The Leica Ultravid series of high performance binoculars were introduced in December 2003, followed in 2006 by their so-called HD series incorporating Schott Fluoride glass in their objectives. Finally in 2016, Leica brought the latest incarnation of the Ultravid to market with their HD Plus line of binoculars which offered slightly better coatings to improve light transmission. Long sought after by binocular enthusiasts for their elegant design and uncompromising optical performance, they’ve remained a favourite among birders and other outdoor enthusiasts.
That said, in the past few years new and highly advanced binoculars promising equal or better optical performance at a fraction of the retail price of the Ultravids have now come to the fore. I was keen to see how these expensive Leica binoculars stacked up against one of these products in particular: theSky Rover Banner Cloud (SRBC)APO 8 x 42. The results were very enlightening to say the least!
Having related highly accurate data concerning the SRBC APO 8 x 42 and 10 x 50 models – now corroborated by dozens of user testimonials – these instruments have been almost universally lauded for their sensational optical performance at an amazing price, I was keen to see how they would perform against a known quantity in the high-end binocular market, so I bought in a used Ultravid HD 8 x 42, which has essentially the same optical and mechanical features of the newer HD Plus model.
Having previously shown the SRBC 8 x 42 to be optically superior to both the Zeiss Conquest HD(see post #1069) and the Zeiss SFL binocular, I knew going in that the Ultravid HD would be facing a formidable challenge.
A Brief Look Around the Leica Ultravid HD
For many, the Leica Ultravid represents the pinnacle of optical and mechanical refinement. With a magnesium alloy chassis, a titanium alloy focus wheel, overlaid by a sexy black vulcanised rubber armouring, you can see why these instruments were drooled over by many on binocular porn sites like Birdforum.
The underside reveals thumb indents- a feature designed to baby the user into positioning their thumbs while looking through the instrument. Thankfully this feature has largely fallen out of fashion. I personally dislike them and find it patronising that a company as big as Leica would presume to know anything about how I like to handle binoculars.
The twist up eyecups are excellent: some of the best in the industry. They offer plenty of eye relief and can be unscrewed to assist cleaning the ocular lenses.
The objective lenses have excellent multilayer coatings that maximise light transmission (of the order of 90 per cent) and the outer lenses of both the objectives and eyepieces are treated with the company’s patented AquaDura film designed to prevent the build up of water droplets while glassing in adverse weather conditions.
The focus wheel is large and centrally placed, with a built-in dioptre adjustment accessed by pulling out the top part of the objective. Once you’re done with that adjustment, you simply pop the focuser back down to lock it in place.
But while many of these features first found on European- made binoculars were considered state of the art only a few years ago, cutting-edge Chinese-made binoculars like the SRBCs now share many of these features, and then some. It has comparable or slightly higher light transmission, excellent hydrophobic coatings on its outer lenses and twist-up eyecups of comparable quality. They can also be unscrewed for cleaning.
Thankfully though, the SRBC dispensed with a locking dioptre. Instead it is smooth and continuous, avoiding the common problem of shifting out of place as it is slotted into position. Examining the exit pupils of the Leica Ultravid HD showed excellent results as you can see below. The pupils are perfectly round and have very dark surroundings indicative of excellent stray light control
That said, the same is true for the SRBC binoculars as my review link above shows.
Comparative Testing
High-end, full-size binoculars like the Ultravid HD series are necessarily chunky. They just have many optical components that make them so. Recent efforts by Zeiss to cut the weight down by mounting thinner lenses etc invariably result in compromises, as I was to discover field testing their SFL range. Accordingly, the 8 x 42 Ultravid HD weighs 792g while the SRBC 8 x 42 tips the scales at 883g, so not much difference there.
The differences did begin to show however, once I began to handle both instruments.
For one thing, I was shocked to discover that the vulcanised rubber armouring on the Leica Ultravid had come loose on the underside of the binocular, manifesting a crunching sound as I pressed my thumbs on the belly of the instrument. Worse still, I was sorely disappointed with the focus wheel on this unit. It was sluggish, with uneven kinematics, and to top it all off, displayed an alarming level of free play. Granted this was an older binocular but Leica has supposedly prided itself in creating products with great longevity. Indeed, this was one of the more desperate manoeuvres by the bino porn stars, who, having conceded the optical excellence of the SRBC (more on this shortly), began looking for other ways to diss them. Well, based on my experience with this Leica Ultravid HD, it’s clearly in need of a service. So much for longevity eh?
The Leica Ultravid HD has a short and stocky frame compared with the SRBC 8 x 42. I found it harder to hold it steady, as the large bridge makes it more difficult to wrap one’s hands around compared with the longer barrels and shorter bridge found on the SRBC. Moreover, the silky smooth focuser and lack of free play on the latter renders it much more responsive to making quick focus adjustments. Overall, I much preferred the ergonomics on the Sky Rover.
The SRBC hydrophobic coating proved the equal of the Leica(Aqua Dura) in being able to disperse a thick layer of condensation applied to the 42mm objectives. Both instruments dispersed this condensation with equal speed.
Unquestionably, the Leica Ultravid HD has very fine optics, but I judged the SRBC to be superior overall. Shining an intensely bright beam of white light from across my living room showed up excellent results with both instruments. I would give the SRBC the nod though in having slightly less internal reflections (read very minimal).
Glassing rocks and the grain on the trunks of trees in the middle distance showed their sharpness to be identical in the centre. The Ultravid HD might have had slightly more ‘sparkle’ and slightly more saturated colours but the differences were very subtle to say the least. Glare suppression was very good in the Leica but it was inferior to the SRBC, as evidenced by glassing some shaded vegetation immediately below a bright afternoon Sun.
Off axis aberrations were better controlled in the SRBC too, especially pincushion distortion, which was much more pronounced in the Ultravid HD. Chromatic aberration was excellently controlled in the centre field of both instruments, but was a little bit more pronounced in the Ultravid HD near the field stops. This appears to be a recurring issue with all Leica binoculars, including their flagship Noctivid model.
Close focus was considerably better in the SRBC (2.09m)than in the Leica, which came in very near 3m in comparison. With a field of view of 9.1 degrees, the SRBC serves up a portal 50 percent larger than the Leica Ultravid HD and it really shows! To my eyes, the SRBC view was just far more compelling, with excellent edge-to-edge sharpness. In contrast, the image looked noticeably softer at the edges of the Ultravid HD. Image brightness appeared the same in both instruments after sunset, and far into the dusky twilight.
Left disappointed, I contacted the seller of the Leica requesting a refund, explaining the deficiencies of its ergonomics, and advising that it be sent in for a service. After resisting for a while, the seller eventually agreed to refund me the money.
In summary, these comparative tests left me in no doubt that the SRBC is a better, more technologically advanced binocular than the Leica Ultravid HD. Indeed, another report issued by a chap in South Korea revealed the 10 x 42 SRBC was also superior to Leica’s flagship Noctivid 10 x 42 as well.
Back in April of this year, I took possession of a new high-performance binocular marketed by Sky Rover: the Banner Cloud(SRBC) 8 x 42 APO. Since then I’ve used and tested it extensively in every conceivable lighting condition, from dawn til dusk and even under the dark skies of northern Italy. These collective experiences have made this author do a great deal of soul searching, to such an extent that I now believe the 8 x 42 to be superior to my beloved Swarovski Habicht 8 x 30W. As a consequence, it’s now become my workhorse birding binocular. The reasons are as follows:
In good light, it offers the same central sharpness and better off axis sharpness than the Habicht
It puts much more real estate before your eyes -36 percent more than the Habicht
It has much better performance against the light – substantially less glare – than the Habicht
It has significantly closer focus than the Habicht
Its focus wheel is much easier to rotate accurately and precisely than the Habicht
Its larger aperture produces brighter, higher contrast images of targets in strongly backlit situations e.g tree branches against a grey sky
Its larger aperture and exit pupil makes it a much better instrument to use in low light situations or when glassing under a dense forest canopy.
Its significantly greater mass gives a more stable view with less shake than the lighter Habicht.
I have no doubt the images served up by the 8 x 42 SRBC are absolutely world class. A well known binocular hoarder, and self-proclaimed elitist, possessing all the very best binoculars, described its appeal to a sceptic:
“Yes, the wide field of course, but even more perhaps the very well corrected image across most of that wide field. So far, that was the preserve of the NLs and SFs of this world, so Sky Rover seems to have surprised the market with a „non-premium“ version that imitates the original amazingly well. I am myself truly impressed with the optics of the SRBC.”
Unlike my elitist friend, who probably stores his gear away under glass, I’ve built up a great deal of experience using the instrument in the field, both here in Scotland and abroad in the searing heat of an Italian summer, and so can offer constructive feedback on its robustness and the likelihood of it malfunctioning over time. Well, I’ve immersed these instruments in water with no issues. I tested the functionality of the focus wheel after storing the instrument in a freezer at -20C with no issues. And it coped admirably in temperatures well above 40C(out of the shade). So I have no doubts about its robustness and potential longevity. After all, binoculars are relatively simple instruments with few moving parts. What could potentially go wrong?
Armed with this knowledge and experience, it’s my belief that the hegemony of the European-made binocular has come to an end. I would add that it’s a complete waste of money, in my opinion, to invest in something like a Zeiss Victory SF or Swarovski NL Pure when you have the no frills SRBC giving you the same quality views. The old adage is still true; a fool and his money…..
Birding Experiences with the SRBC
The enormous 9.1 degree field of view allows your eyes to monitor a significantly larger area to spot movements in trees, scrub or open fields. For example, since using the SRBC regularly, my notes show that I’ve glassed substantially more Wrens than I’ve ever done before. These tiny birds are more often heard than seen, but the huge flat field of the SRBC and its amazing sharpness conspire to make seeing their movements within bushes much easier.
It’s superlative sharpness and excellent colour correction makes picking off targets at distance much easier. I have no problems distinguishing airborne Goldfinches from Pied Wagtails for example, at distances up to 150m away.
The SRBC’s excellent glare suppression makes glassing against the light much more productive. Lesser instruments, drowned out by glare, makes it much more difficult to pick off targets when the Sun is close to the horizon.
The silky smooth focus wheel makes following moving targets very easy. Tracking a fast-moving bird flitting from a tree just a few metres away to another location tens of metres away is effortlessly achieved by a gentle twirl of the focuser.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed glassing open meadows decorated with wild flowers. The huge field, devoid of blackouts is exceptionally immersive: you really get a sense of being in the image. Such carefree glassing has proven very profitable for birding too. For example, just the other day, I was doing just this with the 8 x 42 SRBC, strolling along a country road when a female pheasant together with her clutch of youngsters emerged from the long grass just a few yards from me. The SRBC revealed extraordinarily fine details of its plumage and long, elegant tail. Astonishing!
A lucky find in a summer meadow.
I’ve also enjoyed glassing long into the evening twilight, watching badgers treading their paths across nearby fields, stopping every now and then to sniff the dew-drenched grass, and using their powerful front paws to dig for roots. Pipistrel bats emerging from Culcreuch Castle often descend on the nearby pond to feast on insects and its been thrilling to watch them with both the 8 x 42 and its larger 10 x 50 sibling.
I’ve ordered up a custom iPhone adapter to do some imaging, as well as some extra eye cups to store as backups if need be. I’m also considering a bino harness to support the weight of these instruments for longer duration glassing events. I’ll let you know how I get on with these in a future blog.
All in all, I’m thrilled to bits with these new optical wonders from Sky Rover and heartily recommend them to other members of the birding community.
