This is going to be a short review. I purchased this Opticron 12 x 50 Porro from Amazon some time ago and only recently opened the package. Unfortunately, when I began looking through it, I quickly realised that the unit was not collimated properly as I was unable to merge the images satisfactorily. A star test after dark confirmed my suspicions. What I can report is my ‘monocular’ impressions only. Like the several other models in the Adventurer T WP series, it offers up nice, contrasty images with good control of glare. Internal reflections were kept at bay too. I only detected a very minor reflection while observing the full Moon. It has a fairly narrow but well-corrected field of view though at 5.4 degrees. The sweet spot is decently large, with mild field curvature and moderate pincushion distortion creeping in near the field stops. Colour correction is very good for this non-ED 12x model but can be picked up on high contrast targets in poor lighting conditions.
The Opticron Adventurer T WP 12 x 50 offers good potentialas a higb power binocular.
It’s a pity the instrument was received with the optics out of alignment as otherwise it seems to be a very decent performer for the modest price paid. With a two-year warranty from Opticron, I will send it back for either a repair or a replacement. It does however, serve to illustrate another general trend in binocular optics: higher power models are more difficult to collimate accurately than those employing lower magnifications.
Chassis Material: Rubber over Aluminium/ Polycarbonate
Eye Relief: 18mm
Exit Pupil: 4mm
Field of View: 131m@1000m(7.5 angular degrees)
Coatings: Fully Broadband Multicoated, Oasis Phase coatings on Schmidt-Pechan prisms.
ED Glass: Yes
Close Focus: 2m advertised, 2.23m measured
Dioptre Compensation: +\- 3.5
Waterproof: Yes
Nitrogen Purged: Yes
IPD Range: 56-75mm
Weight: 531g advertised, 554g measured
Tripod Mountable: Yes
Accessories: Padded soft case, rubber rain guard and tethered objective caps, padded neckstrap, instruction card with warranty.
Dimensions: 12.4 x 13cm
Warranty: 30 Years
Price(UK): £300-350
If you’ve been following my reviews or reading my new book, you’ll already know that I have cultivated a great admiration for the UK-founded company Opticron. Over the years, the company has brought an excellent selection of compact and full-size binoculars to the market that offer very good optical performance at prices that many consumers can afford. I’ve already highlighted their impressive range of Porro prism binoculars, as well as their most excellent flagship roof prism model, the Japanese-designed Aurora BGA VHD in 8 x 42, which delivers sensibly perfect images across a flat 8.1 degree field. In this review, I’ll be discussing another Japanese-made model from Opticron; the Verano BGA VHD 8 x 32, kindly lent to me by the very experienced binocular enthusiast. Gary Murphy, from Northern Ireland.
The Opticron Verano BGA VHD 8 x 32 is a neat and tidy binocular.
The name ‘Verano’ derives from the Spanish for ‘Summer,’ and as luck would have it, I received the package right at the end of another academic year, preparing my students for careers in maths and the physical sciences. And though summertime has not quite arrived yet, the longer hours of daylight proved ideal for testing this binocular.
Belly side up.
First Impressions
The instrument arrived safely, well packaged, inside its original box. Tucked away inside the black soft carry case, I was immediately taken by the very small and chunky body of the Verano 8 x 32. It’s almost as wide as it’s long, at just 12.4 x 13cm making it almost as tiny as the Leica Ultravid HD Plus 8 x 32 (11.6 x 11.6cm), the most compact 8 x 32 I have personally experienced. Tipping the scales at just 554g, it’s almost as lightweight as the Leica glass too. The chassis is overlaid by a thick black rubber armouring which offers excellent grip. The large, central focus wheel rotates very smoothly and easily, taking two full turns clockwise from one end of its focus travel to the other. I detected no backlash in the focus mechanism in either direction of travel.
The objectives on the little Verano are nicely recessed. Check out those smoothly-applied multicoatings
The objective lenses have very evenly applied antireflection coatings which exude a green colour in natural daylight but renders the lenses almost invisible when looking at them head-on. They’re also very decently recessed to protect them from peripheral light and the elements.
