In this blog, I’ll be reviewing astronomer Dr Hugh Ross’ latest book, Designed to the Core.
Tune in soon for details…………………...
Book Review: “Designed to the Core” by Hugh Ross
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Author Archives: Neil English
Product Review: The Nikon Aculon A211 7 x 35.
The Nikon Aculon A211 7 x 35.
A Work Commenced December 27 2022
Product: Nikon Aculon A211 7 x 35
Country of Manufacture: China
Exit Pupil: 5.00mm
Eye relief: 11.8mm
Field of View: 164m@1000m(9.3 angular degrees)
Coatings: Multilayer coated
Close Focus: 5m advertised, 2.35m measured
ED Glass: No
Waterproof: No
Nitrogen Purged: No
Tripod Mountable: Yes
Accessories: logoed padded neck strap, plastic rain guard and objective covers, soft padded carry case, instruction manual, warranty card
Dimensions: 11.9 x 18.5cm
Weight: 686g advertised, 684g measured
Warranty: 10 years
Price UK: £104
While it is generally true that you get what you pay for, it’s also true that you can pick up very decent optics for not a lot of money. I was very much reminded of this when I test drove the Nikon Aculon A211 7 x 35. This is yet another cost-effective Porro prism binocular from Nikon having a good black rubber armouring, twist-up eye cups and a large central focus wheel. Though it’s not quite as well armoured as Nikon’s more expensive and waterproof Action EX 7 x 35, it is considerably lighter, tipping the scales at just 684g. Indeed, I had no trouble carrying it round my neck for several hours while completing a 10km trek near my home.
The Nikon Aculon A211 7x 35 is a pleasure to use.
The instrument is multicoated ensuring a high light transmission. Indeed, according to tests carried out by allbinos.com, light transmission is close to 80 per cent. Right out of the box, this little Aculon impressed. I had a wee bit of trouble adjusting the dioptre setting as the ring under the right ocular was quite stiff but it eventually yielded. The image is bright and sharp within its sweet spot, which covers the inner 50-60 per cent of the field depending on your degree of accommodation. Contrast is very good too. But what’s most impressive is its huge field of view: 9.3 angular degrees. That’s ideal for surveying landscapes. Eye relief is tight though: that wasn’t a problem for me as I don’t wear glasses while looking through binoculars, but when I did try to engage the view with eye glasses on, I could not see the entire field.
I found that the Aculon had a small amount of glare when the eye cups were fully extended upwards but I was really surprised to discover that I could comfortably access the entire field of view without glasses when they were fully retracted! This will obviously reduce the wear on the eyecups, so extending their functional longevity. But it also had the effect of removing much of the glare I encountered in the open air.
The focus wheel is silky smooth and easy to turn with no backlash or free play. Indeed it felt considerably better than the Action EX 7x 35 I reviewed some time ago. Moreover, of all the different brands of binoculars I’ve tested over the years, Nikon focus wheels have been consistently excellent. The ease with which I could move the focus wheel made this binocular a very enjoyable birding binocular. Indeed, I spent some time watching flocks of Long Tailed Tits flit from tree to tree across the valley. Their mode of flight – in fits and starts – reminded me very much of the way Wagtails navigate during the warmer months of the year. It was so easy to keep up with them, even as they moved off into the distance. The impressive depth of field meant refocusing was an infrequent affair. And that’s got to be a good thing for any birder.
I was impressed by its close focus distance – less than half of the 5m advertised value. The enhanced 3D views through the Nikon Aculon A211 were very memorable, especially when scanning for signs of life inside a densely forested patch near my home. The field curvature actually helps keep closer objects at the bottom part of the field tightly in focus, creating a heightened sense of spatial awareness. This little 7x 35 was a much better fit in my hands than the larger 8 x 42 Aculon I tested prior to acquiring this smaller instrument. Does it have any flaws? Yes. When I turned the binocular on a bright streetlamp after dark I picked up significant internal reflections. It was the same when I glassed a bright, waning gibbous Moon. Bothersome? Yes, a little, but didn’t really detract from the nice, relaxed views I enjoyed during the day. And while the internal reflections detract somewhat from the aesthetic of Moon watching, it’s quite an impressive stargazing binocular. By studying the image of the bright, first magnitude star Rigel, I could see that field curvature and coma are strongly apparent near the field stops but to be honest, there is plenty enough field to thoroughly enjoy the view. Lateral colour was also strong at the edge of the field but nowhere near as bad as what I saw testing the larger 8 x 42 Aculon A211.
I spent 30 minutes enjoying the glories of the Winter sky on Christmas Day. Orion looked magnificent riding high on the meridian, sweeping east into Monoceros where the binocular easily showed the somewhat overlapping NGC 237 and NGC 2244 and even the 8th magnitude M50 to the south was faintly discerned. I also enjoyed sweeping up the three Messier open clusters high overhead in Auriga. The large, expansive field of the little Nikon Aculon 7x 35 made light work of framing all of them inside the same field. I also spent some time in a zero gravity chair sweeping through the wonders of Perseus, Cassiopeia and Cygnus, now sinking low into the northwest sky.
The Nikon Aculon A211 7x 35 in its ultra dry Sarcophagus.
For a binocular that you can acquire for about £100 or less, it’s probably a best buy in my opinion. It does lots of activities well and is great fun to use. If you’re on a tight budget and want decent optical performance in a portable package, go check them out. Indeed, as a firm Porro prism binocular fan, this is such a good bargain that I decided to prepare another ‘Sacrophagus’ for the Nikon Aculon A211 7 x 35; a simple water tight Tupperware container with lots of activated silica gel desiccant inside. This will also render them fog proof, as my tests on higher-end Nikon Porros have shown
Recommended!
Dr Neil English is busy writing a book dedicated to binoculars. Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts, which will hit the shelves in late 2023.
Further Adventures with my Nikon E Porro Prism Binoculars.
A Work Commenced December 6 2022
Without a doubt, one of the great highlights of my year was being introduced to the Nikon E series of Japanese-made Porro prism binoculars. Collectively these instruments have utterly transformed my opinion on the relative merits of roof over Porro prism designs, to such an extent that I’ve come out strongly in favour of the latter for daytime and night time use(using a 10 x 50 model). In this blog, I wish to discuss these fine optical instruments and what I’ve been learning about them in field use. It has also led me to carry out an investigation as to how well they perform in cold winter weather use, which will be ongoing.
First of all, I have been overjoyed by the images both these binoculars have served up in a variety of lighting conditions. The Nikon E II 8 x 30, in particular, remains my firm favourite, where it never ceases to inspire in every conceivable way. Its older cousin, a newly restored mid-1990s vintage Nikon E 10 x 35 has also impressed me as a longer range, wide-angle instrument in a lightweight, portable package.
The Move to Shorter Neck Straps
One common gripe among some Nikon E II 8 x 30 users is its ‘hang problem.’ Though I never saw much of an issue with this personally, I hit on a neat solution when I swapped out the high-quality neck strap attending the E II with the 10 x 35 strap, which was significantly shorter. What did that do? Well, by resting the instrument higher on my chest, it caused the little 8 x 30 ocular lenses to orient themselves with a much smaller angle to the vertical, with the result that it now sits much more upright on my chest.
Indeed, I’ve also shortened the neck strap on the 10 x 35 so that it too sits higher on my chest, reducing the amplitude of oscillatory motion significantly. This measure will reduce shock impact in the long term, especially when negotiating walls and fences on my walks through the Scottish countryside, reducing the risk of accidental knocks and bumps and so minimising the possibility of the optics becoming misaligned over time.
The Effects of Partially Folding Down the Rubber Eyecups on the 10 x 35
One afternoon, while glassing the landscape with my 10 x 35, I realised something was off. Specifically, unlike the 8 x 30, which showed me the beautiful field stops of the binocular with its amazing 8.8 degree field, I realised I wasn’t seeing the same on the 10 x 35. But that was easily solved by partially folding down the rubber eyecups(see the first image presented above) on the instrument, which finally enabled my eyes to engage with the full 6.6 degree field the instrument serves up. Now the field stops are beautifully apparent, and as a result I’ve come to more greatly appreciate just how wonderful it is to view the world at 10x in an expansive 6.6 degree field. Let’s face it, even with the march of time, having such a large field at 10x is still rather special. And while its newer incarnation – the venerable E II 10 x 35 – sports one of the widest fields for a 10x glass currently available(7.0 angular degrees), the field of view on the Nikon E only represents a very modest 12.5 per cent truncation; not enough to justify acquiring the E II 10 x 35 in my opinion. The view through the Nikon E 10 x 35 is highly immersive, feeling wider than it really is owing to the excellent off-axis performance of the instrument.
The other improvement I’ve noted by partially turning down the eye cups on the 10 x 35 is significantly better glare suppression. I learned this while using a few roof prism models, most especially the Vortex Diamondback HD series, when I noted that moving the eyecup down one notch greatly improved their control over glare. The 10 x 35 now yields comparable performance to the E II 8 x 30 in this regard, which has excellent glare suppression properties.
Ongoing Cold Weather Experiments with the Nikon Porros
Test everything, Hold fast to what is good
1 Thessalonians 5:21
My exchanges on Birdforum on the alleged weakness of the Nikon E Porros in regard to not being waterproof or fog proof, left me puzzled. I asked what I felt was a completely legitimate question:
“What did folk do before the advent of full waterproofing and nitrogen gas purging?”
Were there no birders before Steiner introduced the first fog proof binocular back in 1973?
The response I got was rather telling. Only a single person(Brock) eventually gave an answer of sorts, which indicated to me that not a great deal of thought was put into this issue. Instead I got rather glib responses like, “folk moved with the times and just bought waterproof instruments.”
That wasn’t good enough for me. Several generations of birders got on just fine before such an issue was “solved.”I perceived an altogether timorous culture of individuals who simply bought into the ‘roof prism solution.’
So how did they do it? And more importantly, what could I do about it?
I wanted to find workable solutions.
And this led me to initiate an investigation into how effective simple, interventive measures could make to keeping such instruments fog free, both internally and externally, while glassing in cold and damp conditions.
My first approach was to construct proper storage containers for my non-waterproof Nikons. Theses comprised of simple Tupperware plastic containers filled with silica gel desiccant that were both air and water tight. You can see one such arrangement in the photograph below:
My plan was to simply leave the empty Sarcophagus in a cool, dry, unheated outhouse before venturing out into the cold and humid air. Such an outhouse would be at most just a couple of degrees higher than the outside air. I would wear gloves to minimise the transfer of heat from my hands to the Magnesium alloy chassis of the binoculars. And immediately after my return from my glassing excursions, I would then place the instruments inside their containers before bringing them into a cool back lobby. Then, after a spell there, I would return them to room temperature.
Taking advantage of a cold snap, which would endure for at least a few weeks from the beginning of December 2022, I began daily experiments, taking some notes on ambient temperature, wind speed and humidity, as well as the duration of my walks. The reader will note that I did not use any anti-fogging agent during the course of these experiments. My results are published below:
Date: December 4, 8 x 30
Temperature: +4C
Wind: 11mph NE
Humidity: 70%
Time outside: 11:30-12:35 GMT
Result: Recovering from a head cold, some perspiration from my head caused the ocular lenses to fog up once externally. It dispersed within seconds. Otherwise, no problems. No internal or external fogging.
Date: December 5, 10 x 35
Temperature: +4C
Time Outside: 12:25-13:35
Wind: 8mph N
Humidity: 70%
Result: No internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 6 , 10 x 35
Temperature: +3C
Humidity: 65%
Wind: 5mph N
Time Outside: 12:45-14:10
Result: No external or internal fogging observed.
Date: December 7, 8 x 30
Time: 11:05 – 1230
Temperature: +2C
Humidity: 84%
Wind: 6mph NW
Result: No internal or external fogging observed
Date: December 8, 8 x 30
Time: 11:15-12:30
Temperature: -1C
Humidity: 73%
Wind: 6mph N
Result: Some occasional fogging on right ocular lens, quickly dispersed. No fogging internally or externally observed when placed back in container.