Optical Perfection.
Notes from the Field
Upon my return from Italy, the instrument was found to have a significant amount of dust. It was everywhere: on the rubber armouring, on and around the objectives and eyepieces. When I unscrewed the eyecups from the instrument, I found a layer of fine dust there too. The instrument was throughly cleaned.
I store my SRBC binoculars in sealed Tupperware containers with large quantities of desiccant even though they are water proof and gas filled. That way they are ready to use at a moment’s notice. My ongoing experiments show that regardless of how well sealed a binocular is, it’s only a matter of time before the dry nitrogen will outgas. These containers draw all the water from the inside of the barrels and so will remain fog proof. And provided they are returned to these small containers when not in use, there is no need to have them refilled with nitrogen.
While the 30-32mm aperture class is good for many purposes it is not optimal. Even on bright days, there will be many scenarios where the greater contrast garnered by the larger 42mm aperture will prove superior to the smaller class. In particular, I’ve noticed the superior performance of the 42mm glass glassing trees against a bright overcast sky. In addition, the larger eye box makes for a more comfortable viewing experience.
Thanks for reading!
Post Scriptum: August 1 2024
Battle of the Alphas.
I recently bought in a Leica Ultravid HD 8 x 42 to compare it with my SRBC 8 x 42. The Leica is lauded for its crystal clear views and excellent resistance to glare. Here’s the breakdown based on a couple of days of daylight testing.
Ergonomics: while the Leica is shorter and more compact, it’s still quite hefty at about 790g( the SRBC is 863g without ocular and objective caps). In my medium sized hands, the Leica was harder to get my fingers around the barrels. The SRBC was much more comfortable for me with its shorter bridge. The focuser was a real disappointment on the Leica. It was not silky smooth like on the SRBC, with quite a bit of uneven resistance. It also had some significant free play which really niggled me. The eyecups were judged to be equally nice on both instruments. Hydrophobic coating test: the SRBC coating proved the equal of the Leica( Aqua Dura) in being able to disperse a thick layer of condensation applied to the 42mm objectives. Both instruments dispersed this condensation with equal speed.
Optics: The Leica Ultravid has very fine optics to be sure but I judged the SRBC to be superior overall. Shining an intensely bright beam of white light from across my living room showed up excellent results with both instruments. I would give the SRBC the nod though in having slightly less internal reflections (read very minimal). Glassing rocks and the grain on the trunks of trees in the middle distance showed their sharpness to be identical in the centre. The Ultravid HD might have had slightly more ‘sparkle’ and slightly more saturated colours but the differences were very subtle to say the least. Glare suppression was very good in the Leica but it was inferior to the SRBC, as evidenced by glassing some shaded vegetation immediately below a bright afternoon Sun. Off axis aberrations were better controlled in the SRBC too, especially pincushion distortion, which was much more pronounced in the Ultravid HD. Chromatic aberration was excellently controlled in the centre field of both instruments, but was a little bit more pronounced in the Ultravid HD near the field stops. Close focus was a tad closer in the SRBC than in the Leica. With a field of view of just 7.4 degrees the Leica Ultravid HD has a portal fully 50 per cent smaller than the SRBC and it really shows! The SRBC view is just far more compelling IMO. Image brightness appeared the same after sunset. The Leica has a measured transmission of 90 per cent for reference. In summary, I have no doubt that the SRBC is a more technologically advanced binocular than the Leica Ultravid HD. Kudos to the PRC!
Update August 6
Testing Against a Zeiss Conquest HD 8 x 32
Some background: the Zeiss Conquest HD series is widely regarded as upper mid-level in terms of optical performance and in general rates among the best of the $1K priced binoculars on the market as of very recently. The following observations were made only during bright daylight, either in bright sunshine or bright overcast skies. But I also tested for artefacts by shining a bright white light beam through the instruments.
Bright light test: The Zeiss Conquest HD(CHD) showed excellent control of internal reflections but did display a very prominent diffraction spike. The SRBC also showed no internal reflections and no diffraction spike. The same result occurred when I turned it on a bright sodium street lamp after dark about 100m in the distance. The spike was annoying to see in the Zeiss CHD. Not an instrument I’d choose for glassing harbours or cityscapes at night.
Colour tone: Comparing both instruments, I was immediately struck by the cooler colour tone of the Zeiss. This is well documented in the literature. Glassing flower baskets and beds showed the SRBC to have richer, more vibrant colours.
Sharpness: Central sharpness was a tad better in the SRBC and maintained better sharpness as the target was moved off axis. I would say the SRBC image displays significantly more ‘bite’ than the Zeiss CHD.
Image Immersion: The wider flatter field of the SRBC produced a much more immersive experience,as if one were sitting in the image. That said, for a 8 x 32, the 8 degree Zeiss is very nice!
Off Axis Aberrations: These were well controlled in both instruments. The SRBC had a tad less pincushion distortion and significantly better edge-of-field sharpness compared with the Zeiss CHD.
Chromatic Aberration( CA): Glassing through several layers of defoliated branches on a dead tree against a bright overcast sky showed very little longitudinal CA in the centre of the image, with the SRBC being a little better in this regard. It was a totally different matter with off axis(lateral) CA though. The Zeiss CHD showed significantly more, both in extent and intensity.
Glare: Both instruments display well above average suppression of glare against the light, but the clear winner, once again, was the SRBC.
Focusing: the Zeiss CHD has a very fast and silky smooth focus wheel displaying no free play or uneven resistance to movement throughout its travel both clockwise and anticlockwise. But it’s so fast that one can often overshoot on the target and so requires a little bit more concentration to get it just right. In contrast the SRBC focus wheel is more refined in my opinion. it’s smooth but has more traction allowing one to get the focus right first time, every time.
Close focus: the Zeiss CHD has a shorter minimum close focus(well under 2m) compared with the SRBC.
In summary; the Zeiss Conquest HD is a good step down from the SRBC 8 x 42. Nearly everything about it is underwhelming in comparison. If weight is not an issue the SRBC is clearly the better choice for birding and general daylight glassing etc.
Update August 14
Zeiss SFL 8 x 30 versus SRBC 8 x 42
Introduced in 2022, the SFL series retail for £1300 to £1600 here in the UK.
Summary: Much closer than I expected but still no cigar. The Zeiss SFL is a real class act with some of the best images I have experienced in a compact class binocular, but it exhibits higher levels of colour fringing in its outer field compared with the SRBC, as well as noticeable field curvature which softens its edge performance.
Details:
White light test: the Zeiss SFL has higher quality prisms than the Conquest HD, as evidenced by the absence of a diffraction spike. It proved as good as the SRBC in this regard, with very subdued internal reflections.
Glare suppression: is a step-up from the Zeiss CHD, and is as good (if not a tad better) than the SRBC against the light.
Colour tone: These looked almost identical to my eye under a variety of different lighting conditions. The SFL showed the same vibrant but accurate colours of flowers and shrubs as the SRBC and distinctly different from the cooler tones seen in the Conquest HD. A very pleasant surprise!
Central Sharpness: As good as the SRBC in good light i.razor sharp, excellent.
Off-Axis Sharpness: the SFL loses critical sharpness gradually as it’s moved off axis. The outer 20 per cent of its field is noticeably softer than the SRBC which I suspected was due to field curvature. Star testing confirmed this. Centring pinpoint sharp Vega in the field of view of both binoculars and panning off centre showed a pronounced bloating of the star which was very obvious in the outer 20 per cent of the field of the SFL Much of this could be focused out however, indicating that field curvature was indeed the major contributor. In contrast, the SRBC showed very little or no departure from pin sharp all the way to the field stops.
Chromatic aberration: The UHD optical system in the Zeiss SFL provides crisper images with higher contrast than the Conquest HD. That said, it was no match for the SRBC in terms of colour correction. While both instruments showed essentially none in the centre, moving off axis in the SFL showed significantly higher levels of lateral colour than the SRBC, which in contrast showed very little. I feel the SFL is a high quality ED binocular but can’t match the true APO billing of the SRBC.
Focus Wheel: The SFL has a super nice and responsive wheel with near perfect amount of traction. More refined than on the Conquest HD. And just like my SRBC, it shows a little bit of resistance at the end of its anticlockwise travel.
The Overall View: Both are very relaxing to pan, showing very little or no rolling ball effect, and no annoying kidney beaning. Eye relief is a little better in the SFL. The significantly wider (8 vs 9.1 degrees) and flatter field of the SRBC creates a more immersive and majestic view that is just so addicting.
Conclusions: Superior colour correction(owing to the use of Ultra FL), ultra flat, and ultra wide field are hallmarks of Zeiss’ flagship models: the Victory SFs. The SRBC should rightly be compared to the SF or indeed the Swarovski flagship line, the NL Pure, which may close or exceed the performance gap.
Update August 24
CNer Koh from South Korea did a shoot out between a 10 x 42 SRBC and a Leica Noctivid 10 x 42, declaring the SRBC the easy winner. Later in the same thread he compares the 12 x 50 SRBC with the Swarovski EL 12 x 50 and found the former to be superior over all. Details here.
Just for the fun of it, I cross posted Koh’s review over on the bino porn site on Birdforum. Ruffled a brood of vipers and flushed out the haters. The reader will note it’s the same folk who have never looked through the SRBC that are most critical of it. Yip, the classic argument from pure ignorance.
Infamy!, Infamy! ….. they all have it in for me! Lol
Job done.
Maybe now I should take up collecting watches or something?
If you’ve been following my work over the years you’ll no doubt have observed my enthusiasm for Svbony sports optics. Their SV 202 series of binoculars have made a loud splash among consumers looking for a great introduction to the world of modern binoculars at very modest retail prices. Their spotting scopes have also garnered a solid reputation among birders and other naturalists. My recent review of the 20x-60x 85 SA405 ED was a thoroughly delightful experience. But Svbony have not rested on their laurels. They continue to innovate and have now launched their new flagship binoculars in 8 x and 10 x 42: enter the SA 205, which offers an increased level of performance thanks to their advanced optical design. Just like the popular SV 202 series with their magnesium alloy chassis, high-reflectivity dielectric coatings, phase correction coatings and ED glass, the SA 205 features field flattening optics in a completely redesigned platform, with some new ergonomic features that will appeal to a broad church of outdoor enthusiasts. Let’s take a closer look at the 8 x 42 model, which I’ve been field testing over the last few weeks.
The new SA 205 8 x 42 is conveniently small and lightweight.
Ergonomics
The instrument arrived very well packed in a very small and tidy box. My first thought when I held the binocular in my hands was : “wow this is a very small binocular,” at least an inch shorter than the SV 202 8 x 42( see below):
The SA 205(left) versus the SV 202(right).
Remarkably, the SA 205 8 x 42 tips the scales at just 704g, less than the SV 202. This has got to be the lightest flat field binocular with these specifications on the market.
The matt black rubber armouring is tough and tactile. The sides are ribbed for extra grip.
The antireflection coatings applied to the lenses in the SA 205 are completely different to the SV 202. Gone are those deep purple blooms seen on the SV 202s which are now replaced by more subdued greenish coatings as seen in broad daylight.
The new SA 205 binoculars appear to have entirely different antireflection coatings applied to the lenses.
The twist-up eyecups are decent, having a few intermediate positions. I actually preferred those found on the SV 202 series though, as they seem to be a bit firmer and click into place more resolutely. Eye relief is excellent however. I was able to easily see the entire field wearing eyeglasses.
The ocular lenses are large and easy to centre one’s eyes in.
