A note in case someone finds him/herself in the same position as me, and has doubts regarding the level of waterproofness of the APC 30.
I'm considering the purchase of a Kite 12x30 APC, but something has caught my eye. On Kite's website, you can see how the 42 range uses waterproofness as a highlight:
"The APC 42 is fully waterproof. The optical system and electronics are sealed to result in an IPX 7 waterproof rating. It can handle any kind of rain shower and can even be submerged to 1 meter depth for a maximum of 30 minutes. The system is nitrogen gas filled, to prevent internal fogging."
However, if you check the 30 range, there's none of that. Only if you check the table of specifications you can read "Gas filled: Yes", "Waterproof: IPX 7"... but that's the only mention. To add to the confusion, while checking the website of the shop I'll be most likely using, I discovered that it states that no, they are not waterproof, and after a quick search, I discovered that this negative is repeated throughout many websites and shops.
So I used the "Contact us" formular on Kite's website and in the same day I got a very comprehensive response from Mr. De Putter. According to what he explains, it turns out that in the early stages of the APC range, the 10x30 and 12x30, did not yet have their certifications on waterproofing. So in the earlier communication, APC 30 was stated to be not waterproof, but only water resistant. However, he continues, since the very beginning the APC 30 was waterproof and gas filled, but they could only officially announce this when they had received the certification, which apparently took some time (he states that at that time the priority was the APC 42).
So, mystery solved. The APC 30 is IPX7 waterproof and gas filled, which is great news, since this model is frankly quite attractive.
I'm considering the purchase of a Kite 12x30 APC, but something has caught my eye. On Kite's website, you can see how the 42 range uses waterproofness as a highlight:
"The APC 42 is fully waterproof. The optical system and electronics are sealed to result in an IPX 7 waterproof rating. It can handle any kind of rain shower and can even be submerged to 1 meter depth for a maximum of 30 minutes. The system is nitrogen gas filled, to prevent internal fogging."
However, if you check the 30 range, there's none of that. Only if you check the table of specifications you can read "Gas filled: Yes", "Waterproof: IPX 7"... but that's the only mention. To add to the confusion, while checking the website of the shop I'll be most likely using, I discovered that it states that no, they are not waterproof, and after a quick search, I discovered that this negative is repeated throughout many websites and shops.
So I used the "Contact us" formular on Kite's website and in the same day I got a very comprehensive response from Mr. De Putter. According to what he explains, it turns out that in the early stages of the APC range, the 10x30 and 12x30, did not yet have their certifications on waterproofing. So in the earlier communication, APC 30 was stated to be not waterproof, but only water resistant. However, he continues, since the very beginning the APC 30 was waterproof and gas filled, but they could only officially announce this when they had received the certification, which apparently took some time (he states that at that time the priority was the APC 42).
So, mystery solved. The APC 30 is IPX7 waterproof and gas filled, which is great news, since this model is frankly quite attractive.