Date: December 9, 10 x 35
Time: 12:30 – 13:40
Temperature: 0C
Humidity: 78%
Wind: 6mph NW
Result: No internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 10, 8 x 30
Time: 12:45-14:10
Temperature:: +2C
Humidity: 81%
Wind: 6mph N
Result: No internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 11, 10 x 35
Time: 12:55-14:05
Temperature: 0C
Humidity: 70%
Wind: 8mph NW
Result: No internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 12, 8 x 30:
Time: 11:55-13:10
Temperature: -3C
Humidity: 88 %
Wind: None
Result: Right ocular fogged up a few times but dispersed rapidly, otherwise no internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 13, 10 x 35
Time: 11:55-13:10
Temperature: -4C
Humidity: 94%
Wind: None
Result: A couple of instances of fogging to ocular lenses, quickly dispersed, but otherwise no internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 14, 8 x 30
Time: 1200:13:10
Temperature: -2C
Humidity: 82%
Wind: 11mph NW
Result: No internal or external fogging observed
Date: December 15, 10 x 35
Time: 12:05-13:15
Temperature: -1C
Humidity: 94%
Wind: 3mph NW
Result: No internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 16, 8 x 30
Time: 13:45-14:45
Temperature: +3C
Humidity: 83%
Wind: 9mph SSW
Result: Exposed to sleet and light rain, visibility poor. Chassis covered with some precipitation and droplets also deposited on ocular lenses. Instrument & strap was dried externally with cotton towel and a lens cleaning cloth used to rub away precipitation on ocular lenses before returning it to its Tupperware container. No internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 18, 10 x 35
Time: 10:55-12:10
Temperature: +2C
Humidity: 85%
Wind: 8mph ENE
Result: No internal or external fogging observed.
Date: December 19, 10 x 35
Time: 12:15- 13: 25
Temperature: +12C
Humidity: 91%
Wind: 16mph S
Results: No gloves worn, some intermittent light rain encountered greatly reducing visibility. Water on chassis and strap removed with a cotton towel. No fogging observed externally or internally.
Date: December 20, 8 x 30
Time: 13:10-1415
Temperature: +7C
Humidity: 72%
Wind: 16mph SW
Result: No gloves worn, encountered one brief rain shower on the road. Instrument dried with cotton towel before being returned to Tupperware container. No internal or external fogging observed.
Conclusions: This two-week +-long study, conducted over a long cold spell, as well as some drizzly days show that these non-waterproof Porro prism binoculars fare just fine, so long as some simple interventive measures are set in place like wearing gloves when the temperatures are low, and returning the instruments slowly to ambient temperature once returned to their desiccant filled Tupperware containers. Some fogging of the ocular lenses tends to occur on colder days with reduced wind, but that’s exactly the same for waterproof roof prism binoculars, as my parallel experiences attest to(data not shown).
The results contradict those who claim that Porro prism binoculars are only fair weather glasses. To you I say:
Lazy, Scaremongering Killjoys!
You’re not credible!
This is yet another manifestation of our current “Big Jessie” culture, where “safetyism” is taken to extremes.
Don’t be a snowflake, and don’t let anyone tell you you can’t use them in winter conditions for ordinary activities, including walks in the outdoors up to at least 90 minutes duration.
These results will be apprised in my up-and-coming book.
Some Highlights from my Winter Glassing
I’ve been really spoiled by the views these two high-class Porros have generated during the painfully short days of a Scottish Winter. To make the most of the light, it pays to get out in the late morning or early afternoon, as after about 2pm local time, the Sun sinks below the hills greatly diminishing the quality of light available in the valley. Still, the low altitude of the mid-Winter Sun illumines the Fintry Hills to the east of my home in unique ways. Hunting Buzzards are quite common sights this time of year. Often, I see them being harassed by crows which create fascinating aerial displays. The snow-capped summits reveal captivating details and when it thaws and melts, I’ve been mesmerized by the cascades of water tumbling back down into the valley. I’ve enjoyed watching Jacob’s sheep foraging on the land near my home, with their thick winter fleece contrasted against the blinding white of snow-covered fields. On other days, I’ve been lucky enough to glass small groups of Redwings wintering here. And while out for a saunter on the Castle drive, I’ve been lucky enough to watch battalions of Chaffinch, Bullfinch and even the odd Stonechat foraging in the leaflitter at the side of the road. I’ve also been delighted by watching the acrobatic displays of Red Squirrels negotiating the conifer trees around Culcreuch Castle Estate. They’re certainly making a comeback around these parts!
One of the great virtues of both the 8 x 30 and 10 x 35 is their instant optical gratification. Despite their smaller exit pupils, they never induce blackouts unlike many wide-angle roof prism binoculars I’ve tested. They also serve up uniquely immersive views, with their wonderful wide-angle optics, as well as the unmistakable impression of being embedded in the image. I’ve come to appreciate the 10 x 35 in recent weeks. Its stereoscopic qualities really stand out when viewing targets in the middle distance. I’ve been captivated by the River Endrick, watching the water undulate as it flows over rocks beneath it. Scanning the hills with the 10 x 35 is also immensely enjoyable, with tall conifer trees swaying in the foreground against the soaring crags in the background. You really get a much more heightened sense of spatial awareness while viewing through the 10x glass over the lower powered 8x instrument. I find I can hand hold the lightweight 10 x 35 more steadily than a typical 10 x 42 roof prism instrument. Maybe it’s the way my hands engage with the chassis or maybe it’s attributed to its greater proximity to my centre of gravity. I don’t know exactly. But what I can tell you is that the 10 x 35 Nikon E affords a unique viewing experience possibly only matched by its newer incarnation – the venerable Nikon E II 10 x 35. You really have to look through it to fully appreciate its enchanting qualities!
The 10 x 35 also delivers its charms on the night sky in spades. There is nothing quite like it actually. The smaller exit pupil darkens the sky background allowing the refulgent beauty of the Winter stars to really stand out. I’ve been enjoying views of the Pleaides and the Hyades with this glass; the 10x magnification and wide, engaging field of view working together to create unforgettable viewing experiences, especially now when they transit the meridian before local midnight. The Sword Handle of Orion is also a favourite target with this instrument as it’s so comfortable to view just above the leafless trees to my south. And after it culminates, I’ve very much enjoyed observing brilliant Sirius – The Rainbow Star – not far from the southern horizon coruscating wildly in gorgeous pastels of red, green, blue, purple and white as the light differentially refracts as it passes through turbulent Winter air. That’s just one of the advantages of having the brightest star in the celestial realm so low down in my local skies. Finally, in the wee small hours of the morning, with no Moon in the sky, those wondrously dark winter skies here in rural central Scotland have shown me some of the most beautiful and compelling handheld views of Praesepe and the Beehive Cluster in Cancer with the 10 x 35. It’s almost as if this binocular were tailor made to contemplate such things!
Now that the Winter Solstice has finally arrived, daylight will get longer as the Sun begins its preordained sojourn north again. Roll on the Spring and the long days of Summer!
Post Scriptum: December 26 2022
I’d like to report the results of two more experiments.
It occurred to me that a small binocular like the E II 8 x 30 being stored in a water and airtight Tupperware container with desiccant at room temperature will allow efficient diffusion of gases. The container has 20 sachets each containing 10g of activated silica gel. That ought to create a strong concentration gradient for the net diffusion of a small molecule like water vapour (molecular weight 18 which is considerably smaller than the average molecular weight of air) out of the inside of the binocular. Such a long-term storage strategy ought to thoroughly dehydrate the air in the interior of the instrument. And if that were true, I reasoned, it wouldn’t matter if I treated the binocular like any waterproof, nitrogen-gas-filled roof prism instrument. It should not fog up internally under any conditions so long as I kept to this storage routine.
I can now disclose the result of two further experiments. At five to midnight on Christmas day, I ventured outside with the EII 8 x 30. Temperature +2C, 75% humidity. The sky was clear and I enjoyed 45 minutes of stargazing wearing only light gloves. But instead of returning the instrument to the Tupperware container at the same temperature as the ambient outside air, I just brought it straight inside the house(temperature +20C) like I do with my water and fogproof roofs. The chassis quickly became covered in water as the cold metal encountered the warm inside air. The outer lenses fogged up, as I expected, but after a few minutes, I could see that the interior of the binocular did not fog up. Once it was dried down and left to further air dry, the inside remained crystal clear; no internal fogging observed! I then returned the instrument to its Tupperware container.
In a further experiment conducted on Boxing Day, I ventured out for a two hour glassing session. Temperature +3, 85 per cent humidity. This time I did not wear gloves (I did miss them however as the magnesium alloy chassis really gets cold fast). Time 12:00-14:00. Once again, I brought the instrument straight into my living room(temperature +21C) and watched what happened: once again, the chassis rapidly became drenched with condensed water, and the outer lenses fogged up. But after some of the water evaporated away, I could see that the inside of the instrument was crystal clear, with no signs of fogging. Once all the water had dispersed from the outer lenses, the instrument showed no fogging internally!
Conclusion: Storing the Nikon E II 8x 30 in this desiccant laden Tupperware container prevents internal fogging. Because the air is dry inside the instrument it should not fog up in any realistic situation I will encounter. No need to acclimatise the Tupperware container either. I can use it in much the same way as a modern roof prism binocular.
Yeeeehaaaw!
Spectrum.
Take a Closer Look.
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:31-32
In this blog, I’ll be exploring subjects of general interest/concern, as our societies become increasingly wicked, depraved and deceived.
The Dark Side of Transgender Medicine
How the Media Manipulates Truth
The Secular Case Against Homosexuality
Cool stuff you never hear in Church
James Clerk Maxwell: a Great Life Lived
Reasonable Faith: An Interview with Professor Alvin Plantinga
The Preciousness of Free Speech
Walking your Way to Good Health
Unholy Alliance: when Dodgy Science Merges with Theology
From Spiritual Shipwreck to Salvation
The Rise in Euthanasia Killings
Coming Soon to a Town Near You: The Rise of Bestiality
The Sixth Mass Extinction Event in Our Midst
‘Depth Charging’ the Values of the Ancient World
The Truth about the Fossil Record
Evolutionary Atheist gets his Facts Wrong…..Again
Distinguished MIT Nuclear Physicist Refutes Scientism
Get thee right up thyself! : The New Transhumanist Religion
The Biblical Origin of Human Rights and why it’s a Problem for Atheists
A Closer Look at the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Winds of Change: Prestigious Science Journal Concedes Design
A Distinguished Chemist Speaks the Truth
An Evil Generation Seeks After a Sign
Decimation of Global Insect Populations
The Spiritual Suicide of a Once Christian Nation
UN Report: World’s Food Supply under ‘Severe Threat’ from Loss of Biodiversity
From Abortion to Infanticide in the “Land of the Free”
Sports Personalities Speak Out Over Transgender Athletes
Human “Out of Africa” Theory Debunked
Vintage James Tour: How to Cook Up a Proto-Turkey
Follow the Evidence: The Problem of Orphan Genes
Follow the Evidence: The Genius of Birds
Darwinian Evolution On Trial Among Biologists
New Fossil Finds Thwart Human Evolutionary Predictions
Global Persecution of Christians
Tall Tales From Yale: Giving up Darwin.
More on the Proto-Turkey: Dr. Tour Responds to Cheap Shots from the Pond Scum Merchants
Good Riddance: Despicable British TV Show Axed after Death of Participant
The Fastest Growing Insanity the World has Ever Seen
Darwinism & Racism: Natural Bed Fellows
The Modern Root of Anti-Semitism
A Victory for Common Sense: Transgender Weightlifter Stripped of his Medals
The US Equality Act: A Plea for Caution
Reunited: Music & the Human Spirit
1st Century Christian Insight: The Didache
Why Some Books were Left Out of the Bible
Why the Human Mind is not Material
What God Thinks of Scientific Atheism
An Essential Component of a Modern Education
Earth: “Presidential Suite” of the Universe
How to Really Stand Out in a Crowd
Straight from a NASA Scientist: Jewel Planet
No Life Without Super Intelligence
Body Plan Development Raises New Headaches for Evolutionists
Membrane Biochemistry Stymies Evolutionary Origin of Complex Cells
Science Speaks: Common Abortafacients Harmful to Both Mother & Child
Biblical Ignoramus Twists the Words of Christ
Attention Parents: American Psycho Association Promoting Polyamory to Pre-Teens as ‘Ethical.’
The Only Rainbow God Recognises
Calling Time Out on Evolutionists’ Failure to Explain The Cambrian Explosion
7 Reasons to Reject Replacement Theology
Psychiatric Diagnoses are ‘Scientifically Meaningless’ Study Shows
Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God
The Prosperity Gospel Debunked
New Science Reveals First Cellular Life to be “Amazingly Complex”
New Law Firms Being Established to Counter the Rise in Christian Persecution
Playing the Numbers 32:23 Game
Multiple Lines of Scientific Evidence Converge on 3rd Century BC Age of the Famous Isaiah 53 Scroll.
Exposed: Theologians Deceived by Darwinian Ideology
New Insights into the Shroud of Turin
What we Know and Do Not Know About the Human Genome
Sorry: No Such Thing as “Gay” Penguins
A Biblical Perspective on Diet
Revelation: Number of Transgender People Seeking Sex Reversals Skyrockets
Psychologist Debunks Pseudoscientific Explanations for Human Love & Compassion
The Dismantling of the Feminine
Disturbing Trends in the Roman Catholic Church
A Christian Response to Halloween
The Darwinian Response to Human Life: Let the Baby Die!
