as I have never experienced such a high level of Chromatic Abberation on a pair of bino's.

It was painful to see green and purple on every straight surface. It was such a disappointment as they are superbly made, very sharp and lovely to use but wow, unbelievable CA. I expected so much better as I have been a FujiFilm user for many years and appreciate the superb IQ and build quality of their cameras and lenses. I thought that the bino's would be the same.........

Interesting report, thanks. I agree with jackjack that as you go higher in magnification it seems harder to arrive at the clean, well corrected image we all seek. This can be seen even going from 10x to 12x, and I well remember looking through a Celestron Skymaster (20x80?) or one of its derivatives, apparently popular for astronomy (granted, quite a cheapie, and the Fujinon ought to be on a different planet - excuse the pun), and thinking it was terrible - low transmission, poor contrast, colours looked washed out etc. It really underlined that the higher you go in magnification the better the quality you need to get a decent image. I was impressed with willspd's APM binocular telescope but even with this unit, going up in magnification (via changeable eyepieces) you could see image quality fall off.

I get the feeling chromatic aberration (less of an issue at night?) and maybe absolute brightness (which can be made up by greater magnification) matter less to the astro crowd, which I think the Fujinon 16x70 is intended for; while the little stargazing I've done myself certainly makes me realize why a flat field/edge performance is valued. But maybe the people who really do astro can chip in.

 

[PatR]

Interesting report, thanks. I agree with jackjack that as you go higher in magnification it seems harder to arrive at the clean, well corrected image we all seek. This can be seen even going from 10x to 12x, and I well remember looking through a Celestron Skymaster (20x80?) or one of its derivatives, apparently popular for astronomy (granted, quite a cheapie, and the Fujinon ought to be on a different planet - excuse the pun), and thinking it was terrible - low transmission, poor contrast, colours looked washed out etc. It really underlined that the higher you go in magnification the better the quality you need to get a decent image. I was impressed with willspd's APM binocular telescope but even with this unit, going up in magnification (via changeable eyepieces) you could see image quality fall off.

I get the feeling chromatic aberration (less of an issue at night?) and maybe absolute brightness (which can be made up by greater magnification) matter less to the astro crowd, which I think the Fujinon 16x70 is intended for; while the little stargazing I've done myself certainly makes me realize why a flat field/edge performance is valued. But maybe the people who really do astro can chip in.

Thank you, yes CA showed up on the edge of the moon as I tested it during a break in the weather and through some fast moving clouds which allowed a decent view. I suppose that I could have lived with that to a degree but during the day, on horizontal and vertical ship infrastructures and buildings, the purple and green CA was so apparent that it took away all the enjoyment of what I thought would be a real game changer.

In general landscape viewing grassed hillcrests, as they merged with the sky, looked as if someone had drawn a glowing green border between them. But, when not looking at markedly contrasting subjects, the image quality was superb and as I alluded, the build quality and robustness was outstanding.

I tested them side by side with my Meopta 15x56's and they simply outclassed the Fujinons for CA, for ease of use and for locating distant objects. And to be perfectly honest I didn't see much of a difference in magnification or brightness twixt the pair. The Meopta's once again proved what a cracking pair of bino's they are.

I must admit that I didn't research too much before purchasing, bought because I love my FujiFilm cameras and lenses, and thought that the bino's would be equally impressive but alas they were not. Subsequent reading has unearthed several observations and comments of poor CA on the 16x70's but I am conscious that my eyes are quite different to the many satisfied owners of the Fujinons and that one persons avertion to CA is another persons clear as clear can be, view.