Hello,
Sorry for intruding on this forum but i would like to get your input on a pair of binoculars i want to buy for someone.
I do not have much experience with binoculars however I did some reseach on them on the net to get some ideas of the technologies and naming used.
The binoculars will be used by a girl, an eye wearer, mostly for birding i think - at least that's the main idea behind the selection i have made so far. I'm looking for portable binoculars, waterproof, durable, lightweight with good to very good optics and are in the 100-300$ range - looking for the best value for money.
I have settled for 8x42 designs as i have read on the net they are very good for bird watching. I'm worried that a 10 power zoom might be too much and she wouldn't be able to keep the binoculars steady - also, the 10x50 ones might be too big and heavy to carry around all day.
I have narrowed the selection down to two companies, Nikon and Pentax. I have been following some threads around here, like this one and i also have a Pentax camera and an affinity for the brand :) ... but i can go for other brands as well.
I have trimmed the selection down to two models from each manufacturer, one roof prism and one porro prism
Nikon: 8x42 Monarch and 8x40 Action EX Extreme.
Pentax: 8x42 DCF HRc and 8x40 PCF WP II.
I have read on this forum that the Pentax PCF WP II is good, has very good optics and it's worth the money.
I have also read that the Pentax 10x42 DCF-WPII (not on my list) is not that good but that the 8x42 version might be different (better). Does anyone know how the 8x42 DCF HRc compares to the 10x42 DCF-WPII or the 8x40 PCF WP II ?
I have also read that the focusing is slower for the Pentax binoculars - is it noticeable, do the Nikon ones focus faster ?
The Pentax binoculars have greater eye relief but i have read somewhere on the net that too much eye relief is bad as well - is this the case, is it better to stick with Nikons in respect to eye relief ?
Is the roof prism worth the extra money, does it give advantages over the porro prism ? I have noticed that the porro designs are heavier and bigger than the roof prism designs - are there any other advantages/disadvantages ?
I'd apreciate any information you can give me :)
If you have a recommandation i'd be happy to hear it, it doesn't have to be from these two brands, it's just that from my research on the net they seem very good optically and have good prices.
Nikon 8x40 Action Extreme
Pentax 8x40 PCF WP II
Although the Pentax is specified as longer, these two have nearly identical eye relief because the Pentax eyepieces are deeply recessed and much of the eye relif is not usable. Pentax = 13mm, Nikon = 14mm.
Both of these would be considdered slow focus. To focus from 3m to 30m both require almost a full turn of the focus dial (330°). However to focus from 30m to 100m, the Nikon requires only half the amount of focus dial turn (only 30°) as the Pentax.
The Pentax has by far the sharper outer field edge. Even with a much narrower total field of view, the Pentax has a wider sharp usable fov than the Nikon. Both provide 5° or more usable field of view.
The Pentax I tested had better resolution
the Nikon I tested had much better light beam transfer
edz
Hi edz,
Thanks for the reply and the useful information.
I also want to thank you for the extensive tests you've done, i've seen it in some other posts of yours. I noticed that you ranked the Pentax 8x40 PCF WP II in the top and the Pentax 10x42 DCF-WPII in the bottom part.
What i didn't quite understand is what the two referenced binoculars mean - does it mean that you've only tested those two and you will only comment on them or does it mean that from the 4 binoculars i've listed you recommend one of the two you've referenced ?
Thanks.