The Best Explanation for Beauty
Antiobiotic Resistance in a Post-Darwinian World
Michael Behe Says No to Theistic Evolution
“Progressive” Christianity as a Political Cult.
A Rational, Christian Response to Humanism
More Depravity: the Sexualisation of Children
Shameful Humanity: Murder of the Unborn Now the Biggest Worldwide Killer.
Sorry Sam Smith, You’re Still a ‘He.’
Nature Genetics: How ‘Evolutionary Thinking’ led Biologists Astray about Pseudogenes.
A Kingdom Divided Against Itself: Why Evolutionary Psychology is Bunk
Of Melting Glaciers and Darwinism
First US President Addresses 47th March For Life, as theSecular Media Duck for Cover
The New Science of Separate, Distinct Creations
More Tales of Darwinian Thuggery
Keeping your Children Strong in the Faith
Former Editor of Nature Waves Bye Bye to the RNA World
At Scientific American: Physicist Pours Cold Water on Scientism
A Biblical Perspective on Alcohol Consumption
High Priest of a Pseudoscience Rears His Ugly Head Again
Another Step into the Human Immorality Sewer: Normalizing Throuples & Sologamy
Symptom of a Depraved Society: Scientists Now Fighting to Affirm a Basic Fact of Life: Sex is Binary
Speaking the Truth in Love: Where the LGBTQ Community is Ultimately Headed
The Power of Biblical Prophecy: The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
Origin of Life Debate: James Tour versus Lee Cronin.
7 Rock Solid Scientific Arguments for the God of the Bible
An Existential Crisis in Neuroscience
AI Hype and the End of Moore’s Law
Discerning Fact from Spin/Fiction in Cosmos 3.0
Why All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men Cannot Put Humpty Together.
The James 5:16 Phenomenon; the Healing Power of Prayer
Heart of Darkness: Organ Harvesting of Chinese Prisoners
Confessions of a (yet another) Darwinian Sceptic
Darwinism as a Mentally Retarding Virus
Legendary Biologist Claims Atheism has Nothing to do with Science
Why Nature Should Never be Worshipped
What ‘Evolutionary Theory’ is Really Good at Explaining: Cancer.
Avoiding the Most Deadly Virus of All
The Prince of Peace Versus the Prophet of Islam
Coronavirus Outbreak Spurs Record Bible Sales
More Tales of Woe for Darwinian Junk Science: No Such Thing as Pseudogenes
Earth Fine-Tuned for Space Exploration
New UN Report: COVID-19 will Produce Famines of ‘Biblical Proportions’
An Interview with Dr. Frank Turek
Neanderthal DNA & the Leviticus 18:23 Question
Debunking Scientific Materialism through Mathematics
Incompetent Experts & Bad Government
Intelligent Design Now Thriving in Europe
Cosmic Fine-Tuning: an Interview with Christian Cosmologist, Dr. Luke Barnes.
Ivy League Philosopher Dismisses Evolutionary Psychology as Pseudoscience
Ten Things you Need to Know about Scientism
Freeman Dyson: God is a Mathematician
J.K. Rowling Takes a Stand Against Militant LGBT Activists
Lest We Forget: William Wilberforce
Update on the Long Term Evolution Experiment(LTEE): Sickening News for Evolutionists
An Interview with Mathematician William Dembski
A Technical Look at Fine-Tuning in Biological Systems
David Pawson(1930-2020) Remembered
Punctuated Equilibrium Debunked by Researchers
For the Attention of Greta Thunberg
What Everyone Should Know About the BLM Movement
The Principles that Made America Great:
The Artifact Hypothesis Debunked
Why Christians Should Support Israel’s Claim to the West Bank
Earth’s Deep Water Cycle Fine-Tuned for Life
When Darwinism is Applied to Politics
COVID-19: The Economic Fallout
Whale Evolution Further Debunked Part 1
New ENCODE Results Unveil Still MORE FUNCTIONS in So-Called Junk DNA.
The Politicisation of Hydroxy Chloroquine
The Wonders of the Human Mind Part 1
Trapped by Language: Why Biologists Can’t Avoid Teleological Verbiage
A Little Lower than the Angels
Heretic Pope Affirms Transgender Depravity
Latest on Orphan Genes Affirms Creationism
For Math Challenged Woketards: Two Plus Two Really Equals Four
A Critical Review of Josh Swamidass’ Book, The Genealogical Adam and Eve
Worrying Developments in the American Workplace
The Decadence of Gender Ideology
Strictly Come Dancing Turns Gaypo
Graceland Vandalised by BLM Thugs
Update on Recent Desperate Attempts to Find a Naturalistic Origin of Life
More Bad News for Pond Scum Merchants: No Sign of ETI in New Mega-Survey
World Class Palaeontologist Debunks Ancestors to Cambrian Animals
How Christians Should Respond to Environmental Issues
Breakthrough: Intelligent Design Theory Now Being Published in Mainstream Science Journals
The Great Barrington Declaration
Facebook Removes Ex-Gay Testimonies
Responding to Richard Dawkins & The Old Testament
The Perils of Favouritism & the New “Woke” Gospel
British NHS Defends Giving Sex Change Hormones to 10 Year-Olds
American Pastors Organising to Fight Back Against “Tyrannical” Democrat Shutdowns
The Left’s Communist Manifesto for America
The Origin of the Lockdown Mentality
The Developing Beast System : Apostate Pope Attends One World Religion Event
Victory for Common Sense: UK Equalities Minister Blasts BLM & Critical Race Theory
No Phosphine Found In the Venus’ Atmosphere Follow-Up Study Shows
and
A New Call for the Retraction of the Original Paper After Another Analysis of the Data
and
and
First Eukaryotic Cells were Already Complex
When Scientists Make Truth Claims Outside Science
Warning to Masktards: A Distinguished Neurologist Speaks
Did China Fund The Phony Joe Biden Campaign?
Democrat-Run Oregon Decriminalises Crystal Meth, Heroin and Cocaine Use, as its Cities Burn.
Why Origin of Life Researchers Must Embrace Intelligent Design
Should Christians Ever Employ Civil Disobedience?
Catholics Discuss their Apostate Pope
Marxism Appropriated to the 2020 US Election
Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed Develops Moderna Vaccine with 95% Efficacy
Veteran Military Chaplin Fired from US Air Force for Holding Biblical Views on Sexual Morality
Schooling Masktards: Multiple Studies Show Masks are Ineffective and Possibly Harmful
An Amusing Take on the Utah “Monolith”
From the USA: A Major Victory Over LGBTQ Tyranny
Galapagos Finch “Evolution” Debunked
After Weighing the Evidence, Medic Ditches Theistic Evolution for Intelligence
Some Effects of Transgenderism
Leaked: Biden Administration Urged to Persecute American Conservative Christians
Raven Intelligence Raises More Problems for Evolutionists
I’ll Own What I Choose to Own and my Happiness is none of your Damn Business……Comrade!
Another Defeat for Darwinian Junk Science: the Thymus is Not a Vestigial Organ
Argentinian Socialist Government Legalises Abortion
Requiem for the American Republic
A Catholic Priest Comments on the Consequences of the 2020 US Election
Darwinian Time Trees Don’t Work, New Analysis Suggests
Battle for the Soul: Surviving a Chinese Communist Re-Education Camp
The New American State Religion- Wokeness
Conservatives: You Gotta Get Your Kids out of Illinois Public Schools
New Geochemical Research Findings Affirm the Genesis Creation Account
An Interview with Dr. John Sanford
Did the American People Really Vote this Guy in?
The Curious Case of Ivermectin
New Zealand: where Capitalism Triumphed over Socialism
Hitting Woke Big Tech & the Fake News Media where it Hurts
More Bull from the Masktard King
Yet Another Putative Human Evolutionary Ancestor Debunked
Marxist Pope Francis Pushes Great Reset
Revisionist View of Homosexuality Debunked
Poisoning of the Youth: A look at Amerika’s New, Ultra-Woke School Curriculum
From Newsweek: Transgender Man Warns Others About the Dire Health Consequences of Her Actions
It Happened on Your Watch: How the Rise of Evil is Destroying American Cities
Great Reset Creep’s Plan to Destroy the American Agricultural Industry
Lessons for the USA: Venezuela’s Experiment with Socialism Falters as it Embraces Privatisation
New Insights into ‘Super’ Earths Suggest they’re Uninhabitable
Insane Biden Administration Destroying Girl’s Sports
Amazon Quietly Removes Book Criticizing Transgender Ideology
Dozens of House Democrats Requesting Biden to Relinquish Sole Authority to Launch Nuclear Weapons
What the Equality Act Means for Ordinary US Citizens
Great Reset Creeps Suffer a Propaganda Crash
Why Darwinian Junk Science Remains Popular with the Pagan Masses
Another Evolutionary Icon Bites the Dust: Beta Globin Pseudogene Shows Functionality
Are Electric Vehicles Really the Future?
Prehistoric Cave Art & The Imago Dei
Vatican Clarifies its Position on Same Sex Relationships – Declares them “Sinful”
Where Cancel Culture Naturally Leads
New York Columbia University’s Woke Graduation
Long-term Study from 10,000 Generations of Yeast Cells Reveals Devolution not Evolution
What the Green New Deal is Really All About
Avi Loeb’s Oumuamua Alien Hypothesis Debunked
What Everyone Needs to Know About the Proposed Vaccine Passports
Mars & Nestle Join the Woke Brigade
Attention Parents: What the Sexually Depraved are Now Teaching Your Children
Ten Reasons why Birds are Not Living Dinosaurs
Debunking More Pseudoscience: New MIT Study Shows Social Distancing Rules Are Completely Pointless
From a Leading UK Journalist: Biden is Smashing America’s Moral Compass
You What? Even the Spineless CNN Calls out Biden as a Masktard
Obama Administration Scientist Admits “Climate Emergency” is Bunk
Richard Dawkins’ Desperate Claims about the Origin of the Bacterial Flagellum Now Disproven
Fighting the Marxists: US States Begin to Ban the Teaching of Critical Race Theory in Schools
Sickos: Have a Very Happy Woke Birthing Person Day!
Woke British Universities Could Face Fines for Suppressing Free Speech/De-platforming Guest Speakers
Marxist Ideologies Infiltrating the US Military
Darwin’s Tree of Life Finally Gets the Chop
Evidence for the Biblical Exodus
Gaps Everywhere in the History of Life!
From Prager: How to Re-Take A Nation from the Marxist ‘Democrats’
The Transgender Contagion Corrupting the Youth of the World
Nickelodeon Ratings Crash Amid LGBTQ Push
News from Canada: Campaign for Sexual Immorality Extended From a Month to a Season
Who did Allah Love in Eternity?
Critical Race Theory: A Crash Course
Long Awaited Pentagon UFO Report: A Big Fat Nothing Burger
Culture Wars: France Tells US ” Keep your Wicked Wokeism to Yourself!”
O’ Biden Regime Spying on Prominent Conservative TV Personality
Welcome to the New Cult of ‘Safetyism’
Allan Sandage: An Astronomer’s Journey to Faith
Climate Models: Worse than Nothing?
Trump Goes After the Big Tech Bottom Feeders
While America Leans Ever Closer to Communism, Cuban People Take to the Streets to Condemn it
What the Darwinist and Transgender Lobby Share in Common
Sex Mania-Induced Societal Psychosis
Trump Discusses Arizona Audit Findings and the Biden Regime’s Disastrous Record in Government
The Covid-19 Files: The Curious Case of Sweden
An ID Prediction Concerning CRISPR Gene Editing
7 Lies your Kids Pick Up in the Secular World and How to Correct Them
The Link Between the Political Left and Paedophilia
COVID-19 Survivors Display Stronger, Better Immunity to the Virus than Vaccinated Individuals
Massive Increases in Home-Schooling Across USA
British Bull Corporation(BBC) Goes Woke
Mark Zuckerberg Launches Church of Beelzebub
Why Biblical Justice Trumps Social Justice
The Wonderful World of Diatoms
Distinguished Scientist Breaks Down the Climate Change Hoax
The Ministry of Truth Comes to Life
Antipodean Darkness: Australia Bans Peaceful Protests Against Abortion
What to Make of the 6th IPCC Report
Hungary: a Beacon of Christian Freedom
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New Peer Reviewed Study Suggests the Sun and not Human-Derived Carbon Dioxide is Driving Climate Change
The Masktards Who Live by Lies
Why Atheists Can’t Think Straight
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The Mystery of Life Lies Beyond Science
From The Times of London: US 2020 Presidential Election was Rigged
Why Pronouns Matter……but not in a Woke Way
UK Athletic Equality Group Deems Trans Sports Unsafe And Unfair
Francis Collins & His Moral Failings
How the Maggots at Facebook Helped The O’ Biden Marxist Regime Over the Line
Leading Mainstream Science Journal Now Waving Bye Bye to Junk DNA
Wikipedia Slides Down the Leftist Sewer
More Facts for the Brainwashed Masktardii
Did Humans Evolve from Ape-like Ancestors? The Evidence is Surprisingly Weak!
