A Work Commenced September 14 2021

Dedicated to Hans Zimmer

Preamble

Product: Svbony SV202 10 x 42 ED

Place of Manufacture: Hong Kong

Field of View: 108m@1000m(6.16 angular degrees)

Eye Relief: 15.1mm

Dioptre Compensation: +/- 3

Close Focus: 2.5m(advertised) 2.8m measured

Exit Pupil: 4.2mm

Chassis: Textured rubber armoured Magnesium alloy

Coatings: Fully broadband multi-coated, dielectric and phase correction coatings applied to BAK-4 prisms

ED Glass: Yes

Nitrogen purged: Yes

Waterproof: Yes IPX7

Weight: 693g(advertised) 698g measured

Dimensions: H/W: 14.9/12.5cm

Accessories: Soft padded carry bag, padded neck strap, lens cleaning cloth, rubber ocular and objective lens covers (tethered), multi-language user manual

Retail Price: £125.99(Amazon UK)

Warranty: 1 Year Limited

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 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 actually closes 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!

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 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 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.

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?

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.

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:

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!

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

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 January 2024.

De Fideli.

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A work commenced January 24 2021

 

 

Product: Barr & Stroud Savannah 10 x 42

Country of Origin: China

Eye Relief: 15.5mm

Exit Pupil: 4.2mm

Field of View: 114m@1000m/6.5 angular degrees

Close Focus: 2m (advertised),  1.75m measured

ED Glass: No

Chassis Construction: polycarbonate, rubber armoured

Weatherproofing: water proof(1.5m for 3 minutes)

Nitrogen Purging: Yes

Dioptre Compensation Range: +/- 4 dioptres

Coatings: Fully Multicoated, phase corrected BAK4 Schmidt-Pechan prisms

Warranty: 10 Years

Weight 774g

Dimensions W/H/D: 13/15/5.7cm

Supplied Accessories: Clamshell hard case, logoed neck strap, warranty card, generic instruction sheet, lens cleaning cloth.

Retail Price: £120-140 UK

 

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

 

De Fideli.