The eyepieces are decently large and easy to engage with, and comfortable to press one’s eyes against during prolonged periods of viewing. The right eye dioptre is adjusted using a subtly protruding lever which has an excellent amount of friction, ensuring that it won’t wander while in field use. The twist-up eyecups are rather large and provide 4 positions. I found my optimal setting by twisting the cups down a few millimetres from fully extended which set them in an intermediate position between two locked settings. It was a minor irritation finding and maintaining these settings, but after some practice it came as second nature to me.
The eyepieces are large enough to easily engage with even while using spectacles.
Eye relief is generous. I was able to access almost the entire field with my spectacles on and while the cups were fully retracted.
I personally found no difficulty in handling the instrument stably, although those endowed with larger hands might find the little Verano a little cumbersome to use.
In summary, the Opticron Verano BGA VHD 8 x 32 is a joy to handle with a sensible, ‘no frills’ body design that the majority of people will find convenient to use. Good job Opticron!
Optics:
The Opticron Verano 8 x 32 displayed excellent control of internal reflections. I detected none of any significance. Nor was there any diffused light around an intensely bright light source. These results are as good as I’ve seen on any quality optic. Examination of the exit pupils showed great results too: nice dark regions surrounding the circular pupils. From these results I fully anticipated better than average control of glare and stray light. And, as I shall shortly divulge, that’s exactly what my field tests revealed too!
Left pupil.
Right pupil.
I took an instant liking to the images served up by this binocular: bright, very sharp within a generously wide sweet spot, very accurate colours and excellent correction of off-axis aberrations, particularly pincushion distortion. Glare suppression is also well above average on this unit. Qualitatively, I formed the opinion that the Verano images were very similar to the company’s more expensive Aurora model. Looking back on my notes of the latter showed it had an edge over the Verano in getting rid of that last residual of glare against the light, and had a wider, flatter field owing to its built-in field flattening optics. Indeed with its very conservative field size (7.5 degrees), the Verano can dispense of the need for field flattening optics as the view remains quite sharp even near the field stops. I was able to verify this under the stars when the bright stellar luminary, Vega, remained decently sharp even when placed at the edges of the field. I’m certainly confident that the Verano was indeed assembled on a genuine VHD platform like the Aurora, Opticron’s flagship offering.
Notes from the Field
8 x 30/2 is my favourite binocular format, with a strong preference for Porro prism models over their roof prism counterparts. So it took a little bit of getting used to using a compact roof like the Opticron Verano in the field again, learning how best to hold it in my hands, but practice makes perfect.
The Verano has a very smooth and responsive focus wheel but what I found quite remarkable was the amount of travel it exhibited beyond infinity – more than one full revolution(so more than half its focus travel in fact) – allowing users with severe myopia to engage with the instrument without wearing spectacles. Indeed given this fact, I was especially delighted to see that its close focus distance was a little over 2 metres. For the record, if this feature is not required the focuser could be recalibrated to accommodate much closer focusing distances.
Testing the Verano in a variety of lighting conditions, the quality views kept coming. Its excellent central sharpness allowed me to view small migrant birds such as Pied and Grey Wagtails, at long distance, foraging in sheep fields or combing the shores of my local river, respectively.
The Opticron Verano 8 x 32 versus the Zeiss Victory Pocket 8 x 25(right).
I conducted some visual comparisons of the Opticron Verano with my Zeiss Victory Pocket 8 x 25( a £650 retail value), sporting the same true field of view. The comparisons were very instructive. The Verano displayed very similar central sharpness to the Zeiss. In good light, I perceived the sweet spot in the latter to be slightly larger and had slightly better optical performance against the light but the differences were subtle at best. However, in dull evening light, the greater light gathering power of the Verano pulled it noticeably ahead of the Zeiss, giving it distinct advantages over the smaller instrument under these conditions. These observations served only to consolidate my opinion that the 30/32mm format is more versatile than smaller aperture glasses.
Conclusions & Recommendations
A quality visual experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed test driving the Opticron Verano BGA VHD 8 x 32. I note that this high-quality instrument can be acquired new at values below £300 if you shop around. That represents excellent value for money. What’s more, with Opticron’s 30-year warranty on this product, you can be assured of receiving first class attention should you hit any snags with it. I note also that there are 42mm options from the same series should you prefer this larger format.
Highly Recommended!
My thanks to Gary Murphy for kindly lending me the binocular for field testing.
Read about many more binocular models, from the very large to the very small, in my new book: Choosing and 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.