The eyepieces are easy to engage with.
The right eye dioptre on the SA 205 8 x 42 is a real treat. Instead of just rotating smoothly, it has click stops that are very easy to adjust and keep the user’s preferred position firmly. I consider this nothing short of a brilliant piece of mechanical engineering. Kudos Svbony!
The dioptre system of the SA 205 is much improved, featuring click stops to hold it firmly in place.
The metal focus wheel is deeply knurled and is easy to engage with. It rotates very smoothly with no free play in either direction. 1.5 revolutions anticlockwise brings you from one end of its focus travel to the other. It’s highly responsive, requiring only a light touch to dial up the best views.
Overall, I’m delighted with the ergonomics of the SA 205 8 x 42. Simple and understated, it’s wonderfully compact and easy to handle, especially when you consider all of the optical goodies packed inside it. Optics
As I began my investigation into the SV 202 series, I was struck by how clean the images were when pointed at an intensely bright white light source. In particular, they showed very little internal reflections and no annoying diffraction spikes. I’m pleased to report that the same tests carried out on this SA 205 unit were, if anything, even better. There was no internal reflections – even very slight ones – of any description – and no diffraction spikes.
Examining the exit pupils while looking at a bright daylight sky also showed excellent dark hinterlands around them as the photo below shows. These are great results for any binocular. And the good results kept on coming.
The SA 205 8 x 42 shows nice dark regions around the exit pupils.
The view through the SA 205 8 x 42 is excellent: it’s razor sharp across the entire field. Off-axis aberrations such as pincushion distortion are very mild. Field curvature is essentially absent. Contrast is excellent, with a very neutral colour tone. Colour correction is also markedly improved over the SV 202 series. The centre of the field is essentially devoid of secondary spectrum. Only when high-contrast targets are moved significantly off axis could I see some slight lateral colour fringing creeping in. Glare suppression is exemplary: right up there, in fact, with the very best binoculars I’ve tested. Glassing strongly backlit scenes with the SA 205 stubbornly refuses to throw up glare. In addition, I could detect no glare when aiming the instrument at a bright sky after sunset. Notes from the Field
The SA 205 presents one of the most relaxed views I’ve witnessed in a flat field binocular. I encountered no blackouts or rolling ball effect while panning. Close focus was yet another surprise: I measured it at just 1.34m or 4.75 feet! This is another exceptional result: great news for those who like studying insects, flowers and other targets close at hand.
I checked the flatness of the field by monitoring the profile of the bright star Vega high up in twilit Summer skies. It remained very tightly focused all the way to the field stops.
I got the distinct impression the SA 205 8 x 42 was delivering a slightly lower magnification than advertised. I made a rough measurement of the size of the exit pupil; about 5.8mm which would yield a working power of 7.2x rather than 8x, and explaining, to some degree, why the view feels so relaxed.
The focus wheel is much more sensitive than that found on the SV 202 series. Slow and careful micro-focusing will reward the viewer with the very best images. This may not be to everyone’s liking though. Personally I would have preferred it to be a bit slower, but like everything else in life, practice makes perfect.
Conclusions & Recommendations
A brilliant, multi-purpose binocular.
Test driving the SA 205 8 x 42 was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It is small and lightweight, yet is tough and durable. It has many endearing characteristics, such as excellent edge-to-edge sharpness thanks to the addition of field flattening optics, exceptional close focus, a brilliant click-stop dioptre system and wonderful glare suppression.
Smaller 8 x or 10 x 32mm SA 205 models would be a great addition to this exciting new series from Svbony. They would undoubtedly prove very popular among birders in particular.
The arrival of this new high-performance binocular represents still more compelling evidence that Chinese-manufactured optics are now rapidly approaching those produced by European manufacturers. Even seasoned binocular users will be hard pressed to see any shortcomings in the images delivered by this high-tech instrument. That these are being offered at such modest retail prices is very good news for the outdoor enthusiast. The days of splashing out large sums of money for excellent optical performance are now well and truly behind us. And that’s a good thing!
Viva La Revolution!
Dr Neil English delights in presenting exceptional binocularbargains to his readers. Read about many more binocular reviews in his new book, Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts.
Over the last few years I’ve had the immense good pleasure to buy in and test some remarkable binoculars. I’ve been especially interested in bringing the greatest bang for buck instruments to the community and have identified a number of excellent Chinese-made instruments that have inched ever closer to the kind of quality images garnered by long-established European brands. In this capacity, some have come frighteningly close to the very best in their aperture class. That being said, I now have the opportunity of presenting an instrument that, I believe, completes that evolutionary journey: enter the SkyRover Banner Cloud series of high-performance roof prism binoculars which are every bit as good as the current crop of so-called ‘alpha’ binoculars made by Zeiss, Swarovski and Leica, but without their enormous price tags. Currently the Banner Clouds are offered in two configurations: 42 and 50mm. I test drove the popular 8 x 42 model, the subject of this present review.
The SkyRover Banner Cloud Apo 8 x 42 is a chunky and handsome binocular.
The United Optics SkyRover Banner Cloud Apo binoculars are manufactured in Kunming, China, and are packed full of high-end features. Let’s take a look around the instrument. First off, the binocular has a fair heft to it, tipping the scales at 913g with its objective covers on. But that’s just the kind of heft you see with all the alpha 8 x 42s in current production. Maybe it’s just psychological, but it seems right that top performing roofs ought to have this kind of gravitas.
The magnesium alloy chassis is covered in a fairly smooth- textured green rubber armouring. It’s perfectly fine but I’d have preferred to see a more rough textured substrate like that exhibited by my Swarovski Habicht 8 x 30 W.
The metal focus wheel is well engineered. Two fingers wide, it is gloriously twirly: moving with absolutely no bumps or free play. The wheel rotates through 1.5 revolutions anti-clockwise from closest focus to infinity.
Two-fingers wide, the central focus wheel is tactile, twirly and great fun to use.
The rubber-clad metal eyecups are of the twist-up variety and provide five positions from fully retracted to fully extended. Eye relief is generous. I was able to view practically the entire field with my spectacles on with the eyecups fully pushed down. The ocular lenses are positively enormous(27mm in diameter), making eye placement very easy. One very neat feature of the Banner Cloud eyecups is that they can be screwed off to better access the ocular lenses for cleaning. It also raises the possibility that should one malfunction, a replacement could be shipped out if need be. With only a few exceptions, these kinds of features are almost invariably found on only the best European made instruments.
The rubber-0ver metal twist up eyecups offer five positions, and can be unscrewed for cleaning the lenses.
The dioptre compensation mechanism is traditional, located under the right ocular lens. To keep costs down, SkyRover avoided the design of a lockable dioptre mechanism: an eminently sensible move as these really are a solution waiting for a problem. Then slap on another $500 for the “convenience.”Totally unnecessary and not conducive to sharing! The ring rotates with a fair amount of inertia, stable enough to hold its position well during field use. The objective lenses are quite deeply recessed and are further protected by snugly fitting rubber covers that clip into the base of the instrument. They can easily be removed however, if they’re not to your liking.
The objective lenses are decently recessed. Check out those snugly fitting objective covers!
Both the objective and ocular lenses are treated with the company’s proprietary hydrophobic coatings, which I tested against a suitable control (Nikon EII 10 x 35). I can report that they work very well indeed, removing condensation rapidly and in real time.
Even though the Banner Cloud has larger objectives, it was clearly able to disperse condensation within a few seconds compared with the 35mm EII objective. The image shows the result after 10 seconds.
The supplied neoprene neck strap is wide and padded, offering very decent support for this hefty instrument. I also liked the quality of the rubber rain guard which fits over the eyecups snugly. I also really like the padded case with its pretty red logo. Where have I seen that before? Hmm. It locks securely and is a perfect match for the size of the instrument even with the neck strap remaining attached. A very nice touch!
All in all, the instrument handles superbly, feeling very solid and secure in my medium sized hands.
Cold Weather Testing
One of the concerns some folk have levelled against the Banner Cloud binoculars is that they won’t cope in extreme temperatures unlike the top European brands which are typically reliable between say -25C to about + 60C. Less reliable models struggle particularly at very low temperatures when the focus wheel stiffens up or stops moving altogether. After performing some star tests on the SkyRover over a couple of hours at +4C, the focus wheel remained just as buttery smooth to turn under these conditions as it did at room temperature. This is unusual, as I invariably notice some tightening up of the focus wheel on many other instruments under these conditions. Immediately after this I brought the instrument inside and placed it in my freezer( yes, you read that right) at -20C where it remained for a further hour. I’m delighted to report that even after this ultra-low temperature plunge, the Banner Cloud 8 x 42 focus wheel was still turning smoothly with no apparent loss of functionality! Very impressive! The outer lenses fogged up as expected as it struggled to warm up to room temperature but it remained bone dry in its interior. I’m therefore confident that these instruments will cope admirably in whatever conditions nature throws at them.
Dr Merlitz provided some useful information in his preamble linked to above. It was indeed designed to operate at -20C all the way to +55C thus covering most any realistic environmental situation. Neat huh?
How did they pull that off? A little research quickly revealed a new generation of cryogenic greases that have been especially designed for use in ultra-low temperatures. Perhaps the focus wheels on the Banner Clouds are lubricated with some such grease? I can only guess!
Optical Tests
My first test involved the examination of the image the instrument through up when pointed at an intensely bright white light source. The results were excellent. I detected no internal reflections or diffused light around the source. I did pick up a very small and faint diffraction spike however, but deemed it largely non-injurious.
Next I photographed the view around the exit pupils of the instrument. As you can see below, the result was very good indeed.
Left pupil.
Right pupil.
The instrument arrived on a dull, overcast day and I took myself off around Culcreuch Castle Estate for some preliminary testing. One often hears that it takes many weeks to garner an accurate assessment of an instrument’s optical and mechanical quality. While there is some truth in this, the reality is that once you’re used to looking through first-rate optical instruments one can easily come to firm conclusions after just a few minutes of use. In this capacity, I was immediately taken by the superb performance of the Banner Cloud 8 x 42: the view is outstanding in many ways: razor sharp from edge to edge, wonderful contrast, and vibrant true-to-life colours. The field flatteners all but eliminates field curvature and pincushion distortion is refreshingly mild, only becoming slightly apparent in the outer 20 per cent of its enormous field. The instrument instantly reminded me of the Swarovski 8.5 x 42 EL only with a much larger field of view. During brighter spells, I could see that it performs admirably against the light. Glare suppression is well above average in this unit.
Testing the SkyRover Banner Cloud Apo 8 x 42 against the optically superb Swarovski Habicht 8 x 30W.
I spent a few days comparing the view in the Banner Cloud with my reference binocular, the venerable Swarovski Habicht 8 x 30W: an instrument of unimpeachable optical quality. I call it ‘reality through the looking glass.’ This instrument has a flat transmission curve across the visible spectrum, delivering 96 per cent of the light it gathers to my eyes. As a result its colour tone is absolutely neutral. Compared with the Habicht, the Banner Cloud delivers slightly warmer colours, with a slight bias towards the red and orange region of the visible spectrum. Placing the instruments on my tripods and carefully comparing the views, I judged the central sharpness of the Banner Cloud to be every bit as good as the Habicht. Indeed I came away with the distinct impression that the Banner Cloud was revealing slightly finer details at distance, an impression I attribute to its larger objectives.
Chromatic aberration is very well corrected in the Banner Cloud. I detected none in most lighting situations. Only in the most critical conditions, like looking through several layers of tree branches against a uniformly grey sky, did I detect traces of lateral colour in the outer 10 per cent of the field. More on this a little later.
