tilling said:
Fuji discontinued the Polaris 6x30s, but they still make the Nautilus 6x30s.
I disagree that IF makes a binocular inconvenient, especially at 6-8 magnification. If you set the two eyepieces right (so you can focus at anything closer than infinity, and juuust focus at infinity) then you should never need to refocus until somebody else wants your binoculars. For my kayaking binoculars that's not going to happen much.
The 6x30 Fuji FMTR-SX does have the best DOF I've seen in a binocular, but, how convenient/inconvenient IF bins are for an individual depends on his/her focus accommodation. Years back, before they were discontinued, I bought a Fuji 6x30 FMTR-SX. I used it mostly as a "finder binocular" with my telescope since the configuration was the same size as my finderscope, but the FOV was wider and the binoculars gave much better contrast. Sometimes, I would get carried away and forgot what I was looking for and just scan the Milky Way or look at star clusters. At 6x, the scale is small, but you take in the Big Picture with 8.5* FOV. Good for learning your way around the night sky.
I occasionally used the Fuji for daytime viewing, mostly for watching soccer games. I'd set the diopters to focus at about 30 ft, and everything from 30 ft. on was in focus, with a tweaking needed at infinity, as you mentioned.
I gradually lost interest in stargazing due to increasing clouds in my area and increasing light pollution, which pushed my fellow astro. club members and I farther and farther out to find dark skies, and then only when conditions permitted, which wasn't often, particularly when limited to weekends.
So I sold the Fujis to a kayaker. 6x provides stable views for marine use and given kayaks propensity for capsizing, the submersible WPing was a must.
A few months ago, I saw a 6x30 FMTR-SX on eBay and decided to give them a second look and bought it (now that they are discontinued, they are hard to find and more expensive to buy). They were as good as I remembered-- sharp, contrasty, with excellent color rendition and built like a tank. However, now that I wear reading glasses, I can no longer focus the EPs at 30 ft. and see everything short of infinity in sharp focus. Now I need to tweak the EPs just a hair to keep them in focus at different distances.
I don't think this is due to sample variation. The Fujis appear to be as good as my first pair, but rather because my eye lenses are no longer as flexible as they used to be now that I have presbyopia (age-related farsightedness).
It's not terribly inconvenient, certainly a bit "slow" for birding, hard to catch flighty Chickadees with IF bins, but excellent for longer range observing due to the steadiness of 6x, the great DOF, and super 3-D views.
I just wanted to qualify your statement since I posted the similar statement myself when I had my first pair, but now that my focus accommodation has changed, I realize that not everyone will be able to set the focus once despite the great DOF of these outstanding binoculars.
Brock