As arguably one of the most successful companies in the sports optics industry, Nikon has gained a solid reputation for delivering the goods to enthusiasts in all budget categories.
Clever optical design, manufacture and excellent quality control have allowed Nikon to excel in all price ranges from bargain basement to premium. These sentiments were further affirmed after test driving Nikon’s economically priced pocket binocular: the Sportstar EX DCF 8 x 25.
The dual hinge design of the Nikon Sportstar DCF 8 x 25.
Buying it direct from Amazon, I was pleased to see that the binocular was well packed and in good working order.
The instrument is rubber armoured for a firmer grip. The dioptre compensation is located under the right ocular – a sensible place to put it!
The eyecups do twist up but I found them to induce severe tunnel vision with a significant loss of field of view. But the situation improved markedly when I retracted the eyecups fully and began to look through the eyepieces. The focus wheel is large enough to access easily and rotates smoothly, with little in the way of play or backlash.
Though not suitable for eye glass wearers, you can engage with the entire field by keeping the ocular lenses fully retracted.
Optically, the Nikon Sportstar EX Is quite decent. Collimation was bang on. I detected a few internal reflections and some glare when observing against the light but was genuinely astonished to witness the enormous field of view: a whopping 8.2 angular degrees! No, that’s not a misprint!
The exit pupils are well defined with no serious issues.
Check out the field of view!
What’s more, it was nicely corrected, even off axis. Close focus was a tad over 2 metres. The image is a bit on the dim side though, with decent contrast, colour rendition and sharpness despite its lack of a phase coating on the roof prisms. I would like to emphasise the great field of view on this pocket binocular though- the largest that I’ve personally experienced in a pocket glass. It’s larger than the Zeiss Victory Pocket 8 x 25 (7.5 degrees) and even the Swarovski CL Curio 7 x 21(7.7 degrees). Optical designers would do well to study this binocular, as even the outer parts of the field are fairly well corrected!
There’s always something new to learn!
Out of sheer curiosity, I did compare the Nikon Sportstar EX image to that garnered by the Zeiss Victory – an unfair test for sure, but still instructive. Yes the world-class Zeiss delivered a brighter, sharper and higher contrast image, and I could clearly make out details in the Victory Pocket that were either quite subdued or well-nigh absent in the Nikon image. Still, the differences were not nearly as large as I had anticipated. You can still see a great, great deal with these basic but well-executed optics!
If you’re after an inexpensive pocket binocular that will perform basic functions, such as watching the bird feeders in your garden, or for quick looks at the landscape, this little Nikon will do a good job!
Recommended!
If you like my reviews, be sure to check out my new book, Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts.
Warranty: 10 Years(+1 year if product registered online)
Price(UK): £875.00
The Swarovski Habicht 8 x 30 W exudes quality from top to bottom.
Anyone with an interest in binoculars and their history will undoubtedly be familiar with the Swarovski Habicht Porro prism binoculars, the company’s oldest continuously developed product line, which began production immediately after WWII. This review will concentrate on arguably the most popular of the Habicht line: the compact and lightweight 8 x 30 W.
First Impressions:
Belly Up.
The instrument was bought from a reputable dealer: The Birder’s Store in Worcester. The instrument was dispatched via expedited delivery and arrived within 24 hours of purchasing. The package was delightful: a nice presentation box with a beautiful alpine scene. The instrument was found encased in a lovely green Cordura case together with its rain guard. The package also contained a logoed neck strap, instruction manual and microfibre lens cleaning cloth.
The serial number reveals the year and month of manufacture: December 2022.
The instrument was immaculately presented with a serial number beginning with the numerals 12 indicating that its year of manufacture was 2022. The rubber eyecups are very comfortable but afford minimal eye relief at 12mm. This didn’t present a problem for me as I don’t wear spectacles while glassing. However, some folk have endeavoured to acquire the longer rubber eyecups that accompany the more heavily armoured GA model for better eye relief.
The focus wheel moves smoothly and very precisely. Just over one revolution clockwise takes you from closest focus to a little bit beyond infinity. Unlike quite a few other reports, I do not consider the focuser on the 8 x 30 W to be overly stiff. Indeed, I very much liked it right out of the case! What I especially appreciated though was the + and – markings on the side of the focus wheel facing the ocular lenses: which allow the user to dial in the approximate focus for objects close at hand and in the middle distance without ever having to look through the instrument! I was very relieved to see the dioptre compensation ring moves with a fair amount of tension. This means little to no wandering while operating in the field. Indeed it is just about as good as that found on the Nikon EII 8 x 30.