Marxist Kalifornia’s Attack on Smart Kids
A Critical Review of Yuval Harari’s Sapiens
Why We Should All be Sceptical of Human Evolution
It’s Official: Roads are Racist!
The Fables Told by Evolutionary Psychologists
From Norway: Santa Turns Gaypo
Tales from an Ozzy Covid Quarantine Camp
The Benefits of Traditional Marriage
Ethnos Against Ethnos at a Denver Elementary School
Reflections on the Launch of the James Webb Space Telescope
Deception: NASA Hires ‘Theologians’ to Study Humanity’s Reaction to ET
More Tales of Woe for Brainwashed Darwinistas: The Bacterial Flagellum Could Not Have Evolved
When Wokeness Comes Back to Bite the Hand that Feeds
Why Evolutionary Explanations of Adam & Eve Fail
Why Climate Change Alarmists Embrace Authoritarianism
Cambrian Explosion Occurred in Just 410,000 Years New Study Reveals
Jordan Peterson Resigns His Chair in Protest of the Wicked & Woke University of Toronto.
Wicked Scottish Government Pushing to Criminalise Biblical Views on Marriage and Sexuality
More Education for the Masktardii
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Collapse of the Communist News Network(CNN)
What You Need to Know About January 6
The Wicked US Democratic Party’s Attack on Christians
The Illusion of Evidence-Based Medicine
Christian Transhumanism Debunked
Schooling Darwinistas: Species Pairs & The Waiting Time Problem
The O’ Biden Regime’s Ministry of Truth
US Public & Private School Pushing Sexual Perversion
2000 Mules: How the US 2020 Presidential Election was Stolen
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What the Early Church Taught about Abortion
New York Slimes Embraces Inflation as a Marxist Virtue
The Long Road To ‘Positive’ Paedophilia Part 1
Woke Ozzie Politician Loses the Plot
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The Dangers of Universal Basic Income
The Desperation of Panspermia Adherents
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Mammoth Support for Devolution
The Federal Bureau of Intimidation(FBI)
Shameful CDC Finally Come Clean on Natural Immunity
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The Cult of Greta Thunberg Falls Apart
What the Great Reset Really Entails
Nobel Prize Winning Developmental Biologist calls Transgenderism “Nonsense”
JWST Affirms a Cosmic Beginning
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Update on Jabtards & Masktards
What a Top Chemist and Mathematician Think About Darwinian Junk Science
Comparing the US Democrat Party to the CCP
Counting the Cost of the Lockdowns on our Young People
UK Universities Urged to Go Woke on Mathematics Teaching
Human Male Fertility Showing Rapid Decline Globally
Why the Notion of “Abrahamic Religions” is an Ecumenical Farce
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The Extraordinary Svbony SV202 8 x 42 ED.
A Work Commenced November 12 2022
Product: Svbony SV202 8 x 42 ED
Country of Manufacture: Hong Kong
Chassis: Textured rubber armoured Magnesium alloy
Exit Pupil: 5.25mm
Field of View: 131m@1000m(7.5 angular degrees)
Eye Relief: 17.5mm
Dioptre Compensation: +/- 3
Close Focus: 2m advertised, 2.27m measured
Coatings: Fully broadband multicoated, dielectric and phase coatings on BAK4 roof prisms
ED Glass: Yes
Waterproof: Yes IPX7 rating
Nitrogen Purged: Yes
Weight: 720g advertised, 720g measured
Dimensions: 15 x 11.5 cm
Accessories: Padded soft case, logoed neoprene neck strap, ocular and objective covers, microfibre lens cleaning cloth, instruction manual
Warranty: 1 year
Price(US): $179.99
The old Latin proverb, Omne trium perfectum, came to mind as I finally got a chance to look though the new Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED. After discovering the many virtues of both the compact 8 x 32 and full-size 10 x 42 from the same series, and communicating my findings with the general community, a great many people have benefited from using these binoculars and reported on their amazing optics and ergonomics. Despite receiving attacks from online trolls and a few individuals who hate me and my work for no cause, they got egg on their faces as interest in these binoculars went viral(preamble 3 is only one of several threads available to peruse online). More and more favourable reports kept coming out, making these instruments go from strength to strength across the world, where they have shattered once and for all the myth that excellent binoculars can only be had by shelling out large sums of money.
I’m delighted to say that those days are well and truly behind us now!
As soon as the new 8 x 42 had been launched, I immediately received a barrage of emails requesting a review. After thinking about it a little while, I decided to act on these requests – it just seemed to be the right thing to do. The instrument was not yet available on Amazon, the online retailer that I had bought the SV 202 8 x 32 and 10 x 42 ED models from, so I went to Svbony’s Website and ordered it directly from them. My order was placed on October 20 and the instrument arrived safely on the afternoon of November 1. I paid $179.99 US to secure my order but had to pay an additional 20 per cent import tariff in order for the binocular to clear customs, so about £200 all in.
First Impressions & Ergonomics
Just like the previous two models, the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED arrived in the same neat little box. Inside, the same black soft padded case housed the instrument, with the rain guard and tethered objective lens covers attached. The box also contained a padded neoprene logoed neck strap, a lens cleaning microfibre cloth and multi-language instruction manual and warranty information.
The instrument was immaculately presented with its durable magnesium alloy chassis overlaid with a tough non-oxidising rubber armouring, and presenting the same ridges at the side of the barrels as the other models for excellent gripping in all weathers. Inspecting the innards of the binocular from the objective end, I was relieved to find that everything looked immaculate, with no signs of streaks on the optics, dust or other debris inside. The knife-edge baffles looked nicely machined and the inside painted a dull matt black to optimise contrast.
Examining the focus wheel, I was delighted to see that it was silky smooth and backlash free, taking 1.5 turns anticlockwise to go from one extreme of its focus travel to infinity and a little bit beyond. Tension is excellent – just as good as on the 10 x 42 ED and not quite as tight as on the 8 x 32 ED model(which niggled me a little).
The twist-up eyecups are also excellent. Fashioned from machined metal overlaid with soft rubber, they have three positions to accommodate the vast majority of users, including those who wear eyeglasses. They lock into each position with a reassuring ‘click’ and remain very rigidly in place. Indeed, from memory, they appear to be very similar to those found on the excellent Nikon Monarch HG binocular series. The eye relief is more than sufficient to view the entire field with glasses on, as my tests showed.
The right-eye dioptre adjustment ring is located under the eyepiece. It has excellent texture and tension to enable the user to quickly and accurately find his/her desired setting. Unlike the majority of binoculars in this price range, the plus and minus settings are easy to see and a white dot makes it easy for you to remember your preferred setting. Once adjusted, it remains rigidly in place for hassle free observing.
The single bridge is fairly short, allowing the user to wrap his/her fingers around the front of the barrels securely to ensure supremely comfortable handling.
The broadband anti-reflection coatings have a beautiful purple hue in broad daylight. They appear very evenly applied and appear to almost disappear when viewed from oblique angles. The 42mm objective lenses are nicely recessed, affording good protection from stray light, dust and rain. The ocular lenses are large and easy to centre one’s eyes in.
Overall, and in keeping with my comments on the 8 x 32 and 10 x 42 models, the fit and finish on the Svbony SV202 8 x 42 ED is excellent. And just like its siblings, it looks and feels like a real class act, being quite lightweight(720g) and a particular joy to handle. These binoculars were clearly built with longevity in mind, and all I can say is that there is nothing in the design of these instruments that gives me any grounds for doubt.
Optical Assessment
In my experiences testing dozens of models in this aperture class over the years, I’ve encountered many that look the part only to discover that their optics were, let’s just say, underwhelming. I’m delighted to report that the optics of the SV 202 8 x 42 ED did not disappoint! To give the reader an honest and thorough idea of how good this binocular is, I took the liberty to test it alongside two other instruments in the same aperture class: the Hawke Endurance ED 8 x 42 retailing at just over £200 and the more expensive GPO Passion ED 8 x 42 costing £404.
First examining the image of an intensely bright beam of white light directed into the instruments from across a darkened indoor setting, the results from the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED were really excellent! It stubbornly refused to show up any internal reflections, unlike the Hawke Endurance ED, which showed up some prominent ones in comparison. Nor was there any diffused light around the light source in the Svbony unlike the Hawke which was easy to see in comparison. Clearly, the Svbony has noticeably superior coatings and baffles to stubbornly block off these annoying optical artefacts. Now, when I compared the Svbony to the GPO Passion ED 8 x 42, the results were a lot closer but I must report that the Svbony also showed slightly better resistance to internal reflections than the GPO. Indeed, predictably enough, I obtained the same results when I turned the instruments on a bright full Moon and a sodium streetlamp after dark. Internal reflections and diffused light were quite obvious in the Hawke and much better in the GPO but I was still able to make out some weak internal reflections in the GPO binocular in comparison to the Svbony, which showed none in comparison. These are excellent results, and quite in keeping with the two other SV202 models I purchased and tested in my past evaluations(see Preamble 1 & 2 above).
Next, taking a look at the exit pupils aimed at a bright, artificial light source, I was delighted to see that the large exit pupils on the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED were perfectly round, with little in the way of light bleeds in their vicinity as the photos below show;
So how are the views through the Svbony SV202 8 x 42ED? In a word: excellent! The image is very bright and razor sharp across the vast majority of the field. The binocular shows lovely micro-contrast details. Images snap to focus with absolutely no ambiguity. You’re either in focus or out of focus. No fiddling required! Contrast and colour rendering are also excellent. Glare is very well supressed but not quite as good as the best binoculars I’ve sampled in the £800 + range. On a CN thread I initiated on the SV202 8 x 32 ED I made the comment that Svbony were better off making the field of view a little smaller to reduce the severity of the field curvature seen near the field stops. I believe Svbony has listened and actively addressed the problem. The view is wide(7.5 angular degrees) but not overly so. This makes the sweetspot proportionately larger in the 8 x 42 than either the 8 x 32 or the 10 x 42 models previously assessed. How big? I’d estimate that its razor sharp over at least 70 per cent of the field, with mild field curvature and some barrel distortion creeping in as one approaches the field stops. But make no mistake about it, even at the field stops, the images of stars I assessed(discussed below) were tighter than I remember on the two earlier models I field tested.
Comparing the views through the similarly-priced Hawke Endurance ED, the difference was obvious; the Svbony was noticeably sharper, had better contrast and with better control of both general field glare and veiling glare. Colour correction was maybe a shade better in the Hawke though, but I’ve noted that some of the sharpest binoculars I’ve tested over the last four years have had some secondary spectrum bleed. Having said that, there is only the merest trace of it within the sweet spot but as one moves to the outer field, lateral colour can often be picked up when viewing tree branches against a uniformly lit grey background sky; a harsh test for any binocular, however well made.
I got even more excited when I tested the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED against the GPO Passion ED 8 x 42. This time, I canvassed the opinions of a few students to compare and contrast the views in both good and poor ambient light conditions, having already made my mind up on the matter. The results were again unanimous: they all agreed with me that the Svbony served up sharper images though they noted that the field of view of the GPO was noticeably wider( 8.1 angular degrees). But they could see, as I did, that the edge of field performance was noticeably better in the Sybony – a consequence of its more conservative sized field of view. These are truly excellent results and fully in keeping with the title of this review: the Extraordinary Svbony!
Notes from the Field
The majority of my most rigorous testing of the Svbony SV 202 ED 8 x 42 took place under a starry sky, where optical issues are easier to assess. Defocusing the bright, first-magnitude star, Capella, by rotating the dioptre ring to the end of its travel, I could see that collimation was fine. The focused star image from the left barrel was well inside the defocused anulus appearing in the right barrel. Stars remained tiny pinpoints of light across about 70-75 per cent of the field, with the last 25 per cent or so revealing some field curvature and a minor amount of astigmatism right at the field stops.
I was easily able to measure the size of the field of view in the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED. Noting that the stars Betelgeuse and Bellatrix in northern Orion are precisely 7 degrees 33’ apart, I was just unable to fit both into the same field. That’s very much in keeping with the 7 degree 30’ stated in the specifications. Good job Sybony!
Examining a bright waxing gibbous Moon in late October skies threw up a marble-white orb, peppered by grey lava seas and excellent crater detail across the southern highlands. Chromatic aberration was completely absent from the lunar limb within the large sweet spot, but did throw up some as the Moon was moved out towards the field stops. I noted some moderate drop off in illumination of the Moon at the field edges but nothing to take issue with, where only very slight refocusing was needed to bring it sharply into focus.
