Cameras and Lenses
The Cameraland NY Mystery Binocular
A few days back, there was some discussion of a new make and model of binocular that Cameraland NY is actively considering selling. The discussions developed at the 24 Hour Campfire and eventually migrated here. I have had a test sample from the dealer in hand for a couple of days. So here is a post of my impressions.
First the specifications;
Power: 8X or 10x
• Objective Lens Diameter: 42mm
• Type of Prism: BAK4
• Roof Prism Coating: Silver and phase coated
• Number of Lens: 8 elements in 6 groups
• Body Construction: Magnesium Alloy
• Objective Glass: Extra Low Dispersion (ED)
• Lens Coating: full broadband multicoatings
• Water, dust, and oil repellent coatings
• Focus System: Internal center focusing
• Exit Pupil Diameter: 5.2mm/4.2mm
• Eye Relief: 17.2mm
• Field of View: 8x=7.5° - 393 ft. @ 1000 yds.
• 10x=6.3 – 330 ft. @ 1000 yds
• Minimum Focusing Distance: 5’/1.5M
• Diopter System: Right eyepiece - ±3
• Waterproof and Weatherproof: Nitrogen filled fog proof
• Weight: 27.48 oz. w/o strap or lens covers.
For the record I do not know where this binocular is made or just who makes it. This is the only binocular I have seen in quite some time that comes in a leather-looking velvet lined-looking hard case. The case is bigger than needed by a tad, so the binocular is quite easy to get into and out of the case. The eyecups do need to be all the way down for the case to close. The eyecups have two stops, at halfway out and fully out. There is a reasonable firm detent at each stop and side play in the eyepiece at each stop is minimal. The Diopter is a standard right eye, non-locking ring style. The movement is stiff without being difficult and will likely show little tendency to wander out of adjustment. Minimum IPD seems to be 56mm.
The focus knob is large and well placed above the upper bridge. This glass seems to have less space between the hinges than I seem to recall in either a Swarovski EL or Vortex Viper. I remember those as being three finger openings, this one has a two finger space. It looks quite a lot like the Bushnell Infinity and I would not be surprised that they share the same housing. The optics, however, are quite different.
There are two aspects of this glass I do not like. First the focus wheel operates through a frustrating 2 ½ turns. I am not sure if this is intended to be a dual system focus that is supposed to operate differently at near or far distance. What it is, is too slow. It turns smoothly with the just the right amount of effort. It just turns too slow. I suspect a fix is in order here if this is to become popular. It may make a difference to some, but this one focuses clockwise to infinity.
The second thing I do not like may be in fact related to the first. This binocular has a narrower depth of focus than I like. This may not be quite the proper use of the terms from a optical sense, but think of it like this; within the range of the depth of the field that is reasonably in focus, about half of that at best is a sweet spot of fine focus. This is better in that regard than my Nikon Monarch, but both are too “focus fiddly” for my liking. The focus wheel is then a requirement rather than an option. To me the hallmark of a really good binocular is that is has a depth of focus nearly equal to the depth of field. The whole image is a right-there-right-now sort of an affair. Once focus is reached, the wheel needs to be used little save for more precise identifications as in “just what is that little gray bird behind those twigs?”. My Vortex Viper is far better than the Mystery Glass in this regard. The extremely slow focus may be a primary cause of that problem.
However, when this mystery glass is in its zone, it has superb image quality. In terms of resolution it will easily play in the +$1.000 US class. The image is bright, sharp and gives a nice you just walked up 8x closer to something sort of view. Color representation is quite good. CA and fringing to my eyes is just not there. This is perhaps a contribution of the ED glass. This gives very good views of Jupiter and its moons. Jupiter is presented as a sharp, distinct blue sphere. There is no halo or flare around the edges. The moons appear as sharp and distinct pinpoints. Stars seem to resolve as pinpoints across the vast majority of the field. There, my astronomy is just about done.
The 393’ FOV is nice for this size of binocular. 400’ is not approached before you get to the Vortex Razor and Meopta Meostar in price level.
The glass is apparently well made and nicely balanced. It will get to a personal level of acceptance of the feel for the open bridge design s to whether or not you like the ergonomics. Fix the focus and give it a Viper equal depth of field, and I’m in the market to try one.
I suspect that this is an attempt to bump up the performance of a level of mid-price glass rather than to pose direct lower price competition to more expensive class glass.
Note: I edited the error in the diopter location. It is a right eye ring.
[QUOTE=Steve C;1275154]
• Diopter System: Left eyepiece - ±3
There are two aspects of this glass I do not like. First the focus wheel operates through a frustrating 2 ½ turns. I am not sure if this is intended to be a dual system focus that is supposed to operate differently at near or far distance. What it is, is too slow. It turns smoothly with the just the right amount of effort. It just turns too slow. I suspect a fix is in order here if this is to become popular. It may make a difference to some, but this one focuses clockwise to infinity.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the great, detailed review. Without being as lucky as Steve to see this binocular in person, I'd like to point out few things: (1) for 8x binoculars, +/-3 dioptic adjustment seems to be too small. I am wondering how much adjustment is available for 10x format. (2) I agree with Steve, this binocular seems to be positioned as lower/mid priced offering since it has only 8 elements. I believe Vortex Viper has 5 elements for eyepieces alone. Adding focusing/objective lenses, Viper should have more glasses than this; (3) I am afraid the relatively wide FOV may come with not so-sharp edge view. Not sure if you get a chance to check the edge-to-edge sharpness. If that one checks out ok, I would definitely try to get a copy for my next upgrade once it becomes available.
On the other hand, I am a big fan of smooth fine focusing with 2 more full turns on focusing wheel. I mainly use binoculars to observe birds within 50 yards distance, a fine tuning focusing wheel is much more desirable (in MHO). But if you keep switching from infinity to close focus, it might be inconvenient.
Any way, thanks for the great write up. Cannot wait to see the brand and price ( I was hoping for less than $300 
so I won't get in trouble with the boss)
Actually the image is very sharp even to the edges of the field. The image also appears quite flat to me. When this binocular is in sharp focus on a object, there is very little to find objection with. If the depth of focus was better, I could live with the slow wheel. It also focuses opposite to the other binoculars I have.
Look for a $500 tag. I have no idea if input from Cameraland NY will have any effect. If it does there may be some degree of promise with the new venture.