Stray light is much better controlled in the Banner Cloud Apo 8 x 42 too. While observing the bright star. Vega, rising in the northeast with a bright sodium street lamp just outside the field of view, the difference between the Habicht and the Banner Cloud was like night and day. The Habicht all too easily showed its weakness in manifesting off-axis glare, with the bigger Banner Cloud stubbornly refusing to reveal any in the same test.
Notes from the Field
A robust field companion.
Close focus was measured to be just over 2m, in accordance with the published specifications. Although 1.5 revolutions of the focus wheel takes you from one end of its focus travel to the other, focusing anywhere from about 10m to infinity only requires about a quarter of a turn of the wheel. There is quite a generous focus travel beyond infinity however: good news if you suffer from severe myopia.
The instrument excels in all terrains, whether it be wide open hills, valleys, observing out at sea and forest exploration. The Banner Cloud 8 x 42 Apo also impressed me with its very decent stereopsis when viewing complex targets in the middle distance.
I found the best eyecup positions to be two clicks down from fully extended. This allowed me to better engage with the entire field, as well as clearly accessing the field stops. The eyecups hold their positions very well. I experienced little in the way of blackouts and only very occasionally a ‘rolling ball effect’ whilst panning the edge of a forest at distance.
The enormous field of view (9.1 degrees) and its excellent sharpness from edge to edge made it a particular joy to watch a group of newly arrived Swallows feasting on the insects hovering just above or on the surface of the water at my local pond. Tracking their complex aerial displays becomes a lot easier when this size of field is open to you.
Another highlight was observing the playful antics of the newly arrived lambs in the fields round my home. The gorgeous micro-crystalline details served up by the Banner Cloud made picking off small birds like the Pied Wagtail in the distance very easy to do. Focusing is crisp and unambiguous, with none of the focus chasing you see all too often on lesser instruments: a sure testament to the optical excellence of this test unit.
Turning to the night sky I was fortunate enough to observe a glorious crescent Moon riding in the western sky after dark on the evening of April 12. A wealth of high resolution details of the battered southern highlands was a joy to behold, as was the wonderful earthshine from its dark face as best presented during March and April. I detected no chromatic aberration within the central 60 per cent of the field but began to notice a sliver of yellow on the lunar edge when moved towards the field stops. Tests like this on brighter light sources fool the eye a lot less. Drop off in illumination is very mild in the outer ten per cent of the field.
I enjoyed a few hours observing the showpieces of the Spring sky. For this kind of work it pays to mount the instrument on a sturdy monopod such as the excellent Oberwerk Series 2000 withs its nicely engineered trigger release ball head. Auriga now sinking into the western sky revealed the ghostly wisps of its three Messier open clusters peppering its mid-section, the generous binocular field easily framing all three members with lots of room to spare. Praesepe and the celebrated Beehive Cluster were spell binding, as was the sprawling Coma Cluster further off to its east.
Star images remain nice pin points across the entire field. Indeed this binocular will delight stargazers who enjoy flat fields to monitor the heavens.
Conclusions & Recommendations
This is a very exciting development for sure! While the West is busy going woke and de-industrialising, China is powering ahead, offering ever more sophisticated technologies for the consumer market. This new series of binoculars by Sky Rover represents the most highly advanced binocular that competes favourably with European brands costing several times their modest price tags. Those wanting a little more power would do well to consider the 10 x 42 with its class-leading 7.8 degree field. As the acknowledged expert, Holger Merlitz, astutely announced in his assessment of the larger 12 x 50 model(see the preamble link above) and subsequently the 10 x 50 model also, these really do perform at a phenomenal level. But long-term success will require maintaining good quality control and the offering of a decent warranty period. I also believe there will be a vibrant market for smaller 8x and 10 x 32 models if they can successfully scale down the technology. All in all, this is very encouraging news for consumers who want new levels of sophistication for their hard-earned cash, and will surely help to break the ugly, pretentious, elitist “pay to play” cycle all too often seen on our vulgar forums.
Very highly favoured!
Explore many more binocular models across all genres in my new (non pretentious)book, Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts.
Coatings: Full Broadband Multicoated, Dielectric coatings on BaK4 prisms
ED Glass: Yes FK-61
Waterproof: Yes
Nitrogen Purged: Yes
Dimensions: L/W: 14/12.5cm
Weight: 671g advertised, 728g measured
Warranty: 2 years
Price: $329.95
In previous reviews I expressed my great admiration for the new Oberwerk SE Porro prism binoculars, which offer exceptional optical performance for their modest price tags. These experiences got me very intrigued about the company’s Sport ED roof prism binoculars, offered in the popular formats of 8 x 42 and 10 x 42. Could these deliver the ‘Wow Factor’ I had experienced while using the SE Porros?
Admittedly, this was going to be a tall order to pull off, especially in light of the many similarly priced models now available to the consumer offering many of the same features, at least on paper. Moreover, my love of high-quality Porro prism binoculars had somewhat dampened my enthusiasm for roof prism binoculars in general. But after putting the 8 x 42 Sport ED model through its paces in a variety of favourable and adverse lighting conditions, I think the answer is a confident Yes!
Ergonomic Features
An exceptionally handsome binocular.
I contacted Oberwerk owner, Kevin Busarow, who agreed to send me a unit for review. The instrument arrived well packed and double-boxed together with its standard accessories. My first impressions were certainly very favourable. While I’m not a fan of garish colours, I have to make an exception for this binocular. This is one handsome instrument, with its very fetching dark green rubber armouring and black, twist-up eyecups complemented by the cherry apple red anodized aluminium focus wheel and right eye dioptre ring.
The textured rubber armouring is exceptionally grippy without being overly thick, keeping its overall weight down. Even in wet weather, your fingers will not slip up. The focus wheel is truly excellent. The deeply knurled edges make it exceptionally easy to turn with one finger, rotating smoothly in both directions with zero free play. Indeed, this is probably the very best focus wheel I’ve personally encountered in a roof prism binocular! 1.75 turns anticlockwise takes you from closest focus to beyond infinity.
Ditto for the right eye dioptre ring. It’s very hard to rotate but you get there in the end. Once set it will stay in place!
Belly side up.
The rubber-clad metal eye cups have two intermediate positions between fully retracted and fully extended. Moreover, after clicking into place, they hold their positions very firmly indeed. And there’s plenty of eye relief for the bespectacled among us too. I was easily able to engage with the entire field while wearing ordinary eyeglasses.
The objective lenses are unusually well recessed(~12mm) from the end of the barrels, helping to protect the coatings from the vagaries of the weather as well as acting as a protective barrier against stray light. The large(23mm) eye lenses make centring your eyes child’s play.
Note the very deeply recessed objective lenses.Large eye lenses make for very easy centring of your pupils.
Being very compact at just 14.5cm long and 11cm wide, the Oberwerk Sport ED 8 x 42 feels great in my medium sized hands. My right-hand fingers comfortably fall on the bridge and can wrap around the right barrel, while my left index finger naturally rests on the large focus wheel rendering an exceptionally secure handling experience. All-in-all I would rate the ergonomic features of the Oberwerk Sport ED as superb; easily as good as anything I’ve seen from the top European manufacturers.
Optical Assessment
I began my optical testing by looking for internal reflections and diffused light around an intensely bright light source. Setting my iPhone torch to its brightest output, and examining the image from across a room, I got an excellent result. I detected only a couple of very feeble reflections, no diffused light around the light source and no diffraction spikes. The same was true when I turned the binocular on a bright sodium streetlamp after dark.
Next, I photographed the images of the exit pupils. As you can see below, the results are very good; perfectly circular with plenty of darkness immediately around them. There is some light leakage set well away from the pupils but even with fully dilated eye pupils, you’re unlikely to be affected by it.
Left Pupil.Right Pupil.
Now for the juicy bits. When I first set the Sport ED 8 x 42 to my eyes, I assumed the optimal position of the eye cups was in their fully extended position, as they usually are. But that yielded a slight tunnelling effect which prevented me from viewing the field stops clearly, but I quickly found my ideal setting by retracting the eyecups one notch down.
How are the views? In a word; excellent! But to elaborate, the Sport ED served up tack sharp images from centre to edge. Indeed, testing the binocular alongside my Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED ‘control’ I was able to resolve finer grain detail on the wooden beams on a climbing frame located about 80 metres in the distance. This instrument has a remarkably large sweet spot, and while the field of view is already generously large(8.1 degrees), it feels even more expansive by virtue of the sharp field edges. This is a remarkable result given that the instrument does not employ field flattening optics! Pin cushion distortion is also very well controlled in this instrument being noticeably milder than that observed in the Svbony control instrument. Colours are bright and true to life with a slightly warm tone which I very much enjoyed.
Glare control is decent in the Oberwerk Sport ED 8 x 42. Only in the more severe lighting situations did I detect some. Colour correction is also WAY above average, even for its ‘ED’ billing. Indeed, after conducting many hours of testing on a variety of high-contrast targets, I could only detect the merest trace of off-axis chromatic aberration, and only at the extreme edges of the field of view. Those who find colour fringing annoying will find the Oberwerk Sport ED to be a refreshing break from the norm!
Notes from the Field
A wonderful companion in the great outdoors
One of the first tests I performed was to check collimation under the stars. This is easily done by turning the right eye dioptre so that it defocuses a bright star in the right barrel while the left barrel keeps the star tightly focused. The focused star stayed in the centre of the defocused anulus, not only in the centre of the field, but also when the star was moved around the field, checking as I did for possible detachment. The star remained centrally placed, irrespective of where the anulus was positioned inside the field. This confirmed that the instrument was very accurately collimated.
Excellent collimation also explains why I’ve been able to enjoy prolonged panning activities with this binocular, its soft eyecups being very comfortable to place your eyes against. The view is very immersive, almost as if you’re sitting in the image. Contrast and resolution are excellent, especially over longer distances. For example, I could easily pick off the variegated colours of a Goldfinch in flight over 150 metres away. The Sport ED 8x 42 has that crystal clear clarity reminiscent of high-end European binoculars like the Zeiss Conquest HD but with a significantly larger field of view.
Just a half a turn of the ultra-smooth focus wheel covers the vast majority of targets from about 8 metres out to infinity. Closest focus was measured at 2.36m, a little longer than advertised but plenty close enough for viewing insects or other targets at proximity.
The excellent sharpness of the image was abundantly in evidence when I turned the Oberwerk Sport ED 8 x 42 on the stars. Aiming the binocular on the Alpha Persei star cluster, I immediately noticed the very fine pinpoints of starlight served up by the instrument. The stars making up this celebrated cluster were incredibly fine, with the subtle colour differences among its members easily discernible. The fineness of the stellar images were unquestionably better than any roof prism binocular I’ve tested in this price class.
My subjective impressions of a large sweet spot were also confirmed under the stars. In a sense, the eye can deceive during daylight hours. The ‘trickery’ of visual accommodation and all that….. Centring Altair and moving it across the field, I noted that the image of the star stayed tight and pinpointed most of the way to the field stop. To my eye, it only showed noticeably bloating in the outer 15 per cent of the field, where slight refocusing restored the image to a tight pinpoint of white light. Conventional wisdom has it that field flattening optics are necessary for observing pristine star fields right out to the edges but the very mild field curvature in the Sport ED show that excellent results can be achieved without such optics.
Conclusions & Recommendations
Sweet.