Back to daylight testing again now. Close focus was measured to be 2.27 metres, a little longer than advertised. I noticed some pincushion(positive) distortion looking at an off axis drain pipe. On the many very dull, overcast days we experienced throughout October, the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED threw up superlative images. Colours in autumn leaves really popped, with no contrast-robbing glare to reduce the intensity of the views. Greens, browns and red colours seem to be enhanced under these conditions. Near dusk, these colours really become enhanced! Imaging fallen leaves at close quarters(within a few metres) really shows off the exceptional sharpness of this binocular. I attribute this to unusually good correction of spherical aberration. Indeed, to my eye, better spherical aberration correction is more desirable than a slightly softer but better colour corrected image, as was manifested in the Hawke Endurance ED 8 x 42 tested alongside it. I detected no blackouts while panning large swathes of hillside with the Svbony 8 x 42 ED, unlike I encountered with the GPO Passion ED 8 x 42. I attribute this to simpler eyepiece design in the former. I’ve found blackouts to be a significant issue in many wide-angle 8 x 42s, with more aggressive field flattening strongly correlating with the frequency of blackouts encountered.
Under bright sunny conditions, the Svbony does throw up more in the way of glare, especially in the direction of the Sun, but although I’m especially partial to this kind of defect, it was never bothersome. Indeed, comparing my notes of observations conducted using a well-heeled Swarovski EL 8.5 x 42, I observed similar levels of glare under the same conditions. In another low light test, I compared and contrasted the images garnered by the GPO Passion ED and the Svbony. Observing at dusk and far into deep twilight, looking into the deeply shaded undergrowth of shrubs some 20 metres in the distance, I was unable to see any significant brightness differences between the instruments. That’s good news considering the former has a light transmission of the order of 90 per cent. Whatever the precise light transmission of the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED, it’s likely to be impressively high.
Conclusions & Recommendations
They say good things come in threes. That’s certainly turned out to be a true adage in my experience with these SV 202 compact and mid-sized ED binoculars from Svbony. Furthermore, of the three I’ve tested and reported on, this new SV 202 8 x 42 ED has got to be my favourite. It’s an awesome binocular, especially considering its very modest pricing. It will make an excellent birding binocular, for example, where the finest optics are required to pick off the minutest details in your avian targets. It’s also a fine star gazing binocular with its great near edge-to-edge sharpness. It will do well in any situation; bright sunlight, or at dusk and dawn, so will also be useful as a hunting glass. I’m confident that the performance of this instrument will match or exceed pretty much any instrument currently on the market under £500, and will give £1K instruments a frightening run for their money. Any room for improvement? Yes. A few extra layers of antireflection coatings applied to the elements in the optical train will cut down the already minimal levels of glare to levels seen on binoculars in the £800 price range. Adding a hydrophobic coating on the outer lenses wouldn’t go amiss either, especially if you intend to use it in cold and wet environments. Other than that, I’d say leave well alone!
Very highly favoured!
Dr Neil English will publish a new book dedicated to binoculars: Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts, due out in late 2023.
Zeiss Terra ED Pocket 8 x 25 Redux.
Zeiss Terra ED Pocket 8 x 25(China) Package.
A Work Commenced October 1 2022
When the Zeiss Terra ED pockets were first launched, many enthusiasts were pleased to learn that they were manufactured in Japan, but as of 2020, Zeiss moved the production of these units to China, where all of the larger Terra ED models continue to be made. At first, it was the source of some confusion, with some folk chiming in to inform me that their new Terra pockets were marked “Japan,” while others showed pictures of “China” under the bridge. When I made some enquiries, I was first told by one Zeiss employee that they were still being made in Japan, but shortly thereafter they backpedalled, informing me by phone that the new Terra pocket glasses were now being made in China, leaving only their flagship Victory pockets in Japanese production.
A solidly constructed instrument, just like the Japanese-derived model.
Over the last few years, I bought in, tested and evaluated many pocket binoculars from many manufacturers, and inevitably, the build up of equipment in my house meant that I had to gift many of them to friends or sell them on – and that included my Japanese-made Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25. But after owning and using some top pocket binoculars from Leica, including the 8 x 20 and 10 x 25 BCA models and the Ultravid 8 x 20, I gradually came to accept their limitations, as charming as they are, especially when I began to explore the larger format 8 x 30 and 8 x 32 models. The latter were simply much more comfortable and easier to use, with their bigger eye box and more comfortable handling. And as for optical versatility, the larger 30-32mm formats were in a completely different league to any pocket glass, however sophisticated. A week using my superlative Nikon E II 8 x 30 – my favourite binocular by a country mile – finally convinced me to sell off my little Ultravid 8 x 20 to help recoup some funds(I’m not a collector but an observer), but it did leave a small hole in my modest stable of instruments. I still yearned for a good quality pocket binocular for occasional use, for trips to the theatre and galleries, for travel and exploring interesting buildings in the towns and cities of Scotland and further afield. What to do? It was at this time that I thought I would give the little Terra pocket a second chance, noting that it was still selling at about the same price I paid for my first Terra – £270 – so I took the plunge and ordered a unit up from Cameracentre UK in South Wales.
The China label on view under the bridge.
When it arrived, I was pleased to see that the instrument was presented in the same presentation box my first Terra pocket came in; a sturdy fold-out arrangement, with a lovely presentation of an alpine nature scene. I was equally delighted to see that the binocular was stored inside the same hard, zip-fastened clamshell case, with a magnetic latch to boot. This was a very pleasant surprise, as a 10 x 25 Terra ED model(with a new black chassis) I bought off Amazon in 2021 only came with a soft pouch – hardly enough protection for the instrument, which I returned after not being entirely happy with its optical performance.
A closer look at the large ocular lenses on the Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25.
The exact same strap was supplied with this new Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25 too; another good thing, as it is of high quality and perfectly designed to support this small pocket glass(310g). Examining the instrument, I was pleased to see what I had previously observed with my Japanese-made unit. Well put together, with the same grey-black chassis as before. I liked that colour scheme, with the blue Zeiss logo located just ahead of the central focus wheel. I was relieved to see that the double hinge was tight, maybe not as tight as I recall on the Japanese unit, but tight enough. The same immaculate Zeiss multi-coatings were smoothly applied to the ocular and objective lenses, and applying a breath test on a cool, afternoon outdoors, showed that the company’s proprietary LotuTec hydrophobic coatings rapidly dispersed the condensation. Neat!
The wonderful coatings applied to the deeply recessed objectives.
The twist-up eye cups were also working perfectly, rigidly staying in position once clicked into their grooves. The dioptre adjuster – a small wheel located at the far end of the wide bridge – moved smoothly – and once adjusted, I was ready to test the optics.
Beginning with my flashlight test, I directed the light from my Iphone torch adjusted to its brightest setting into the binocular from across my living room to examine the focused image. As I noted with my Japanese model, the results showed very good suppression of internal reflections and very little diffused light around the intensely bright beam but, as before, it did show up a prominent diffraction spike, which was also unfortunately picked up by looking at some streetlamps after dark. No difference between the Japanese and Chinese-made instruments in this capacity. The little Leica glasses were much better in this regard, showing very little of diffraction spikes in comparison.
I never conducted an examination of the exit pupils on my first Terra ED pocket, so was keen to see how they fared in this unit. I’m pleased to report that the results were very good, as you can see below; both pupils presented as perfect circles, with no significant light leaks around them. Bravo!
Left exit pupil.
Right exit pupil
But things turned out even more swimmingly as I began to study the images in bright autumnal sunlight. The view was excellent; bright, sharp, lovely contrast and vivid colours – all the things I had admired in the Japanese-made unit. That’s a consequence of the Schott ED glass used in the objectives and dielectrically coated Schmidt-Pechan prisms delivering an impressive light transmission of 88 per cent. The sweet spot is very large, with only a small amount of softening near the field stops. The view is wide – 119m at 1000m(6.8 angular degrees) – better than on my Leica pockets. I judged the Terra ED’s glare suppression abilities to be very good too – significantly better than my Leica’s, as I remember, with veiling glare being especially well controlled – for a pocket glass at least. The deeply recessed objectives and highly efficient coatings applied throughout the optical train definitely work together here. The quoted eye relief of 16mm is generous enough to enjoy the entire field using glasses, if that’s your thing. It’s also water and fog proof, making it suitable for the most adverse weather conditions Mother Nature is likely to throw at you.
If I’m being honest, the large focus wheel on the Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25 was, if anything, a little smoother than on my Ultravid 8 x 20. Just over one full turn clockwise brings you from closest focus(~ 1.9 m) to beyond infinity. Indeed, the wheel moved further beyond infinity than many other binoculars I’ve tested. Surely that means that with a bit of clever tweaking(which can be done!), the focuser can be re-adjusted to render the close focus even shorter, but that’s for another day.
Comparing the Nikon E II 8 x 30 to the Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25(right).
In good lighting conditions, and taking into account its considerably smaller field, the Zeiss Terra pocket throws up very comparable views to my Nikon EII 8 x 30, with broadly similar levels of contrast and sharpness. Colour tone is noticeably warmer in the little Zeiss Terra though, and following the course of a long, straight section of country road, the compact Nikon Porro easily showed greater levels of contouring(stereopsis), as I expected from its more widely spaced objectives. This is a quick and easy way to see the advantages of Porro prism binoculars over their roof prism counterparts. The fact that you can more easily discern the bumps and depressions in the road is proof enough that the Nikon shows more spatial information than the little Zeiss roof prism binocular.
Another significant difference between the models is comfort and ease of viewing; eye placement is a lot more finicky with the Zeiss, requiring the precise alignment of one’s eyes with the barrels, and the smaller exit pupil requires a little more skill to find a satisfactory viewing experience. But a 3.1mm exit pupil is much easier to engage with than the 2.5mm pupils on my Leica glasses. None of this was an issue with the little Nikon 8 x 30 though: you simply bring it to your eyes for instant gratification, and drink up the enormous 8.8 degree field in all its optical glory! Having said all that though, I was very impressed how well the little Terra handled the affair. It’s a pocket binocular after all!
A quality experience.
So, in conclusion, should I be worried about the fact that the new Terra ED pockets are made in China? For me, the answer to that question is definitely no. It’s every bit as good as the Japanese unit I once had. Properly looked after, it ought to give many years of service. After all, it’s still a Zeiss binocular; and you can tell that from the instant you gaze through it!
Happy Camper!
Neil English has tested more pocket binoculars than you could shake a proverbial stick at. Find out more from his up-and-coming book: Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Nature Enthusiasts, published by Springer Nature in late 2023.
Book Review: Return of the God Hypothesis by Stephen C. Meyer.
A Work first Published in Touchstone Magazine March/April 2022
Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe
by Stephen C. Meyer
HarperOne, 2021
(576 pages, $29.99, hardcover)
Return of the God Hypothesis is the latest work from the distinguished philosopher of science, Dr. Stephen C. Meyer, Director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington, and one of the world’s leading proponents of intelligent design (ID). In it, Dr. Meyer shows that science at its most cutting edge has thoroughly vindicated those who have clung to a deeply held belief in a personal God who operates beyond space and time. From the earliest moments of the Big Bang, to the formation of the first living cells on earth, and on up to the present day, the extraordinary fine-tuning we observe in all realms of nature shows us that God has truly left his signature on the very large and the very small.
The thesis of this book is that modern scientific discoveries testify to the idea that a mind vastly superior to our own not only created the universe, but also purposefully arranged for it to have precisely the properties required for human life to exist and flourish. Meyer examines three seminal scientific discoveries to support his thesis: (1) that organisms contain biological information whose source cannot be merely physical or material; (2) that the laws of physics have been finely tuned to sustain life in general and human life in particular; and (3) that the universe had a specific beginning in space and time.
Building on his previous best-selling works, Signature in the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt, which examined the implications of biological information, Meyer now brings cosmic fine tuning and the origination of the universe in a Hot Big Bang singularity into the discussion to argue persuasively that the single best explanation for all three phenomena is a personal God who transcends the spacetime continuum and has intervened throughout cosmic history to ensure that creatures shaped in his image would one day appear on earth.
Theistic Cosmology: The Big Bang
These three ideas were not birthed in a vacuum. The scientific revolution, Meyer asserts, began in Reformation Europe and was firmly moored in theistic principles. Quite simply, to study the universe was to get to know the mind of God. That’s why so many of the founding fathers of science—Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, and René Descartes, to name but a few—framed their scientific knowledge in terms of “understanding God’s thoughts after him.” They all saw within the pages of Scripture a God who set boundaries for the tides and the winds and ordained the orderly motion of the moon, stars, and planets, a law-giving God who limits human life span to curtail the spread of personal evil within any individual.
