Telescope Reviews: Re: Bino Reviews

As an addendum to the above report, here are some impressions primarily associated with central resolution/sharpness at field center. This evaluation was conducted during daytime using both targets outside and inside the house.

In my first review of the Nikon Action Extreme during daytime, (that review is on BinocularAstronomy) I said the following -

"In respect to central sharpness, all were good, but the Pentax and Nikon were better than the other two, with the Pentax the best."

I have to retract that statement. I was able to do a lot more evaluation since that report and at least for targets anywhere from 25 to 50 feet away, the Nikon has a clear cut advantage over the Pentax PCF V in respect to central sharpness. Not that the Pentax is bad, it is not, in fact it is darn good - better in earlier testing than the Minolta Activa 10x50, and better last Friday and confirmed yesterday than the Orion UltraView 10x50 and the long
discontinued Fujinon 2000 10x50's. It is jut that when looking at fine detail on bricks at about 50 feet, both painted and unpainted and reading writing of various sizes on a plastic jug on the kitchen counter about 25 feet away the Nikon was the clear champion. It could also pick up subtle detail in shadowed area a bit better than any of the other binoculars.

The Nikons seemed so good that I broke out my pair of Swift Audubon ED 8.5x44 and compared them on the same targets. The Swift Audubon has a great reputation for resolving fine detail. This is one of the reasons it is so highly prized as a birding binocular. Surprisingly the Nikons did slightly better than the Audubons. Likely due to the
slight increase in magnification of the Nikon pair. (To confirm this I tried my Pentax 16x60 on the same targets and found that the increased magnification does help.) So in a nutshell, the Nikons had the best central resolution of all the 10x50 binoculars I have tested so far. With the Pentax 10x50 (with no comparator)likely no one would ever be wanting for more resolution or walk away with the feeling that it could have been just a little bit better; but the Nikon's view would prove them wrong. I did find with the Orion UltraView that I could never quite get the
feeling that the view was as sharp as it could be and that could easily be seen even without having a comparison pair of binoculars.

Moving on to sharpness at the edge, the Pentax was the winner here. While not as sharp centrally as the Nikon, it deteriorates less as your view moves to the edge of the field. So in essence it has a more even view with less fall off of resolution. It is important to remember though that the Pentax field is just 5.0 degrees true, while the Nikon has a 6.5 degree true field. By area, the Nikon field is 69% larger!

So what does this all mean in terms of getting a pair? Well for me it means that these are keepers. I broke open the little bag that contains the neck strap after I did this testing and attached the strap. They are mine now. I believe they are the best performing all around pair of 10x50's in the $100 to $350 dollar price range. The build quality is fantastic; very well done, water proof, nice features. For what you get, they are underpriced.

I had always thought about getting one of the Nikon Superior E binoculars, either the 10x42 or the 12x50. However I would have preferred either 8x42 or 10x50 and I did not like the high price or the placement of the focus wheel. The new Nikon Extreme series addresses those obstacles for me. At a price that is about 1/5 to 1/6 that of the Superior E series, and with packaging and performance that is respectable in comparison, I think many will be very happy with the Nikon Extreme series.

I would think too that the 8x40 Nikon Extremes should hold their own fairly well against the Swift Audubon 8.5x44. At about half the price of the regular Swift Audubons and at about 1/3 the cost of theAudubon ED, they should do very well.

Barry Simon

Edited by BarrySimon615 (03/04/04 09:03 AM)

Post Extras