Test driving the Oberwerk Sport ED 8 x 42 has been nothing short of a revelation. Just when you thought you’ve seen it all, along comes an instrument like this that upsets the apple cart. Oberwerk has really hit the ground running with the Sport ED roof prism binoculars, as the many other reviews also attest. This is a seriously good piece of kit. For a very reasonable price you get an extremely well-made instrument that functions beautifully in field use. It has superb resolution, contrast, ergonomics, and engineering, and in my opinion, there’s nothing to touch it in this price class with a fit and finish more reminiscent of a £1k instrument. But that seems to be the siren call of Oberwerk in general. Not only has it made its name in high quality large aperture binoculars, the company’s new lines of compact binoculars are also making heads turn. And that’s great news for the consumer and the hobby in general.
Dr Neil English explores the fascinating world of binoculars in his up-and-coming book, Choosing and Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts due out in late 2023/early 2024.
“What on earth were these instruments designed for? “
That was the question I posed to myself as I first brought this old classic Japanese-made Asahi Pentax 8 x 40 wide field binocular to my eyes for the first time. The view had a very sharp central image and a huge 9.5-degree field of view for an 8x glass, but the image was tinged in a weird greenish cast. A quick google search brought up a few possibilities but the most common answer was that the special coatings applied to the ocular lenses acted like polaroid sunglasses cutting down on glare, especially on sunny days. But if that were so, what was the green tint all about? I mean, I’ve never had sunglasses that imparted a greenish tint to everything!?
A original leather case with a gorgeous rose-coloured lining.
I picked the instrument up from a chap on fleabay back in early March for £65 plus £6 shipping, so £71 all in. The condition of the instrument looked immaculate, especially for a 1970s vintage glass. The original leather carry case is beautifully made with a rose-coloured lining. When I received the instrument, I was amazed how pristine it was; really like brand new. This must have been stored somewhere warm and dry for decades Indeed, the only reason I could think of to explain its tip-top condition was that it was hardly used at all!
The fine leatherette armouring is pristine for such an old glass.
The build quality of this Asahi Pentax is very impressive. Good big prisms, with a nicely tensioned central focus wheel moving very smoothly after all these years. The objectives looked singly coated with the standard bluish glint of magnesium fluoride anti-reflection coating. The right eye dioptre moved very smoothly but with great resistance to accidental displacement, with an easy-to-read +/- scale. The eyecups are made from hard plastic and so can’t be adjusted to improve eye relief for the bespectacled, but I suppose some resourceful person could shim them down to access more of the field.
Belly side up.
The instrument is extremely chunky, tipping the scales at 979g without a neck strap. I guess this was one of the instruments that helped stereotype the classic Porro as being big and bulky, although that’s not really true today I’m glad to say. I measured close focus at 6 yards – again stereotypical of glasses from this era but also no longer necessarily true today either. Using it for a few minutes,you really do come away with the impression that this was a quality instrument, especially when it saw first light all those decades ago. Based on the stampings on the front cap, this was manufactured by Zuiho Kogaku Seiki Co, Tokyo.
Serial # and angle of view.
The eyepieces are coated with a substance that reflects golden light to the eye. It’s not gold however, in case you’re wondering. The wavelength of the reflected light (~600nm) only depends on the refractive index of the coating and its thickness. I’ve heard of some folk who have removed these coatings using acetone and a bit of elbow grease with varying degrees of success. Some reported that the colour cast of the resulting images are more natural but also that it exposed more internal reflections and glare in the images they served up.
The strong colour shift renders the Asahi Pentax almost useless for birding excursions. Accurate identification relies on the binocular delivering colours that are faithful to the natural image. It’s not especially good at cutting down on glare either. Turning the binocular on some strongly backlit scenes showed up significant glare in this instrument, as it also did when I turned it on a sodium streetlamp after dark. But what’s remarkable about this instrument is the expansive field of view with very good sharpness across most of the field. As an astronomical instrument, it also does quite well but the low light transmission and colour shift renders the images a bit dimmer than a modern instrument having superior coatings.
A well-corrected 9.5 degree field is very impressive for an 8x instrument though. It’s actually larger than my Nikon EII 8 x 30(~9 degrees) and my Nikon Action 7 x 35 ( 9.3 degrees). But when I began to study a variety of older Porro prism binoculars, especially in the 7 x 35 format, I was shocked by what I discovered. Paul Wehr, a keen binocular collector based in New York was kind enough to share some images of his extensive collection of classic Japanese-made 7 x 35s with me. It turns out that 9 or even 10-degree fields were rather on the small side. Take a look at some of the models in his collection.
Here are a couple of vintage Bushnell 7x 35 Rangemasters sporting 10 degree fields:
The vintage Bushnell Rangemaster 7 x 35 with 10 degree field. Image credit: Paul Wehr.
But they come significantly wider again. Take a look at this Swift Holiday Mark II with an 11 degree field:
The Swift Holiday Mark II 7 x 35 with its 11 degree field. Image credit: Paul Wehr.
Or how about this Sans & Streiffe 7 x 35 model with a whopping 13 degree true field!
The Sans & Streiffe 7 x 35 with a 13 degree true field! Image credit: Paul Wehr.
My conversations with Paul made it obvious that he’s very impressed with these classic widefield binoculars. I would be too! Ultra wide fields like this are not unique to Porro prism models either. Take the Leica Amplivid 6 x 24, for example, sporting a 12 degree field.
Back to the Future
My personal ‘discovery’ of the existence of these ultrawide compact binocular models from yesteryear raises interesting questions in my mind. In 2023, leading binocular manufacturers like Swarovski and Zeiss wax lyrical about their wide-angle flagship models, like the NL Pure range and Victory SFs, sporting fields of the order of 9 degrees. Owners rave about their huge fields seemingly unaware that much bigger fields were available to binocular enthusiasts a half century ago.
There’s an important lesson to be learned here. Resurrecting these classic Porro prism designs with enormous fields could be done at much lower costs than those commanded by today’s top wide-angle roofs. Can you imagine what could be achieved by applying state-of -the-art multilayer coatings to the optical surfaces of such designs? Adding a field flattening lens would also make them very sharp nearly to the edge. Re-designing the eyepieces with greater eye relief wouldn’t go amiss either. Adding seals would render them water proof and purging them with dry nitrogen gas would keep them from fogging up in cold /humid weather.
Some of these sentiments are echoed in Holger Merlitz’s excellent article linked to in the preamble above. In particular, he makes the point that by incorporating modern, wide-angle eyepiece designs into these classic models, they would deliver wider and better corrected fields of view.
Just imagine what could be achieved!
It would surely usher in a revolution in binocular technology, and open the hobby up to more people if they’re offered at a significantly lower cost than the current top tier roof models now on the market.
We can only dream!
Thanks for reading!
Neil English’s new book: Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts, will be published in late 2023 by Springer Nature.
I would like to sincerely thank Paul Wehr for sharing images of his classic wide-angle models, as well as his enthusiastic conversations about their potential.
Accessories: Carry case, objective and rain guard(tetherable), lens cleaning cloth, test card, logoed and non-logoed neck straps.
Dimensions: 15 x 16.5cm
Warranty: 2 years
Price: $279.95
A few months back, I took the plunge and decided to order up one of the new binoculars offered by Oberwerk (see the preamble above). While I had heard great things about the company’s larger binoculars, I was genuinely intrigued when they brought out their SE series of smaller aperture Porro prism binoculars. The 8 x 32 SE has turned out to be something of a marvel; very bright, sharp, high-contrast images, a great big sweet spot and superb colour correction. But it didn’t end there. The same binocular is very well built and handles better than any other binocular I’ve had the pleasure to field test in this aperture class.. The 8 x 32 SE is the smallest binocular in this series, but my sustained attention to high-performance Porros stoked my interest in its larger sibling, the Oberwerk 10 x 42 SE. Intriguingly, it was being offered for only about $30 more than the 32mm model, so I ordered a unit up for testing and evaluation.
The Oberwerk SE 10 x 42 EDis a sturdily built binocular made for the great outdoors.
Like the 8 x 32 package, the 10 x 42 arrived within a week of me ordering it. Everything was well packed; the binocular with attached rain guards, the test card, neck straps and a fine soft padded case. Amazingly, this bigger brother of the 8 x 32 SE only weighs about 80g more. And just like the smaller Oberwerk, it’s built like a proverbial tank, with a thick, grippy rubber armouring surrounding the aluminium chassis.
The big beautiful eyecups on the Oberwerk SE 10 x 42 ED. Check out those antireflection coatings!
Everything worked smoothly; the central focus wheel, the right eye dioptre, the twist up eye cups with their comfortable eye relief. The only significant difference from the smaller model is that the objective lenses are not as deeply recessed. But that’s only because the extent of the recession of the 8x 32 SE objectives is truly cavernous!
Though not as deeply recessed as the smaller 8 x 32 unit, the objectives are still very well protected.
Next, the optics. Just like the 8 x 32 model, the 10 x 42 shows no internal reflections when pointed at a bright artificial light source. Taking a shot of the exit pupils showed very nice results, maybe not quite as nice as those found in the 32mm model but very good nonetheless.
Left eye pupil.Right eye pupil.
So what is it like to look through?
In a word: terrific!
On the afternoon it arrived, I quickly attached the neck strap and took myself off up to Culcreuch Pond to have a gander at the bird life. I was greeted by no less than three Cormorants, all perched on the fallen tree at the north edge of the pond. The generous field of view framed the birds perfectly. This is the tree I most often judge the size of the sweet spot during daylight hours as the trunk spans the field from edge to edge. I could instantly see that this was a high-quality optic with beautiful details on their feathers and long slender beaks coming through. I could also see that there was only a very modest amount of softening of the image at the field stops. That said, having experienced a few other 10x glasses with 6.5+ degree fields, the portal seemed a little short of what I expected. More on this later.
With leaden skies and the light rapidly failing, I didn’t think I’d see much more of interest that day, but as I was walking down the country road on the castle drive I heard the sound of a Woodpecker and quickly aimed the Oberwerk 10 x 42 SE as best I could towards some trees in an open field. Scanning carefully, I caught sight of a Great Spotted Woodpecker busy hunting for insects. And, as if by magic, a beautiful sunbeam broke through the clouds, illumining the tree with warm, radiant light. The striking colours of the bird – black, white and red -came to life. But then, from out of nowhere, a second Great Spotted Woodpecker emerged from behind another branch! I had never seen anything quite like this before! The view was razor sharp, the colours pure and intense, the stereopsis in the middle distance enhanced by the 10x boost producing an unforgettable visual extravaganza. The first bird took to flight after about 45 seconds of viewing it, the second followed suit shortly thereafter. Then the sunbeam disappeared, and I was back to sullen grey rainclouds serving as the backdrop to the tree top.
Still, the target served as an excellent test bed to see how well the optic was corrected for chromatic aberration. Once again, the Oberwerk 10 x 42 SE delivered in spades! Did it reach the sheer excellence of the 32mm unit? No, not quite, but it was very close.
I had anticipated that the perfect colour correction of the smaller 8 x 32 unit would be considerably more difficult to pull off with that higher magnification and greater light grasp of the larger 42mm objectives. But the results were excellent! I detected only a trace of lateral colour right out near the field stops and none within the sweet spot under these harsh lighting conditions. Indeed, on subsequent days with varying quality light, I became convinced that this binocular was well above average, even compared with other glasses endowed with well-executed ED glass objectives. Those who are sensitive to CA will be delighted with this optic. It’s just not an issue – quite a result, actually, for a big 10 x 42 like this.