But as the Renaissance gave way to the Age of Enlightenment, scientists abandoned these theistic principles and sought instead to formulate a purely materialistic narrative of cosmogenesis. The great celestial mechanician, Pierre-Simon Laplace, declared in the eighteenth century that there was no need to invoke a deity to explain the complex motions of the celestial bodies, and Charles Darwin posited in the nineteenth that humans evolved from lower animals through a mindless process he called evolution. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw scientific materialism reach its zenith and even spill over into political and psychological discourse in the works of such atheists as Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud.
Yet with the inexorable march of science into the twentieth century, theism came back with a vengeance, starting with Edwin P. Hubble’s discovery that the universe was constantly expanding. This was followed by Georges Lemaitre’s discovery of evidence for a sigular cosmic event which brought the physical world—space, time, matter, and energy—into existence all at once at a particular point in the finite past. Lemaitre’s theory—for he was both a Catholic priest and a prominent physicist—came to be known as the Big Bang theory.
Meyer relates how many of the great astronomical minds of the era found such origin stories “philosophically repugnant” and went to great lengths to repudiate them. In fact, the distinguished British astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle coined the phrase “Big Bang” as a term of derision. He countered the idea of the universe having a definite beginning with his own “steady state” theory of a universe that was infinitely old. This was the conservative view among scientific materialists at the time.
But as militant as Hoyle became in advancing his steady-state cosmology, the evidence for the Big Bang grew ever stronger as the twentieth century wore on. And some distinguished scientists, such as the Mount Wilson astronomer Allan Sandage, began to see the unavoidably theistic implications of a universe that had a beginning. Ultimately, the evidence for the Big Bang theory led Sandage to faith in Christ at the end of his life.
Theistic Biochemistry: Genetic Information
In exploring the current state of origin-of-life research, Meyer shows that despite the best attempts of materialist scientists to re-create the first chemical steps toward life, they have been unable to do so, but in the process have inadvertently shown that an inordinate amount of intelligent design—far in excess of current human capability—is required to bring a living organism into existence. Indeed, by calling on experts in organic chemistry, Meyer shows that even the first steps toward creating a biomolecular assemblage require many intervening stages that cannot be achieved naturalistically. He writes:
The discovery of the functional digital information in DNA and RNA molecules in even the simplest living cells provides strong grounds for inferring that intelligence played a role in the origin of the information necessary to produce the first living organism.
The thorny question of life’s origin leads Meyer to explore an even more fundamental problem for scientists who hold to a strictly materialistic narrative of how we got here. He doesn’t shy away from asking where the stupendous amounts of new genetic information came from that are needed to build complex cells and new body plans. He shows that even the most hard-nosed evolutionary biologists duck that question time and time again because no rational answer is in sight.
Theistic Physics: Fine Tuning
Moreover, it turns out that we live in precisely the kind of universe that can allow living things to exist in the first place, not to mention allowing human life to flourish. Specifically, if the strengths of the various forces of nature or the properties of the particles comprising the material universe were only very slightly different, we simply wouldn’t exist at all. This is known as the fine-tuning problem. Meyer reminds us that some of the best minds in the industry have been thinking deeply about it.
The distinguished theoretical physicist Sir John Polkinghorne believes that cosmic fine-tuning provides very powerful evidence of design. Brian Josephson, another British Nobel Prize-winning physicist, has stated frankly that he is 80 percent confident that some kind of intelligent agency was involved in the creation of life. The same evidence caused the outspoken philosopher Antony Flew to reject his own long-time atheistic teachings, which he had clung to for most of his life, in favor of deism. As Christian astronomer Luke Barnes writes: “Fine tuning suggests that, at the deepest level that physics has reached, the universe is well put together. . . . The whole system seems well thought out, something that someone planned and created.”
Nevertheless, some materialist physicists have invoked an entirely speculative concept to explain away the creation of our fine-tuned universe: namely, the weird and wonderful “multiverse,” or as some refer to it, the “many worlds hypothesis.” Our universe appears the way it is, these advocates claim, because it is just one among an infinite number of universes whose physical laws and material properties are all different. Logic dictates that a small number of these universes must contain conditions that are ripe for the development of life and human intelligence, and ours just happens to be one of them. No creator God needed.
Meyer calls upon some towering figures in the philosophy of physics to demolish the multiverse hypothesis. Roger Gordon, for instance, has compared the attempt to promote the multiverse theory to “trying to dig the Grand Canyon to fill in a pothole.” Other intellectuals have delivered their own verdicts on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. Richard Swinburne of Oxford University likes to invoke Occam’s Razor in deciding whether a theistic or multiverse worldview is more likely. Since theistic beliefs require only one explanatory entity, he argues, over the multitude of entities required for the multiverse, the theistic model is more rational and more likely to be true.
Cosmic Gerrymandering
Desperate attempts have also been made by influential cosmologists to avoid the obvious theistic implications of a universe that had a definite beginning. In particular, Meyer uses his considerable skills in philosophy to debunk the lofty-sounding proclamations of celebrity cosmologists such as Lawrence Krauss, the late Stephen Hawking, and others, who have sold millions of books with headline-grabbing titles like A Universe from Nothing and The Grand Design.
Meyer also examines the technical details of the real physics underlying their claims. For example, he notes that Hawking ducks the issue of a beginning by introducing “imaginary time” into the equations of general relativity. While these modifications do seem to avoid a singularity, his critics have pointed out that they are merely mathematical constructs that do not comport with physical reality. Hawking also introduces ad hoc treatments that appear simply to have been motivated by his philosophic disliking of a first cause.
Meyer lays out similar devastating arguments against other theorists who have waded in on this issue, especially Lawrence Krauss and Max Tegmark. Above all, Meyer shows that while these men may be brilliant scientists, they turn out to be very poor philosophers.
If God, Which God?
If, as Meyer asserts, the God hypothesis is the single best explanation for why the universe is the way it is, can we then infer anything about the nature of that deity? Meyer discusses the three main possibilities: pantheism, deism, and theism.
Pantheism asserts that God is the totality of all of nature, the Brahman of the Eastern religions. Meyer shows that pantheism cannot account for the cosmic fine-tuning we observe, because the deity that created the universe must necessarily transcend space and time. All the great religious texts of the Orient, however, describe a deity who must have begun to exist only after the universe came into existence.
Deism, on the other hand, posits a transcendent God, but it denies any involvement of that God in the workings of nature after the beginning. In other words, God somehow front-loaded the laws of nature so as to guarantee that creatures like us would some day emerge, but he then stepped back and let things proceed on their own.
The actual scientific evidence we have, however, indicates that God has played an active role in his creation throughout time. For example, vast amounts of new information had to have been introduced when the first complex animal body plans appeared during the Cambrian Explosion, some half-billion years ago. The fossil record shows clear evidence of mass extinctions followed rapidly by the appearance of entirely novel forms of life. That comports with a God who is always working, as the Lord Jesus said: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17).
Although Meyer concentrates on just three issues in this book—fine tuning, the origin of biological information, and the singularity at the beginning of time—there are other natural phenomena that also point towards a creator God. The hard problem of consciousness, for example, is still a profound mystery, especially for those who hold to a materialistic or evolutionary world view, yet it fits neatly into a theistic framework.
Can scientific research go a step further and trace a path from theism to Jesus Christ? While Meyer is a Christian, he does not address that question in this book, at least not directly. Perhaps that discussion will become part of Meyer’s next literary project? If so, it will certainly be worth reading, too!
Dr. Neil English is busy writing his latest book, Choosing Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts, which will hit the bookshelves in late 2023.
UK Woke Watch.
An essay first published in Salvo Magazine Vol 59
As America goes, so goes the rest of the world. There’s a great deal of truth to that saying, especially now that we live in an era of 24-7 news, where ideas and movements spread faster than the Covid-19 virus. The rise of Black Lives Matter and Antifa, cultural Marxism and the Woke Revolution has politicized many institutions across the United States and has now reached all the way across the Western world, where it is now influencing liberal democracies like Australia, New Zealand, the nations which comprise the European Union, and here in the UK.
Wokeness is political correctness gone mad. It’s a new secular religion with ‘social justice’ being its new god, and ‘cancel culture’ its military wing. Its despotic power seeks to make western institutions jettison conservative mores and lose faith in their own ideals. The defining characteristics of wokeness are arrogance, ignorance and irrationality in equal measure.
Not long after we saw the horrific pictures on our TV screens of statues being torn down across the USA throughout the summer of 2020, violent protesters in the city of Bristol, UK, toppled a statue of Edward Colston, a prominent 17th century slave trader and dumped it into Bristol Harbor. UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, quickly condemned their actions in a tweet;
“People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police. These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery – and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve. Those responsible will be held to account1.”
The events in Bristol triggered the removal of several other statues across the UK including, Robert Milligan, Thomas Guy and Sir Robert Clayton2. Not content with removing the memory of slave traders from our streets, the same mob defaced a statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, Westminster, which had to be boarded up by police2.
Snowflakes
Our hallowed educational institutions have also become fertile breeding grounds for the woke movement. At Oriel College Oxford, an angry mob called for the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, insisting that he was a white supremacist, colonialist and racist. Although Oriel College did agree to remove the statue, the decision was reversed owing to the financial cost of undertaking such a measure4.
But Oxford University represents the tip of the iceberg. Today, some 90 per cent of British Universities have actively banned or cancelled guest speakers because their ‘controversial’ views offend them5. Over the last several years it has become such a problem that the UK government had to enforce new laws prohibiting this vicious cancel culture, with fines of up to £500,000 should they continue to de-platform people6.
Yet the woke movement has penetrated many more of our national institutions in the UK, including the National Trust, the Church of England, the Police, the BBC and the British Army. In the wake of the George Floyd tragedy, the National Trust sped up the publication of a 2018-commissioned study linking many of the grand houses under its wing to slavery and colonialism7. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with learning about our colonial past, but when the National Trust insisted that all volunteers must undergo ‘unconscious bias training,7 it led to some resignations in protest. They also pushed the wearing of LGBTQ+ rainbow badges and lanyards on its employees to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Britain, removing those individuals from interacting with the public who conscientiously objected to wearing them7.
The Church of England seems equally keen to preach the woke gospel. During the Black Lives Matter riots in the USA, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, commissioned a new Church of England guidance8 suggesting that artefacts linked to slavery and colonialism could be removed from churches simply because some people might find them ‘disturbing.’
In August 2021, the UK Police Force unveiled a new fleet of cars adorned with the LGBTQ+ rainbow to ‘fight social injustice.’ The move was received with almost universal scorn, with some commentators calling them ‘Clown Cars’ that will only encourage more criminals onto the streets. Perhaps the most scathing rebuttal came from Harry Miller, a former police officer and founder of the campaign group, Fair Cop. Speaking to the Telegraph, Miller said, “We don’t see the Met with special cars for knife crime, even though the number of stabbings in London is appalling. The problem is that the second you see a rainbow car, you know that it is a police force that has made its mind up about some very contentious issues. You no longer see a police car or a police officer who is there to support everyone, from all political persuasions, without fear or favor. They have literally tied their colours to the mast and painted their cars with their political leanings. They are painting rainbows on their cars when we have figures showing that only seven per cent of violent crime ends in a prosecution. They have moved from policing crime to policing thoughts and speech, because it is easier9.”
The BBC, that long-trusted bastion of journalistic excellence has also gone woke. The corporation produced a video called “Understanding Sexual and Gender identities10,” in which they claimed there were 100 different genders! Thankfully, after a storm of protest, they removed the video from their platform. Now the BBC are conducting a gender census to see which of their employees identify as male, female or non-binary to better address ‘gender-related pay gaps.’ Furthermore, they recently tweeted that they will not tolerate any dissent on transgender issues and are willing to inform the police concerning the most egregious ‘offenders.11‘ Not surprisingly, that also sparked a large public backlash, with people complaining that the corporation was just wasting taxpayers’ money.
Finally, in one of the sickest moves yet enacted on British soil, the thoroughly immoral leftist, devolved nationalist Scottish Government is introducing new legislation allowing children as young as four to undergo gender transition, without parental consent, as well as mandating schools to include transgender literature on the curriculum12. Although the move was almost universally described as ‘risible’ and ‘shocking,’ even by the mainstream press, there is no effective political opposition to the nationalists’ woke agenda to stop them in their tracks.
Rebels Without a Clue
So, just like the USA, Britain faces the same war on wokeness that is tearing society apart at the seams. Seen in a Christian light, God has given them over to a Romans 1 ‘reprobate mind.’ But there are welcome signs that the Brits are fighting back, by launching anti-woke TV channels like GB News, and a small number of determined and influential journalists who refuse to be silenced by the woke mob. Furthermore, the British government has summarily dismissed and banned the teaching of Marxist concepts such as critical race theory, intersectionality and white privilege in UK schools, deeming these ideologies harmful to a multi-cultural British society13. You can hit the BBC where it hurts them simply by switching off. Personally, I wouldn’t trust them even with the weather. But a lot of resistance to this immoral movement is also being fostered in sound parental guidance, as well as through the exercising of the general public’s democratic right to air its concerns to local politicians. Though it’s probably too late to turn the tide, let’s hope more brave individuals will join the dissenting ranks to stave off the worst instances of ‘wokery’ in the UK!
