Binoseeker
Mostly using spectacles (myopic) with binoculars.
I recently bought a Viking 6.5x32 MD on sale, 99.95£, from www.vikingopticalcentres.co.uk.
I received it in a couple of days.
The carrying case for the bin is of a black, soft synthetic textile material with provisions to attach it to the belt on the trousers.
Exterior/mechanics.
- A lot of black rubber armouring on it makes it a bit “fat” & protected.
- The objective protection caps fits a bit loosely, could have been a lot tighter.
- The ocular protection cap is a bit loose which is good. easy to put on/off the oculars.
- The eye cups are easy to twist and have a mechanical feeling I like. They have rubber on the outside, which haven’t fallen off yet ;-) . They can be put in 4 click stop positions.
- The neck strap is ok, the part around the neck looks a bit cheap, is wider, and probably made of neoprene, non-padded.
- The large focus wheel works great, easy to use, turns smoothly, no slop at all. It has rubber surface with ribs on it so the finger tips get a good grip.
- The focus wheel : approx. 1,3 turns end to end.
- I put the bin in the freezer over night. Afterwards the focus wheel was very hard to turn. This is no bino for wintertime usage. It is time for the manufacturers to add info about temperature limits for usage. This can actually be a deal breaker for a lot of people in cold climates who want to use the bin all year. How difficult can it be to put in the “right” grease/lubricants to also support wintertime use, really?
- The dioptre setting is on right ocular. It was very, very tight to twist the first time, i thought it was stuck or maybe of the type you have to pull up a bit before twisting.
- The hinge is very tight which I like, the IPD adjustment stays in place.
- The bin fits my hands very well.
- Weight 600gr.
- Warranty on box: 5 years
Optics
- Ocular lens diameter 23 mm. Eyecup outer diameter 43 mm.
- Multicoated optics.
- BAK-4 phase coated prisms.
- There is only very small distortion of vertical lines at the edges.
- There is some aberration at the outer edge that I can´t correct with the focus wheel. I saw this when I looked at a wall 5m away and I couldn’t get image sharp at the outer edge while focussing (astigmatism?). When using the bin normally I am not bothered by this.
- The coatings on ocular and objective lenses respectively looks green.
- All reflections in the coatings from a white lamp in the ceiling look green except one which is white as the lamp itself.
- I don’t see any sides of the prisms protruding into the light path when looking through the bin from objective side.
- The exit pupil looks round, no edges cut offs, it looks like BAK-4, when viewing through the oculars at a distance of say 20 cm.
- The perceived depth of field is large, me likes….I have only to focus a lot when the object I am looking at is closer than say 100m.
- I can get pretty sharp image but the focus doesn’t snap into sharpness, I have to “work it” a bit first, still ok.
- The focus sweetspot is like 75% of image radius.
- There is some small CA, more apparent on vertical lines. I will check this on a cloudy day also, maybe it is more apparent then?
- The eye relief is large, 22mm, very good for me, even when looking with my Polaroid suncovers on my glasses I get acceptable fov for a quick view, me likes a lot.
- I use the third click stop position of the eye cups to get the best view when looking without glasses.
- I think it is ok collimated since I don´t feel any eye strain during and after looking.
- Close focus distance, I measured it to 98cm.
- FOV is 8°, nice!
- I did my FLT and saw some few small dust particles inside from objective side, these will not effect the image when using the bin. This bin is made in China...:smoke:
- The bin has a serial number.
Summary.
All in all I like this bin a lot despite some shortcomings but what can you expect for a 100£ bin , this is my first lower magnification bin and also my first 32mm bin.
I was worried the lower magnification wouldn’t be enough but I like it, I also find the 32mm format very nice. A function you need on a bin with a focuser is to be able to focus it, you can’t do this at the tested temperature of -18°C with this bin, amazing for a bin sold in Europe…. Buying Chinese bins is a lottery….All in all, I got an acceptable one this time.
Anders
I received it in a couple of days.
The carrying case for the bin is of a black, soft synthetic textile material with provisions to attach it to the belt on the trousers.
Exterior/mechanics.
- A lot of black rubber armouring on it makes it a bit “fat” & protected.
- The objective protection caps fits a bit loosely, could have been a lot tighter.
- The ocular protection cap is a bit loose which is good. easy to put on/off the oculars.
- The eye cups are easy to twist and have a mechanical feeling I like. They have rubber on the outside, which haven’t fallen off yet ;-) . They can be put in 4 click stop positions.
- The neck strap is ok, the part around the neck looks a bit cheap, is wider, and probably made of neoprene, non-padded.
- The large focus wheel works great, easy to use, turns smoothly, no slop at all. It has rubber surface with ribs on it so the finger tips get a good grip.
- The focus wheel : approx. 1,3 turns end to end.
- I put the bin in the freezer over night. Afterwards the focus wheel was very hard to turn. This is no bino for wintertime usage. It is time for the manufacturers to add info about temperature limits for usage. This can actually be a deal breaker for a lot of people in cold climates who want to use the bin all year. How difficult can it be to put in the “right” grease/lubricants to also support wintertime use, really?
- The dioptre setting is on right ocular. It was very, very tight to twist the first time, i thought it was stuck or maybe of the type you have to pull up a bit before twisting.
- The hinge is very tight which I like, the IPD adjustment stays in place.
- The bin fits my hands very well.
- Weight 600gr.
- Warranty on box: 5 years
Optics
- Ocular lens diameter 23 mm. Eyecup outer diameter 43 mm.
- Multicoated optics.
- BAK-4 phase coated prisms.
- There is only very small distortion of vertical lines at the edges.
- There is some aberration at the outer edge that I can´t correct with the focus wheel. I saw this when I looked at a wall 5m away and I couldn’t get image sharp at the outer edge while focussing (astigmatism?). When using the bin normally I am not bothered by this.
- The coatings on ocular and objective lenses respectively looks green.
- All reflections in the coatings from a white lamp in the ceiling look green except one which is white as the lamp itself.
- I don’t see any sides of the prisms protruding into the light path when looking through the bin from objective side.
- The exit pupil looks round, no edges cut offs, it looks like BAK-4, when viewing through the oculars at a distance of say 20 cm.
- The perceived depth of field is large, me likes….I have only to focus a lot when the object I am looking at is closer than say 100m.
- I can get pretty sharp image but the focus doesn’t snap into sharpness, I have to “work it” a bit first, still ok.
- The focus sweetspot is like 75% of image radius.
- There is some small CA, more apparent on vertical lines. I will check this on a cloudy day also, maybe it is more apparent then?
- The eye relief is large, 22mm, very good for me, even when looking with my Polaroid suncovers on my glasses I get acceptable fov for a quick view, me likes a lot.
- I use the third click stop position of the eye cups to get the best view when looking without glasses.
- I think it is ok collimated since I don´t feel any eye strain during and after looking.
- Close focus distance, I measured it to 98cm.
- FOV is 8°, nice!
- I did my FLT and saw some few small dust particles inside from objective side, these will not effect the image when using the bin. This bin is made in China...:smoke:
- The bin has a serial number.
Summary.
All in all I like this bin a lot despite some shortcomings but what can you expect for a 100£ bin , this is my first lower magnification bin and also my first 32mm bin.
I was worried the lower magnification wouldn’t be enough but I like it, I also find the 32mm format very nice. A function you need on a bin with a focuser is to be able to focus it, you can’t do this at the tested temperature of -18°C with this bin, amazing for a bin sold in Europe…. Buying Chinese bins is a lottery….All in all, I got an acceptable one this time.
Anders