Both the 8 x 32 and 10 x 42 Oberwerk Porros exhibit exceptional suppression of glare, which can only be achieved by a combination of high-quality coatings, good baffling and decently recessed objectives. Glassing into strongly backlit scenes presents little problem for these glasses. This extraordinary glare suppression adds to the visual punch of the images they serve up. Close focus on the 10 x 42 was measured to be 4.39m, a little longer than advertised but of no consequence to me, as this glass was designed for observing in the long to middle distance. Eye glass wearers will also be able to view the entire field thanks to the generous useable eye relief on these models.
The Oberwerk SE 10 x 42 is very comfortable to handle, despite its heftiness. Indeed, as I extended my glassing sessions with both these instruments, I came to appreciate that I could actually get slightly steadier images from them compared with my smaller, lighter glasses, so long as I didn’t over do it time wise, when muscular fatigue sets in. Studies I’ve read suggest hand-induced tremors manifest in the low frequency range, between 3 and 10Hz, and further indicate that using heavier glasses will introduce enough inertia to dampen these oscillations significantly. I noted this first with the smaller 8 x 32 SE comparing it with my lighter 8 x 30 Nikon E II, but it’s also true of the larger 10 x 42 unit, having done similar tests comparing it to my beloved Nikon E 10 x 35 WF.
Little & Large: the Oberwerk SE 10 x 42 ED(top) and the Nikon E 10 x 35 WF(bottom).
So how did these glasses compare optically? The Nikon has the wider field of view at 6.6 angular degrees. In bright light, the views are very comparable, that is, excellent, although I could see a good deal more lateral colour in the Nikon glass(non-ED) compared with the Oberwerk. In dull light conditions, such as near sunset or on heavily overcast days, the Oberwerk serves up significantly better images; they’re brighter and display no glare, which can sometimes be an issue for the Nikon. The Oberwerk also shows much milder pincushion distortion in the outer field compared with the Nikon too.
Adventures under the Stars
I can pretty much instantly tell if a binocular is mis-collimated in daylight tests, but I usually also test alignment of the barrels under the stars. By defocusing the bright star Arcturus using the right eye dioptre ring, I could see the focused star image from the left barrel was perfectly centred inside the defocused anulus of the right barrel image, so all was well. Centring the same star and moving it progressively further off axis, I was delighted to see that it remained a sharp pinpoint to about 80 per cent of the way to the field stop, after which the star showed the tell-tale signs of mild field curvature and some astigmatism. That said, even at the field stops, the star was only moderately deformed and didn’t present as an issue. Indeed, I consider that excellent performance for a binocular that lacks field flatteners.
The monopod maketh the binocular.
In my next test, I mounted the Oberwerk SE 10 x 42 ED on a tripod and centred Regulus in Leo, located some 12 degrees from the celestial equator and near my local meridian to conduct timing measurements of how long it took the star to reach the field stop. These times(in seconds) were doubled and then plugged into a standard astronomical formula requiring the cosine of the star’s declination, to measure field size. The arithmetic mean of such timings yielded a result of 6.44 angular degrees, a little less than the advertised 6.5 degrees, which I had suspected whilst comparing the Oberwerk to my Nikon E 10 x 35. These tests were carried out during a string of cold nights, where the temperatures fell below zero in the wee small hours of early April. This afforded an excellent opportunity to test another claim made by Oberwerk; fog proofing. Exposing the instrument to the cold for a couple of hours, I then brought it inside to a warm living room where the external optics fogged up, as expected. The inside of the instrument remained clear and fog free however, indicating that these instruments were indeed immune to internal fogging. Apparently, Oberwerk has been successfully doing this for well over a decade, as I came across a reference made by Phil Harrington who discussed this fact in his 2007 Star Ware.
Enjoying a long spell of settled clear weather, with blue skies by day and clear frosty nights, I enjoyed several astronomical vigils with this binocular. Handholding is OK for quick looks, but to get the most out of the instrument I mounted it on my trusty monopod, with a ball & socket head for increased stability and maximum manoeuvrability. On the evening of April 10 at 9.15pm local time, I spied an amazing apparition in the late evening twilight sky; the bright planet Venus and the Pleiades were framed within the same field of view! Venturing out about half an hour later with the sky fully dark, I was enthralled to see the same view, only this time many more stars were visible within the cluster and brilliant white Venus shining through the darkness, creating an unforgettable visual spectacle. Lying comfortably on a zero-gravity chair, I enjoyed spellbinding views of Praesepe and the Beehive Cluster at its heart, the sprawling stellar association known as the Coma Berenices Cluster(Melotte 111), the Alpha Persei Association and the Double Cluster, now sinking lower into my northern skies. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s something very special about the star images Porro prism binoculars serve up compared with their roof prism counterparts. To my eye, they appear more pinpoint and intense, more aesthetically pleasing. What’s more, I’ve noted the greater contrast induced by smaller exit pupils(< 5mm). The sky appears noticeably darker, intensifying the images of stars and faint nebulae. That’s also why the Nikon E 10 x 35 WF is such a lovely stargazing glass!
Because summer twilight sets in from about mid-May to the end of July this far north, I often do some of my summer observing in the wee small hours of late April mornings when the sky is still properly dark, and the traditional summer constellations rise high in the eastern sky. I had the opportunity to observe the Milky Way through Cygnus and Lyra, soaking up the beautiful, pristine star colours each field of view afforded. The region around Sadr was particularly memorable, as was the striking colour contrast binocular double 31 Cygni. Brilliant Vega was pure white as the driven snow and nearby Epsilon 1 & 2 Lyrae were easy pickings for this binocular. The great globular cluster in Hercules, M13, was a striking sight in this excellent 10 x 42, as was Albireo(Beta Cygni), which was nicely resolved using a steady monopod into comely orange and blue components.
Conclusions & Recommendations
Complementary glasses.
The Porro prism binocular revolution continues apace, and Oberwerk has positioned itself at the cutting edge of this movement with the marketing of these new instruments. Both the Oberwerk SE 8 x 32 and 10 x 42 proved to be excellent performers by day, and also after dark. Their no-nonsense, robust build quality and great optical performance will delight most anyone who views with them. Indeed, the experiences I’ve had with these instruments make me seriously question why anyone would want to consider roof prism binoculars costing up two or three times more than these instruments for little or no gain in performance. It just doesn’t cut the mustard! Both represent exceptional value for money in today’s market and will provide years of reliable performance to birdwatchers and stargazers alike.
Needless to say, you’ll be hearing more about my adventures with both these instruments in the months and years to come!
So, watch this space!
Neil English is the author of seven books in amateur and professional astronomy. His 8th title on binoculars hits the shelves later this year.
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).
A great focuser maketh the binocular.
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.
The beautifully applied anti-reflection coatings on the large ocular lenses.The deeply recessed objective lenses on the Svbony SV202 8 x 42 ED.
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.
GPO Passion ED 8 x 42(top) and Svbony SV202 8 x 42 ED(bottom).Hawke Endurance ED 8x 42(top) and the Svbony SV 202 8 x 42 ED(bottom).
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;
Left exit pupil.Right exit pupil.
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
Even the soft padded carry case fits the binocular with its strap attached. Cool!
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.
A couple of months back, I reviewed an extraordinary compact binocular, the Svbony SV 202 8 x 32 ED, showcased in the Preamble above. Retailing for just under £100(but now being offered for just £90), I was deeply sceptical regarding the claims made by the company, since it was offering an instrument with a raft of sophisticated features, including a magnesium alloy chassis, phase and dielectrically coated Schmidt-Pechan roof prisms and an ED element in the objective. Determined to debunk those claims, I happened to have in my possession another compact 8 x 32 – the Celestron Trailseeker – which also had many of those same features but with the exception of the ED element to compare it to. To my absolute astonishment, the claims made by the Hong Kong based Svbony turned out to be true! What’s more, the addition of the ED objective element pulled the Svbony ahead of the Trailseeker in careful optical testing. Even its ergonomic features proved superior to the very decent Celestron binocular.
Yet, it transpired that Svbony was also offering a larger glass, the SV 202 10 x 42 ED, with the same quality features found in the 8 x 32 model, and for a truly amazing price of £125.99 inclusive of delivery! After a purchaser of both binoculars kindly posted some video footage of these instruments on YouTube, I became convinced that the larger model was worth investigating also, and sure enough, its larger sibling turned out to be even more exciting to test drive!
So, in this review blog, I’ll be taking the reader through the ergonomic and optical features of the Svbony 10 x 42 ED model, and hope to demonstrate why I think it represents exceptional value for money in today’s market. Indeed, it has given this author serious pause concerning the purchase of a more expensive, ‘top-tier’ 10 x 42 for future field use.
First Impressions:
The beautifully finished Svbony 10 x 42 ED.
The Svbony SV202 10 x 42 ED arrived in a similar package to the smaller 8 x 32 ED model. The binocular ( with objective and ocular tethers attached) was carefully packed away inside a nicely fitting soft case, with a soft lens cleaning cloth, a well written instruction manual, a nice quality padded logoed neck strap. The box itself was nicely made, simple and attractive to look at.
Stop Press: The supplied carry case actuallycloses properly lol, with the binocular and its carry strap attached. You’ve no idea how few binoculars come with cases that can do just that!
Once I removed the binocular from the case, I was immediately impressed with the build quality. Just like its smaller sibling, the 10 x 42 felt very solid in the hand and was covered in a tough, textured rubber armouring that once again reminded me very much of the Zeiss Terra ED binoculars I had seen. Inspecting the objective and ocular lenses, I could see that the magenta coloured anti-reflection coatings were smoothly applied with no sleeks or pits. Passing a torch inside the binocular showed a nicely machined and blackened interior with no sign of dust, fingerprints or other debris. The exit pupils were round with no signs of truncation and the area around the pupils was nice and black. Nothing to concern me here!
Left eye box.And right eye box.
Ergonomics:
The Svbony 10 x 42 ED feels very sturdy in the hand but is surprisingly light weight. Usually, the lighter models in the 10 x 42 class tip the scales at over 700g but this model weighed in at just 698g, which is good news for folk who want to travel light.
The eye cups are wonderfully made, properly machined and twist upwards for non-eye glass wearers. There are three positions in all, with each detent locking rigidly into place. These are top notch eye cups, as good as I’ve seen on models costing several times the retail cost of this binocular.
The very well designed twist up eyecups are nicely machined and covered with a soft rubber substrate.
The centrally located focus wheel is constructed from metal and covered with a finely textured rubber substrate for easy gripping. Focusing is smooth and precise with zero play. It’s a little on the stiff side but very easy to negotiate, and I’m sure this will relax a little further with more frequent use. The focuser goes through 1.75 revolutions from one end of its focus travel to the other. The rubber tethered objective and ocular covers fit snugly over the lenses. I generally don’t use these in the field, but I’m reassured that should I employ them, they won’t fall off easily.
The underside of the Svbony 10 x 42 ED has no thumb rests but neither are they really needed. Note the similarity to the Zeiss Terra armouring.
The metal right eye dioptre ring is also nicely machined and rotates smoothly but has just the right amount of tension to stay rigidly in place. Having taken it in and out of its soft case dozens of times over a few days of testing, it never budged a millimetre. Good job Svbony!
As stated above, the anti-reflection coatings applied to the ocular and objective lenses has a strong magenta hue in broad daylight. They reminded very much of those found on the new Zeiss Victory SF binoculars.
Ocular end of the binocular.Objective lenses.
Like all good anti-reflection coatings, they ought to nearly disappear when viewed nearly straight on. Can you see the glass in the photo below?