Neil English has put down roots in Scotland and is the author of seven books on amateur and professional astronomy. His 650-page magnum opus, Chronicling the Golden Age of Astronomy, explores the history of telescopic astronomy from a Christian perspective.
References
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52954305
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-52977088
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52949014
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-57189928
- https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/nine-10-uk-universities-free-speech-restrict-rankings-joseph-rowntree-cardiff-ediburgh-newcastle-oxford-a7577381.html
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9569835/University-principal-faces-calls-QUIT-allowing-intolerant-cancel-culture.html
- https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/05/27/the-woke-drift-of-the-national-trust/
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9565545/Church-artefacts-likely-removed-following-contested-heritage-guidance.html
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/22/police-pin-hopes-rainbow-cars-drive-hate-crime/
- https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1390071/bbc-news-defund-twitter-gender-identity-video-transgenderism-public-broadcaster-ont
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWSUqxCDYJw
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9888899/Scotland-let-pupils-aged-FOUR-change-gender.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/20/teaching-white-privilege-is-a-fact-breaks-the-law-minister-says
Earth Story.
Chosen Planet
An Essay Originally Published in Salvo Magazine Volume 51
Updated periodically as new science emerges
For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth,
he founded it; he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited— he says:
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Isaiah 45: 18
Just a few short decades ago, the Earth was considered to be an ordinary planet, orbiting an ordinary star, lost in a vast galaxy of other stars, amid myriad other galaxies populating the Cosmos. Mindless processes produced the first living organisms, we were told, which slowly evolved over the eons to produce creatures like us1. This secular myth was accepted hook line and sinker by the uneducated masses after its promotion by God-denying ‘high priests’, including the late Arthur C. Clarke, Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins, and mindlessly parroted by a generation of science journalists unwilling to dig any deeper. Yet, with the exponential rise of human knowledge, this worldview is being radically over-turned by an avalanche of new science, that paints an entirely different picture of our world: one in which its exceptional properties for supporting a long-lived biosphere for the express benefit of humanity in particular, is coming to the fore; where life itself ‘terraformed’ the Earth under Divine instruction.
An Anomalous Solar System
Many lines of evidence show that the Earth is old; 4.543 billion years with an uncertainty of just one per cent. But the circumstances under which our planetary system was shaped were very unusual. Formed from the gravitational collapse of a vast cloud of gas and dust, the proto-solar system condensed into a relatively thin disk with the neonatal Sun at its center. The inventory of elements endowed to the solar system might have turned out to be much like any other were it not for the presence of at least two relatively close-by supernova events2 which helped eject it from a nursery of other stars, but which also enriched the primordial solar system with relatively large quantities of heat-generating radioactive elements such as aluminum 26, thorium and uranium3. The aluminum 26, with its short half-life of 730,000 years, provided enough thermal energy to remove excess levels of volatiles including water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide which would have scuppered the future emergence of living creatures on our world. In contrast, the very dense and long-lived radioactive elements like uranium and thorium sank to the center of the primordial earth, where their prodigious heat has kept the planet in a geologically active state over billions of years.
The most recent research on star formation shows that the Sun is far from being an average star4. Indeed that distinction goes to stars with masses roughly 50 per cent less massive than the Sun, with luminosities only 5 per cent as bright and surface temperatures of 3600K4, comprising some 80 per cent of all the stars in the Universe. Many more are smaller L dwarfs that are unable to fuse hydrogen in their cores, or larger stars than the Sun that have much shorter lifespans. In the words of the University of Rochester astrophysicist Adam Frank;
“Please stop calling our Sun an “average star. It is philosophically dubious and astronomically incorrect.4 ”
The Moon-forming event, which is thought to have occurred about 100 million years after the neonatal Earth formed5, in a highly improbable, oblique collision with a Mars-sized object, helped remove still more volatiles from the primordial Earth, allowing it to eventually form relatively shallow oceans where the continental land-masses could eventually emerge from the sea floor. The debris from this cataclysmic event formed a relatively large Moon in close proximity to the Earth, helping to stabilize its orbital inclination and over time, to slow down the rotation rate of our planet from just 5 hours shortly after the Moon’s formation, to its present leisurely rotation period of 24 hours.
For the first few hundred million years after its formation, the Earth would have looked black and golden from the vantage of outer space, from the vast amounts of solidified magna cooling on its surface as well as the prodigious levels of volcanic activity spewing out hot lava from the planet’s interior. Frequent collision events with smaller space debris like asteroids would also have exacerbated these hellish conditions, but eventually the prodigious levels of water vapor outgassed from its interior would have transformed our lava dominated planet into a blue water world still devoid of continental landmasses.5 But just as soon as the Earth cooled down enough to enable liquid water to flow on its surface, life appeared.
Life Terraforms the Planet
The standard evolutionary story is that life began as simple organisms and gradually progressed to more complex forms with the slow march of time, but the best scientific evidence now suggests that this life was already complex and biochemically sophisticated. This is based on isotopic evidence6,7 from the analysis of ratios of carbon and sulfur isotopes in sedimentary rocks laid down over 3.5 billion years ago. Since these biochemical processes have an absolute requirement for highly complex protein enzymes to have been present, it completely eludes an evolutionary explanation. Then why did our Creator choose to begin Earth’s life story with microbes? The answer has less to do with evolution than it has with chemical sophistication. The simple answer is that microbes are, by some considerable margin, the hardiest creatures ever to have lived on our planet.
Microbes are the die-hards of the living world, being capable of surviving in very hot and cold temperatures, high and low pH environments, and can even thrive in a cocktail of toxic chemicals and radioactive environments. Once the planet cooled enough to allow the first microbes to survive, they were set to work removing a plethora of poisonous substances from the primordial Earth. In these early times, the Earth’s surface would have had large amounts of so-called vital poisons, substances that are required in small amounts for more complex life to thrive, but in higher concentrations, can prove lethal; substances like iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, arsenic, boron, selenium and iodine, to name but a few. In their soluble forms such vital poisons would have stunted any new life forms coming on the scene but in chemically transforming these elements8 into insoluble ores and minerals, microbes not only removed such vital poisons from the Earth’s water environments but also formed large deposits of the valuable minerals that are now mined for their use in high technology devices. This also makes sense from a creation point of view, as more complex organisms are far more sensitive to these toxins than microbes are. One other benefit that life brought to the Earth is that it greatly enriched the planet’s mineral and gemstone tally. According to Dr. Robert Hazen, a world-leading mineralogist, Earth has the greatest diversity of mineral species of any body in the Solar System.5 Over 4,600 mineral species have been identified on Earth. In contrast, Mars probably has about 500 and Venus about 1,000 at the most. What’s more, Hazen discovered that life processes formed about two-thirds of Earth’s mineral species5.
Recent oxygen isotope evidence shows that ongoing plate tectonic activity produced nearly all the continental landmasses by about 2.5 billion years ago.9 The fact that just 29 per cent of the planet’s surface area is covered by dry land appears to be highly fine-tuned. Greater land surface areas would induce too little precipitation in the interior of those ancient continents, preventing life from gaining a hold in these places. On the other hand, land areas significantly less than 29 per cent would not be able to re-cycle enough valuable nutrients between the land, the sea and the atmosphere to maintain a healthy biosphere.
The earliest lifeforms extracted energy from these minerals without the need for molecular oxygen, but the introduction of photosynthetic microbes radically transformed the early biosphere, paving the way for the introduction of advanced lifeforms. One way to get a handle on how early oxygenic photosynthesis occurred on Earth is to study so-called Banded Iron Formations (BIFs)comprised of iron rich clays containing magnetite and hematite. The early oceans had high concentrations of soluble iron, but when it reacts with oxygen, it forms an insoluble rust-like substance that serves as iron ore today.
Such studies reveal that BIFs were first laid down about 3.0 billion years ago, continuing up to about 1.8 billion years ago.10 This coincides with the microfossil record of life, which shows that oxygen-dependent complex cellular life (the so-called Eukaryotes) made its first appearance around 2 billion years ago.11The rise in atmospheric oxygen also created the ozone layer, which protected future life on land from the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The emergence of oxygen-generating photosynthesis had other effects that are not immediately obvious. When the Sun was born, it was about 30 per cent less luminous than it is today, but as it aged, its luminosity increased with the result that the amount of thermal energy received by the planet also increased. Photosynthetic organisms removed great amounts of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and generating oxygen which reacted rapidly with another greenhouse gas, methane. In so doing, photosynthetic organisms served to counteract the tendency of the aging Sun to overheat the planet.12 The remains of these and other unicellular creatures settled to the bottom of the oceans where they formed vast sediments that were compressed over time to produce natural gas and oil reserves so important to human civilization today.
After a long cooling phase coinciding with the formation of the supercontinent, Rhodinia5, signs of the first large(macroscopic) multicellular lifeforms appeared about 600 million years ago in an event known to palaeontologists as the Avalon Explosion, where scientists have uncovered the first evidence of simple animal lifeforms. It is unclear however whether these bizarre creatures were animals or plants but what is clear is that in the space of a short 410,000 year period starting around 541 million years ago, 80 per cent of all existing animal forms appeared in the fossil record, with no credible evolutionary antecedents3,22. Paleontologists studying the so-called Cambrian Explosion have found no transitional forms in layers immediately pre-dating this period in Earth history. Moreover, the land was being prepared for the arrival of vascular plants by fungi who began breaking down rocks into soil as early as about 1000 million years ago14. It is difficult to conceive how any blind process like Darwinian evolution could produce such stunning biological complexity and diversity in such a short space of time without any foresight.
In recent times, a greater appreciation of the interplay between life and plate tectonics has been appreciated. Without plate tectonics, our planet wouldn’t have a climate stable enough to support life over billions of years of time. That’s because plate tectonics takes center stage as a planetary thermostat in a process called the “carbonate-silicate” cycle.13 Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in rainwater to form carbonic acid, which dissolves silicate rocks. The by-products of this erosion, or “weathering,” are conveyed to the oceans where they are ingested by organisms—such as tiny planktonic foraminifera—and incorporated into limestone (calcium carbonate) shells. When those creatures die, they fall to the bottom of the ocean and pile up as sediments, creating new raw materials used by humanity. The introduction of life on planet Earth also increases the amount of water subducted into the mantle, where it functions as a kind of lubricant, facilitating motions between plates. It also lowers the melting point in the mantle, which leads to more volcanism and therefore more continent building. So, without life speeding up the weathering at the surface as well as the sedimentation rate on the sea floor, the fraction of the surface covered by continents would be far smaller.
Plate tectonics has other, hitherto unforeseen consequences for the maintenance of the Earth’s strong magnetic field. By accelerating the transfer of heat to the surface, plate tectonics induces convection in the liquid iron outer core of our planet. What’s more, it’s the dynamic outer core that generates our planet’s magnetic field, which protects Earth’s atmosphere and oceans from excessive erosion and desiccation from the solar wind as well as all surface life from dangerous cosmic rays.
The fossil record attests to several mass extinction events that occurred over the long history of our planet.14 Research has shown that these devastating events are followed by equally spectacular mass speciation events, uncannily similar to the scenarios described in Psalm 104. According to Christian astronomer, Dr. Hugh Ross, these events proved crucial for maximizing both the quantity and longevity of Earth’s life.15 By ensuring that the right quantities and kinds of life are present at the right times, our Creator employed these organisms to remove the just-right quantities of greenhouse gases from Earth’s atmosphere so as to compensate for the Sun’s increasing brightness. According to Ross, one would expect God to intervene periodically to remove life no longer appropriate for compensating for a brightening Sun and then replace it with life that is more efficient at doing so. Finally, in the last few hundred million years, vast deposits of coal and oil were produced from the remains of plant life that flourished on land during the Carboniferous and Permian (360 to 250 million years ago) periods, which was necessary for the launch of the industrial revolution.
Jewel Planet
Seen in the light of these new scientific discoveries, it is apparent that the Earth is a highly fine-tuned planet that has sustained a very stable environment over 4 billion years for the flourishing of life. And that same life transformed our world beyond recognition to make it ideal for humans to thrive in. This consensus is now being expressed by other scientists, who have noted Earth’s amazing properties. Influential books like Donald Brownlee and Peter Ward’s Rare Earth18: why complex life is are in the Universe, David Waltham’s Lucky Planet19, John Gribbin’s Alone in the Universe20 as well as Privileged Planet21by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards, all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet. Far from being a humdrum planet orbiting an ordinary star, the Earth was designed by a mind vastly more advanced than our own. And I give God all the glory!
