Cameras and Lenses

Compact 20-25mm roof prisms for under $200 or 100 pounds

I have fairly new ProStaff porros, so I will not be buying compacts for a while. I have a binocular budget.

But for all those people that want compact roof prisms that fold small, have super optics and can't cost much, we are open for discussion. I will refer to this thread when the next person comes along to complain about Travelites with parts falling off.

I have found mine! I rejected Audubon 10x25 roof prisms, they were not as sharp as my ProStaffs (also available at 9x and 8x). But I was in a sports store and they had these:
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.as...urch=1&pid=4172
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.as...urch=1&pid=4170
http://www.eagleoptics.com/index.as...urch=1&pid=3302

They are phase coated, so brightness and clarity were obvious. The lowest ones were not there, I just listed them as they are waterproof.

My philosophy is that I may be willing to invest in some 30-40mm roof prisms that cost 500 or more some day, but my 25mm pairs are just back up. I do my serious birding with 40 and 42mm binoculars. So I am not willing to spend more on these than my main binoculars.

I am faced again with the 8x vs. 10x here. With the compacts I am almost sold on the 8x model, though if they were made in 9x I would try to get them even sooner. I am looking for 9x models at all times to check out. I may wait a year on these. I hope they sell them then.

The Eagle Optics prices are good, I did not find them at Optics Planet.

TO SAVE SOME READING::MY LAST POST HAS:

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PS
Ended up with simple Minolta Sport Mini 8x25 roof prisms. They fullfill my compactness needs, and I think in this price class the 10x would be useless. The Minolta had a slight edge over the Sporstar 8x, though they look almost identical.

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I did not compare my Nikons to these, it was just an introduction to my needs. (besides, I already have rated them in a porro section where someone else discussed Opticron porros). Someone else can bring up Nikon ROOF PRISMS if they fit the category and are worth a look.

I was thinking more of just the roof prisms here, so we can leave the Travelites and Opticron Taigas and other porros out of the discussion. We are only comparing roof prisms to roof prisms. I did this because there are a number of Compact THIS and THAT threads out there in this forum.

Check out the Minox and Pentax 25mm roofs. I may have set the price limit too low, yours may run 150 pounds out there.

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