Fur mein freund Hans: Good anti-reflection coatings should show little glare when viewed nearly head on in soft artificial light.
In summary, the ergonomics of this binocular are second to none. Really well made, with a quality fit and feel from the get go!
Optical Assessment
Beginning, as always, with my flashlight test, I directed an intensely bright beam of white light into the binocular and examined the image visually from a distance of about 3 metres away. Like the smaller 8 x 32 model, the result was excellent! There were no annoying internal reflections floating about, no diffraction spikes and no diffused light around the beam. It was clean as a whistle. As usual, I compared the results to my control binocular; a Barr & Stroud Series 5 8 x 42 ED, which displays exceptional control of internal reflections and diffraction spikes. I’m happy to report that the Svbony was fully the equal of it!
Later, after dark, I aimed the Svbony at a bright sodium street lamp and was delighted (but not surprised) to see that it was clean, crisp with no internal reflections, diffused light and nary a sign of any diffraction spikes. These were great results, especially for such an inexpensive binocular. Indeed, I’ve seen much more expensive instruments fare a whole lot worse in this simple test. Good job Svbony!
These results present a problem for Hans.
Even before I tweaked the dioptre ring for my right eye, I was very impressed with the daylight images I was getting from this binocular. The instrument arrived on a very overcast, dull day, with the worst possible lighting. Despite this set back, I was immediately taken by the sharpness of the image and its very large sweet spot. Colour rendition was very neutral and accurate. Eye placement was easy to optimise and I encountered no blackouts. The image was bright and crisp with excellent contrast. I did encounter some veiling glare under these harsh lighting conditions but I remember thinking to myself; “If this is the worse it could be, it’s really not too bad at all!”
The next day afforded much better, sunnier seeing conditions and I was further able to test the mettle of this Svbony binocular. Early autumn leaves radiated with colour and the image remained pin sharp across most of the field. The images snapped to focus with absolutely no ambiguity – a property I had noted in other high quality binoculars. On a walk by the river, I was mesmerized by the clarity of water flowing around rocks with beautiful sharpness and very little glare. Later the same afternoon, when some cloud rolled in, I examined the hills located a kilometre or so away, and I did detect some chromatic aberration on the edge of some cliffs against a uniformly bright sky. The result was very interesting because I also had my Barr & Stroud Series 5 8 x 42 ED with me to compare the views. After a few minutes going back and forward between the images, I could see that the Barr & Stroud – a lovely binocular in its own right and my personal favourite 8 x 42 – had better colour correction in the same image, but the Svbony was significantly sharper!
I had seen this effect before in the Leica Trinovid HD 8 x 32. Boy was that binocular sharp but it also showed some chromatic aberration on high contrast targets! More on this later.
Comparing the low light performance of the Svbony 10 x 42 ED with a Carson VP 10 x 42 (right) without dielectric coatings showed the former to have the brighter images.
I wanted to test the brightness of the Svbony 10 x 42 ED in comparison to a binocular with the same specifications but without dielectric coatings and ED glass. So out came my Carson VP 10 x 42. Starting around dusk and continuing into early September twilight, I wanted to ascertain whether or not I could detect a brightness difference between these binoculars, fully expecting the Svbony to deliver the brighter image. Sure enough, I could see a difference! Looking into some brush under bushes as the light rapidly faded, the Svbony delivered a significantly brighter image under these conditions, affirming that the superior coatings on the Svbony resulted in a higher light transmission than the Carson. Neat!
In another test, I canvassed the opinion of my maths student, Alexander, who was keen to help in the testing. I set up three 42mm binoculars; a Carson VP 10 x 42, a Barr & Stroud Series 5 8 x 42 ED and the Svbony 10 x 42 ED, as shown below:
Three 42mm roofs compared in broad daylight on the same target; from right to left: the Carson VP 10 x 42,the Barr & Stroud Series 5 8 x 42 ED and the Svbony 10 x 42 ED.
Looking at the trunk of a tree under good mid-afternoon illumination, exactly 20 metres away, I asked Alexander to carefully focus each binocular and judge the sharpness of the images, from worst to best. To make it as fair as possible, I asked him to examine the same trunk at a distance of exactly 15 metres away using the 8 x 42 ED to compensate for its reduced magnification. After a couple of minutes of testing, Alexander delivered his verdict; the Carson was the least sharp, the Barr & Stroud was sharper still, but he declared the Svbony to be the sharpest of all!
Alexander looking through the Svbony 10 x 42 ED.
Then I asked him to guess which one was the most expensive. Naturally enough, Alexander figured that the Svbony must be the priciest. He was quite surprised to learn that his choice was actually the least expensive of the three!
After a few days of using the Svbony 10 x 42 ED on long walks through the woods, along the river bank and through open fields, I began to appreciate the silky smoothness of the focuser. The focus wheel’s slow progression makes precise focusing a breeze, and while it’s more suited to hunting than birding, I was still able to enjoy some amazing glassing moments watching a Buzzard taking to flight from a tall conifer tree on one of my local patches. As I related earlier, the Svbony does show a very small amount of chromatic aberration on high contrast objects, yet it delivers sharper images than a more colour free binocular tested against it. This shows that absolute image quality need not be conflated with the degree of chromatic correction found in the binocular. As a case in point, the reader is invited to study reports made by reviewers of Leica’s flag ship binocular, the Noctivid.
Notes from the field: The Svbony has very decent focus depth for a 10 x 42 roof prism binocular. I measured close focus to be 2.8 metres – longer than the advertised 2.5 metres, but something I wasn’t too bothered with, as I usually do close up glassing using 8x models anyway. The comparatively light weight of this binocular makes it very easy to hand hold in my medium sized hands. The binocular does show some glare in the most demanding lighting conditions, but I learned to control it better by firmly holding my eye sockets to the eyecups to minimise the entry of peripheral light into the optical train. Greens and yellows are especially well accentuated in the Svbony, with the binocular delivering excellent brightness to the eyes, even during fading evening light.
Astronomical Testing
No matter how enthusiastic one feels about a binocular during daylight testing, observing the night sky produces still further insights into the relative quality of the glass. Luckily I enjoyed a couple of good vigils with the Moon out of the sky. Here’s what I found. Although it’s obvious that the Svbony 10 x 42 ED had a large, well-corrected sweet spot as seen in daylight glassing, it becomes much clearer by seeing how bright stars morph as they are moved from the centre of the field all the way to field stop. My first opportunity came on the evening of Saturday, September 11. Examining the bright yellow star, Capella, low down in the northeast at 21:45 local time, I was able to see that it remained pin sharp out to within~15 per cent of the distance to the field stop, beyond which point it started to bloat. But even at the field stop the bloating wasn’t too bad and indeed, I was able to focus most of it out. I consider this to be a very good result, especially for the very reasonable cost of the instrument. I believe this is attributed to the modest choice of field size employed in the Svbony. Many inexpensive models make the mistake of opening up the field too much, with the result that the outer part of the field becomes noticeably more blurred than the centre of the field. And while the field of view of the Sybnony 10 x 42 ED is not overly restrictive at 6.16 angular degrees, the designers did not fall into the trap of making it too wide. This greatly aids in the aesthetic appeal of the night time binocular field.
Bright stars like Vega, Deneb, Altair and Arcturus, low in the west, showed their colours very faithfully. No secondary spectrum was detected within the large sweet spot. The large and sprawling Alpha Persei Association (Melotte 20) looked magnificent in this 10 x 42, as did the Double Cluster a little higher up in the sky. I enjoyed lovely views of the Great Andromeda Galaxy, the Coathanger asterism and the Engagement Ring, Finally, observing mighty Jupiter low in the south southeast shortly before 10pm local time, I could easily resolve, by just handholding the binocular, all four Medicean Stars to the east of the Giant Planet.
While I had intended to view the Pleaides and Hyades some time later that evening, it clouded over. Luckily though, the next night, Sunday September 12, also turned out to be clear and indeed it remained so for much of the night, well into the wee small hours of Monday morning. Beginning about 23:00 h local time and ending about half past local midnight, I enjoyed a fantastic night observing with the Svbony 10 x 42. Though most of my observations were handheld, lying back in a recliner, I did perform one high resolution test centring Albireo in Cygnus in the field of view with the binocular mounted on my tripod. I was delighted to get a beautiful split of this wonderful colour contrast double, the emerald and golden components showing up faithfully. Indeed, I took the opportunity to micro-tweak the dioptre setting just a little while observing this celebrated binocular double.
I enjoyed splendid binocular views of the globular clusters, M13 and M92 sinking lower in the west in Hercules. High in the east, magnificent Perseus was very prominent and I once again soaked up the views of Melotte 20, and the Double Cluster. The lovely open cluster M34 stood out beautifully with a good sprinkling of faint stars being easily resolved within its confines. After that I just relaxed and went cruising along the river of Milky Way starlight meandering its way from Cassiopeia in the northeast, continuing through Cepheus, Cygnus, Vulpecula, Sagitta and Aquila now sinking into the southwestern sky.
Before ending the vigil, I moved from by back garden to the front garden, which faces east. The Pleiades was painfully beautiful in this binocular, the stars remaining pin point sharp and pure white as the driven snow. Moving the little asterism from the centre of the field to the edge showed a drop off in illumination of its constituent stars. I found it easier to see this fall off under these conditions than during the day. Nothing bad to report here either, as this is a common feature in even top rated binoculars I’ve tested in the past. Finally, with the Hyades rising over the Fintry Hills to the east of my home I was able to enjoy the horns of the Celestial Bull in their full glory. The field sparkled with stellar jewels of various hues and glories; red, orange, white and yellow. Just lovely!
Conclusions
The Heavens declare the glory of God…. you’ll see it well with this binocular.
I’m so very glad I followed up on reviewing this larger sibling from the Svbony ED binocular duo. The little 8 x 32 ED impressed me, but this instrument is just plain extraordinary! It feels and behaves like a much more expensive binocular. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that it will compete favourably with the best mid-tier binoculars out there… no strings. Optically it reminded me very much of the lovely Leica Trinovid HD I owned and enjoyed some time ago. I don’t know why it is priced so low, but I do know quality when I see it and this wonderfully designed binocular exudes quality, both ergonomically and optically. Please don’t listen to trolls and optics snobs who do nothing to help their fellow amateurs get as much as a foot up on the ladder, and who spout lies about this binocular, as Hans did in the video linked to in Preamble 1 above. I would encourage others to test out this binocular and spread the word to the wider community. You can purchase this in the USA for as little as $150.00 from Amazon. And if not satisfied, it can be returned and a full refund issued to you.
I’m not interested in buying another 10 x 42. This ticks all the boxes for my purposes.
Thanks for reading!
Dr Neil English is the author of seven books in amateur and professional astronomy, including a large historical work, Chronicling the Golden Age of Astronomy, showcasing how the Christian faith was never a hindrance but actually instrumental to the development of astronomical science. His new book on binoculars was published in Januray 2024.
There is an old adage; you get what you pay for. Though there is more than a grain of truth to this, as I enter my third year exploring and enjoying the binocular market, I have found genuine exceptions to that time honoured maxim. There is such a thing as a great bargain binocular; that is, a solidly made instrument that offers a level of optical performance and ergonomics well above what you’d expect given its modest price tag. I have spoken in the past of the remarkable Barr & Stroud Savannah 8 x 42, which punched well above its weight and left a lasting impression on this author. Here, I am delighted to present to you my evaluation of its higher power sibling; the Barr & Stroud Savannah 10 x 42.