Neil English is the author of several books in amateur astronomy. His latest historical work, Chronicling the Golden Age of Astronomy, is published by Springer-Nature.
References
- Sagan, C. Cosmos, MacDonald Futura Publishers, London, 1981.
- Eric Gaidos et al., “26Al and the Formation of the Solar System from a Molecular Cloud Contaminated by Wolf-Rayet Winds,” Astrophysical Journal 696 (May 10, 2009): 1854–63.
- Ross, H., Elemental Evidence of Earth’s Divine Design; https://reasons.org/explore/publications/nrtb-e-zine/read/nrtb-e-zine/2010/03/01/elemental-evidence-of-earth-s-divine-design
- Frank, A., What is the “Avergae Star” like? Hint: It’s not like our Sun: https://bigthink.com/13-8/average-star/
- Hazen, R. The Story of Earth, Penguin, 2012.
- Allen P. Nutman et al., “≥3700 Ma Pre-Metamorphic Dolomite Formed by Microbial Mediation in the Isua Supracrustal Belt (W. Greenland): Simple Evidence for Early Life?” Precambrian Research 183, no. 4 (December 15, 2010): 725–37.
- Yanan Shen et al, “Isotopic Evidence for Microbial Sulphate Reduction in the Early Archaean Era,” Nature 410 (March 1, 2001): 77–81.
- Gadd, G.M., Metals, minerals and microbes: geomicrobiology and bioremediation https://mic.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.037143-0;jsessionid=CfnAVoIxE-Nxln81QM-D2S0N.x-sgm-live-02
- N. Bindeman et al., “Rapid Emergence of Subaerial Landmasses and Onset of Modern Hydrologic Cycle 2.5 Billion Years Ago,” Nature 557 (May 23, 2018): 545–48, https://doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0131-1.
- James, H.L. (1983). Distribution of banded iron-formation in space and time. Developments in Precambrian Geology, 6, 471–490.
- Simonetta Gribaldo et al., “The Origin of Eukaryotes and Their Relationship with the Archaea: Are We at a Phylogenomic Impasse?” Nature Reviews Microbiology 8 (2010): 743–52.
- Ross, H. Improbable Planet, Baker Books, 2016.
- Ross, H., Cambrian Explosion Becomes More Explosive: https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/todays-new-reason-to-believe/cambrian-explosion-becomes-more-explosive
- https://theconversation.com/complex-life-may-only-exist-because-of-millions-of-years-of-groundwork-by-ancient-fungi-117526
- Walker, J.C.G., Hays, P.B., & Kasting, J.F. A negative feedback mechanism for the long-term stabilization of Earth’s surface temperature. Journal of Geophysical Research 86, 9776-9782 (1981).
- Melott & Bambach, “Do Periodicities in Extinction—With Possible Astronomical Connections—Survive a Revision of the Geological Timescale?” Astrophysical Journal 773 (August 10, 2013).
- Ross, H. Mass Extinction Periodicity Design; https://www.reasons.org/explore/publications/nrtb-e-zine/read/nrtb-e-zine/2013/12/01/mass-extinction-periodicity-design
- Brownlee, D. & Ward, P., Rare Earth, Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, Springer, 2000
- Waltham, D., Lucky Planet, Icon Books, 2015
- J., Alone in the Universe; Why our Planet is Unique, John Wiley, 2011.
- Gonzalez, G. & Richards, J, The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery, Regnery Publishing, 2004.
- Ross, H., Cambrian Explosion Becomes More Explosive: https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/todays-new-reason-to-believe/cambrian-explosion-becomes-more-explosive
Product Review: Canon IS 8 x 20.
The Canon IS 8 x 20 package.
A Worked Commenced January 21 2022
Product: Canon IS 8 x 20
Country of Manufacture: Taiwan
Field of View: 115m@1000m (6.6 angular degrees)
Exit Pupil: 2.5mm
Eye Relief: 13.5mm
Coatings: Fully Broadband Multi-Coated, Super Spectra Coating
Dioptre Compensation: +/- 5.9
Water Proof: No
Nitrogen Purged: No
ED Glass: No
Close Focus: 2m advertised( 2.02 m measured)
Dimensions: W/H 11.8/14.2cm
Weight: 420g(without battery)
Supplied Accessories: Soft carry case, padded neck strap, instruction manual, 1x CR123A lithium battery, eyepiece covers, warranty card.
Price(UK): £425.70
In a recent blog, I outlined my experiences of an older model Canon IS 10 x 30. I was impressed by the image stabilisation technology on that unit and described its optical quality as very good but not outstanding. These tests got me curious about two smaller models recently introduced by the giant Japanese camera manufacturer; a 8 x 20 IS and 10 x 20 IS, which promised even better ergonomics than the older generation 8 x 25 IS and 10 x 30 IS models. So I decided to buy and test the smaller 8 x 20 IS, the subject of this new review.
First Impressions
The Canon 8 x 20 IS arrived neatly boxed away inside its soft carry case, together with a comprehensive user manual, lithium ion battery, and warranty card. Weighing in at 420g without the battery, the binocular has a tough, grey coloured plastic chassis which I immediately found much easier to handle than the larger 10 x 30 IS, which tips the scales at 660g in comparison.
Like the older generation models, the new Canon 8 x 20 IS has soft rubber eye cups that can be folded down for use with spectacles. Turning next to the objectives, I was quite surprised but very happy to see that the 20mm objectives on the Canon were very deeply recessed; far more deeply in fact than any other binocular I’ve thus far encountered. Doubtless, this helps quite a lot in keeping stray light, dust and rain at bay; a good thing surely, as these units are not waterproof.
The small, 20mm objectives on the Canon IS 8 x 20 are very deeply recessed to protect them from the elements and stray light.
The focus wheel on the Canon IS 8 x 20 appears to be made of metal. It has very good grip and is large enough to access and manoeuvre even while wearing thick winter gloves. The dioptre compensation is achieved in the traditional way, by rotating the base of the right eye cup until you achieve your desired setting.
The single CR123A lithium ion battery is easily installed in a pull-out compartment located under the focus wheel. The image stabilisation is achieved by pressing a small button offset onto the right barrel of the binocular, causing a small green LED to light up while it is being activated. The instruction manual states that the battery has a lifetime of about 12 hours at room temperature but is reduced to just 8 hours at -10C. During my tests I never encountered any problems using the image stabilisation function, which involved a few hours of testing at temperatures ranging from +20C to -2C.
The objective lenses on both the ocular and objectives have very nice and evenly applied anti-reflection coatings. The objective coatings have a pale, greenish tint while those on the eyepieces appeared magenta in daylight.
Note the magenta coloured anti-reflection coatings on the ocular lenses. One can also see the rectangular shaped battery compartment on the instrument immediately under the focus wheel.
Ergonomics
In comparison with my experiences with the older generation Canon IS 10 x 30, the smaller 8 x 20 model was much easier to use in my medium sized hands. For example, it was considerably easier to hold it with two hands, and accessing the off centre stabilisation button did not present any problems.
The large, centrally placed focus wheel turns very smoothly, with excellent inertia and with no play while rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise.
The textured, metal focus wheel on the Canon IS 8 x 20 rotates smoothly with no backlash, stiction or free play.
The rather old-school, flexi-rubber eyecups proved reasonably comfortable when they were pressed against my eyes. When I folded them down to test the eye relief for spectacle wearers however, I found it difficult to image the entire field of view using my varifocals. I think this an area that Canon can improve on in the future.
The old school soft rubber eyecups fold down for use with eye glasses.
Playing around with the Canon IS 8 x 20 in my hands, and comparing it to a conventional 8 x 20 pocket binocular, I felt the latter was much easier to achieve a stable, comfortable grip with. So, while the newer 8 x 20 IS units are a big improvement over say a larger 10 x 30 IS, they are still nowhere near the comfort levels I experience using a conventional, dual-hinge 8 x 20 glass.
The Leica Ultravid BR 8 x 20 (left) is much easier to handle than the Canon IS 8 x 20(right).
Optical Assessment
I was quite impressed with the optical quality of the older generation Canon IS 10 x 30 but my tests on the newer IS 8 x 20 showed it to be a good deal better again. Conducting a bright light torch test showed no annoying internal reflections, diffraction spikes or diffused light. Indeed, it was a good step up from the results I achieved with the older, Canon IS 10 x 30 in this regard. No doubt, this is largely attributed to the improved ‘Super Spectra’ coatings applied to its optical elements.
Looking through the Canon IS 8 x 20 during dull, overcast winter weather, I was immediately impressed with the excellent sharpness, contrast and brightness of the image from edge to centre. Like the older models, these smaller Canon IS binoculars have built-in field flattening lenses which reduces field curvature and other off axis aberrations when viewing a target away from the centre of the field.
Indeed, in low light tests I conducted alongside my excellent Leica 8 x 20 BR Ultravid, I judged the Canon IS 8x 20 be equally bright, but just falling short of the sharpness of the Leica. Glare suppression however, was noticeably better in the Canon though. This is probably attributed to the very deeply recessed objective lenses on the Canon IS binocular in contrast to the Leica, the objectives of which are not at all recessed( maximising its compactness) and so are at the mercy of intrusions of stray light.
One aspect of the view was less engaging with the Canon IS 8 x 20 over the hand-held Leica Ultravid 8 x 20 though. Despite having a slightly larger field of view(6.6 vs 6.5 angular degrees), I felt the field was significantly more immersive in the Leica compared with the Canon 8 x 20. It almost felt as if I were watching a scene on a movie screen in the latter compared with the feeling of being much more ‘in the image’ using the Leica.
Chromatic aberration was an absolute non-issue in the Canon IS 8 x 20, unlike the larger and older Canon IS 10 x 30. Indeed, it was fully the equal of the Leica Ultravid 8x 20, with only the extreme edges of the field showing up the merest traces of secondary spectrum whilst glassing high contrast daylight targets.
Close focus was found to be very good in the Canon IS 8x 20 too. I measured it at just over 2 metres, in accordance with the stated numbers issued by Canon. Still, the Leica Ultravid 8 x 20 BR was noticeably better at 1.8 metres.
Depth of focus proved excellent in the Canon IS 8 x 20. Indeed, it was even a shade better than my Leica 8 x 20 Ultravid BR. This was largely to be expected, as the Porro prism design of the Canon has long been known to create better depth perception in comparison to their roof prism counterparts.
All in all, I judged the Canon IS 8 x 20 to have excellent optics, as good or better in many respects to the best roof prism instruments models available today.
Engaging the IS Technology
The real magic of these binoculars takes place when you press the image stabilisation button. Like the larger 10 x 30 IS I tested some weeks back, the smaller Canon 8 x 20 IS works brilliantly. Aim at your target, focus as sharply as you can and press the IS button. You can immediately see finer detail that is quite invisible in the non-stabilised views. The stabilisation function works in two modes: sporadic and continuous. Most of the time, I used the button to stabilise the image for a few seconds before dis-engaging. But the IS function can also be used continuously for up to five minutes. I got on less well with the latter mode, as I felt a bit queasy moving the binocular from one target to the other, and watching the images ‘swim’ into stabilised mode.
In another test, I compared the stabilised views on the Canon 8 x 20 IS to a tripod- mounted Leica Utravid 8 x 20. Carefully going back and forth between the instruments, I discerned slightly more details in the tripod-stabilised Leica than the Canon 8 x 20 IS. This is in keeping with my results with the older generation 10 x 30 IS. The tripod-stabilised view offers a little more in the way of resolution at the cost of losing portability.
In yet another test, I aimed the Canon IS 8 x 20 on the Pleaides star cluster high in the winter sky, comparing the non-stabilised view with the images served up when the IS function was engaged. The results were quite dramatic; many fainter stars popped into view when the IS button was engaged. Very impressive!
Concluding Thoughts and Recommendations
The Canon 8 x 20 IS serves up very impressive views, even when the image stabilisation function is dis-engaged. These newer models have noticeably improved optics over their older counterparts, especially in terms of brightness and contrast, and in the control of stray light. Indeed, optically, they are very close to the quality served up by the world’s best pocket binoculars. Having said that, while I fully acknowledge that the smaller weight of these new Canon IS binoculars is a big step in the right direction in terms of ergonomic handling, they still fall quite a bit short in terms of how good they feel in my hands compared with my little Leica Ultravid. Indeed, I think the engineers at Canon could make some significant improvements in the shape of the chassis to allow a better grip in the hand. What’s more, their lack of waterproofing will put others off, especially if they intend using them for long periods in the field where the weather can change without warning.
So, all in all, a terrific product, but still some room for improvement.
Thanks for reading.