Just a couple of years ago, I was a total binocular virgin, having little or no experience with these optical wonders, save for an honourable mention to an old 7 x 50 Porro prism instrument I acquired in my youth. Little did I know that, like telescopes, the binocular market has undergone a veritable revolution, thanks to astounding advances in technology and a great capitalist, competitive spirit among manufacturers, which collectively have both improved the quality of bargain instruments and driven prices down. As a case in point, take a look at this review, dating back to 2011, of the same 10 x 42 I’m about to assess here. The reader will note its retail price was about £200. Now you can get the same instrument at a significantly reduced outlay; typically just 60 per cent of the 2011 retail price!
The Barr & Stroud 10 x 42 was purchased from a reputable dealer, the Birder’s Store, in Worcester, England. I paid £124.99 for the instrument and it arrived a couple of days after making the purchase. In the past, I have bought many economically priced instruments from Amazon, but discovered that quite a few are what I would describe as greyware; that is, while the price looks good, the products quite often have some optical or mechanical fault that necessitates sending them back and getting a refund. It pays to go to a specialised dealer when purchasing binoculars, especially if you don’t have a chance to test them out in person.
The instrument arrived in perfect nick: I received the binocular, a lens cleaning cloth, a warranty card, a high quality logoed padded neck strap, a generic instruction sheet and a clamshell case.
First Impressions
The Barr & Stroud Savannah 10 x 42 is solidly built for a life in the great out of doors.
Being an identical build to the 8 x 42, the 10 x 42 Savannah is solidly constructed. The polycarbonate body is overlaid by textured green rubberised material that is easy to grip. While other enthusiasts have a tendency to look down on using polymers as the main housing, I personally don’t subscribe to that philosophy, being lucky enough to also own and use instruments that are constructed around aluminium and magnesium alloys. Indeed, I have encountered no hard evidence that instruments with a polycarbonate chassis are in any way inferior to those built around metallic alloys, despite the extensive hyperbole I’ve seen in online advertising and from other reviewers.
The central hinge is reassuringly stiff and maintains the correct inter-pupillary distance once adjusted. Though many of the more sophisticated models on the market have an open bridge design that enables the user to use it single-handedly, I fail to see why this would be important in a 10 x 42, as you’ll most definitely need both hands on deck to get a decently stable image at 10x.
One of the great features of this binocular, and Barr & Stroud instruments in general, are their wonderful focusers. This instrument is no exception; the focus wheel of which is covered in a textured rubber which is silky smooth to operate, with zero backlash, going through just over two full revolutions from one end of its focus travel to the other. Having sampled several binoculars from Barr & Stroud, I know that this is no accident; this company once enjoyed an illustrious history serving the British navy in two world wars, with all manner of optical accoutrement. And even though they have long since ceased to be an independent trader, the company having outsourced all their manufacturing to China, it is clear to me that some of the skills they acquired in putting together highly functional binoculars in the past are still in evidence! What’s more, I would rate this focuser higher than many binoculars I have purchased for a few hundred pounds more!
As you can see from the photo above, the dioptre ring is not located under the right ocular lens, as is the case in the vast majority of roof prism binoculars, but just ahead of the focus wheel. This does make adjusting the right barrel optics considerably easier than its more conventional counterpart, but, for the record, it would be remiss of me not to mention a malfunctioning dioptre ring on a Savannah 8 x 42 I once purchased second-hand.
The twist up eye cups are of very high quality. With two click stops, they hold their position firmly.
Another very nice feature of these economical binoculars is their eye cups. They are made from metal overlaid with soft rubber. They can be extended upwards with two click stops and hold their positions very firmly. Again, I would rate them as well above average, and more in keeping with eye cups I’ve seen on binoculars in the £200 to £250 range.
The objective lenses on the Barr & Stroud 10 x 42 are very deeply recessed. I measured them at about 8mm, which is good news, as this will afford greater protection of the objective in rainy and dusty environs, as well as acting as an effective shielding of stray light.
The objective lenses are very deeply recessed, protecting the glass against rain, dust and stray light.
Optical Testing
Attaching the instrument to a sturdy tripod, I was able to show that it arrived with very good collimation, with only a tiny vertical asymmetry between the left and the right barrels, which the eyes can easily accommodate for. Examining the exit pupil in a bright shaft of light showed that there was no truncation and no stray light leakage inside the field stop.
No truncation of the exit pupil and no stray light inside the field stop.
The good news continued when I performed my iPhone torch light test. Directing an intensely bright beam inside the binocular, and examining the image arriving at my eyes, I was delighted to see what I had reported before about these Savannah binoculars. The image was very clean, with no diffused light, a very subdued diffraction spike and a couple of very weak internal reflections. I deemed the result excellent and only a notch down from the same result I got from my Leica Trinovid HD 8 x 32 binocular, but a tad better than my smaller 10 x 25 Trinovid which cost three times more! Yet again, this excellent control of light leaks is more in keeping with a binocular in the £250-£400 range. Kudos to Barr & Stroud for their exceptional attention to detail in this regard. Examining a bright sodium street light showed no reflections or diffused light either, and the same was true when I turned the binocular on a bright waxing gibbous Moon in a freezing January sky. This binocular will provide lovely views of illuminated cityscapes, with no annoying reflections to contend with.
To remain objective, it pays to carry out all your tests with a high quality ‘control’ binocular…..ken.
After the appropriate adjusting of the right eye dioptre, I began my daylight tests of the Savannah 10 x 42, comparing it carefully to the images served up by my Leica Trinovid 8 x 32. The Barr & Stroud 10 x 42 offers up a very sharp and contrast-rich image across the vast majority of the field of view, with only a little distortion/softness at the edge of the field. Indeed, the field is noticeably better corrected in this binocular compared with other models I’ve tested in the £200-£250 price range. The distortion is more pronounced when panning the glass vertically than horizontally, however, just like all other roof prism binoculars I’ve used in the past. The Leica proved slightly sharper but the differences were subtle at best. The image in the 10 x 42 has a very slightly yellowed appearance in comparison to the Leica, as if a very mild photographic warm up filter had been placed in the optical train, which I did not personally find off-putting. Indeed, it helps accentuate browns and tan colours that little bit better, which imparts a nice aesthetic effect to my eyes.
Looking closely at the contoured bark on a tree trunk a few tens of yards away, I got the distinct impression that the 10 x 42 was delivering slightly more detail than the 8 x 32, a consequence of the higher magnification and larger aperture of its ocular lenses, though this was somewhat negated by virtue of the 10 x 42’s significantly greater weight, which makes keeping the instrument steady considerably more challenging than in the smaller and lower power Leica. Under a bright blue winter sky, I judged the image in the Leica to be slightly brighter than the 10 x 42, a fact that I explained away as being due to my eyes not being able to exploit the slightly larger exit pupil of the 10 x 42 glass under these conditions, as well as its lower efficiency of light transmission.
I observed no chromatic aberration in the centre of the field of the 10 x 42, but did begin to show some lateral colour as a high contrast target was moved off centre to the periphery of the field. The Leica also exhibited the same behaviour even though it does have extra low dispersion glass in one of its objective elements.
During prolonged field use, the position of the dioptre ring on the Savannah 10 x 42 had a tendency to get displaced ever so slightly, as it is all too easy to touch while moving the focus wheel, especially while wearing gloves. Having the dioptre adjustment under the right ocular lens is a better solution in this regard.
Focusing was easier and more responsive with the Leica glass, owing to its state-of-the art central focusing wheel, which is less stiff than the 10 x 42. I suspect though, that with more field use, the stiffness in the latter will subside and become more responsive. Close focus on the 10 x 42 is very impressive. Although the official stats claim 2 metres, I found I could focus down to about 1.75m – a very good result for a 10 x 42 by most anyone’s standards – but nowhere near as close as the Leica Trinovid, which can bring objects just under a metre into sharp focus, a result no other roof prism binocular on the market can achieve!
Depth of focus in the 10x 42 is very good, but not in the same league as the Leica 8 x 32, which was expected given the fact that lower power units tend to have greater focus depth in most real-world situations.
Examining some tree top branches against a bright sky, revealed that veiling glare was very well controlled in the Barr & Stroud 10 x 42 Savannah but maybe just falling a little short of the Leica Trinovid. This is an especially pleasing result in my opinion, as veiling glare can rather easily wash out an otherwise sharp and contrast-rich image. Indeed, the suppression of veiling glare in this economically priced binocular was far better than a few instruments I’ve tested that cost twice or three times more. For example, it is in a different league to that served up by my 10 x 25 Leica Trinovid, which tends to show rather a lot of this under certain viewing conditions.
Observing at dusk allowed me to test out the low light performance of both the Leica Trinovid 8 x 32 and the Barr & Stroud Savannah. This is where I saw the greatest weakness in the latter instrument. Though it did give a brighter image, I was amazed how well the Leica performed in comparison; to my average eyes at least, both instruments were delivering equally bright images well into twilight, with the 10 x 42 only pulling ahead in the last five minutes or so, as dusk transformed into true darkness. This result is attributed to the significantly greater efficiency of the Leica optical components, which transmits 90 per cent of all the light it collects to the eye.
However, under the cloak of darkness, the greater exit pupil and higher magnification of the 10 x 42, as well as its larger objective lenses, made it the easy winner observing a few of the showpieces of the winter sky. The Pleiades was more magnificent in the 10x 42, as was the Hyades, Double Cluster and Alpha Perseii Association. Stars remain sharp and tightly focused across most of the field, with only the extreme edges showing some visible distortion. In contrast to the Leica, the 10 x 42 had slightly more field curvature; something I had also noted during my daylight tests when examining a telephone pole and moving it to the edge of the field in both binoculars.
This is a great Moon gazing binocular too. Its lack of internal reflections and sharp optics deliver a very decent and clean image that will show many craters, mountains valleys and maria on the lunar surface. And don’t forget also, the Savannah can be mounted on a tripod or monopod for added stability, which enables you to see even more details!
Solid Accessories
Not only does one acquire a good binocular in the Barr & Stroud Savannah 10 x 42, but you also get above average quality accessories. The hard-covered clamshell case is a great way to store the instrument while not in use. The soft rubber ocular and objective covers are also a nice touch, as is the quality padded neck strap that comes as standard with the binocular. And if anything malfunctions, the parent company under which Barr & Stroud trades – Optical Vision Limited(OVL) – will repair or replace your binoculars if they fail during normal use. I have personally dealt with OVL in the past and they have always responded rapidly and effectively to any queries I had.
Concluding Thoughts
Reliable companion.
The Barr & Stroud Savannah 10 x 42 delivers very satisfying images that will impress the vast majority of users who look through it. It feels solid in the hands and has a Spartan, no-frills quality about it. For not much more than £100, the instrument delivers optics and ergonomics that punch well above what its modest price tag suggests, with a large sweet spot and good edge-of-field correction. Even the accessories are of very high quality, making this an especially sweet package for the budget conscious, or the frugal naturalist who doesn’t want to spend a small fortune on a state-of-the-art instrument. Finally, as a well-made achromatic binocular, it proves, once again, that good optics don’t need fancy low dispersion glass to deliver an engaging image.
All in all, this gets my highest recommendation as unbeatable value for money!
Thanks for reading!
Dr. Neil English has been using optical instruments for more than 40 years. He is the author of seven books including his magnum opus(650 + pages), Chronicling the Golden Age of Astronomy (2018), celebrating four centuries of visual astronomy, as well as the personalities who shaped the hobby and profession of astronomy as we know it today.