I was particularly relieved to discover that the dioptre compensation ring under the right ocular is nicely frictioned to prevent wandering in field use.
The leatherette armouring on the 8 x 30 W seems more organic to me, less artificial, than that found on the Nikon EII body. It is slightly more elastic and grippy too. It didn’t take me long to find the best way to handle the instrument, which is a joy to hold in one’s hands. Being intimately acquainted with the haptics of the EII 8 x 30, I would say the only significant difference between the two models is the slightly wider spacing between the barrels and the central shaft of the Habicht, making it easier to wrap one’s fingers round. The latter is also a bit more streamlined than the former: a fact confirmed by comparing their weights – 565g for the EII and 536g for the Habicht 8 x 30 W.
The ocular lenses are a little smaller than those found on the Nikon EII and thus are ever so slightly harder to engage with.
Eyepieces: six elements apiece.
The 30mm objective lenses have immaculately applied coatings and are recessed a few millimetres from the binocular frame.
The Habicht 8 x 30 W objectives have very derp coloured multicoatings.
The leather neck strap is a real work of art it must be said, and an absolute pleasure to use. Beautifully crafted from traditional materials it’s adorned with the fetching silvered avian Swarovski logo on either side. Indeed I have yet to see a better neck-strap than this one!
The beautifully fashioned padded leather neck starp accompanying the Habicht is a worthy accessory for a product of this pedigree.
Although I elected not to store the instrument in the supplied green Cordura case for everyday use, it will serve as an excellent travel case when I need it.
All in all, the Habicht 8 x 30 W is a most charming and impressively designed instrument with a great deal of attention to detail immediately in evidence!
Optical Testing:
My first optical tests were to check the collimation and look for internal reflections. Collimation was spot on as my star testing revealed. Directing an intensely bright beam of light from across my living room into the binocular revealed excellent results: just two very insignificant reflections noted with no diffused light or diffraction spikes( the standard result for a Porro). This was a most excellent result indeed!
This was confirmed by glassing a bright, waxing gibbous Moon in the February sky and a bright yellow sodium street lamp after dark, both of which showed the same great results.
Next I took some shots of the exit pupils, which you can see below:
Left pupil.
Right pupil.
As you can see, both pupils are perfectly round with very little in the way of any false pupils in their vicinity. You can however make out some light leaks well beyond the exit pupils which may be responsible for manifesting some glare and off axis flaring. More on this later.
The view through the Swarovski Habicht is simply out of this world! In careful tests involving my EII 8 x 30, Zeiss Victory Pocket 8 x 25 and a Leica Ultravid HD Plus(UVHDP)8 x 32, it was the clear winner in terms of sheer central sharpness, brightness and contrast. Really quite incredible!
Particularly memorable was a shootout I conducted with a new villager, Davey, who had just completed building a new home overlooking Loch Carron, just a few miles from my home. He recently acquired both an 8 x and 10 x 32 Leica UVHDP, as well as an older Leica Trinovid BN 8 x 32, and invited me up to his place to have a look around. Observing the loch and the surrounding forests from his porch, he got a good chance to compare the views in both the Habicht and his 8 x 32 with their similar sized fields. We both declared the Habicht to have the superior optics but his jaw dropped when I told him that the Habicht was half the price of the Leica!
It makes for wonderful viewing in any kind of lighting conditions, but really excels in dull, overcast lighting where its extraordinary light transmission(an astonishing 96%) pulls it readily ahead of all the competition. Comparing it most carefully to the EII 8 x 30 I would describe the Habicht as peeling off that last layer to reveal its subjects in breathtaking clarity. The field stop in the Habicht is very nicely defined also.
I do want to mention another brief test though. My former student and astrophysics graduate, Joe Stearn, joined me one afternoon with his dad’s Oberwerk SE 8 x 32. Joe reckoned his dad’s instrument was sightly better than his own unit which he left back home in rural Massachusetts. We compared the views and decided they were very close; with the nod going to the Habicht in ferreting out low contrast detail in dull overcast. Like I said before, the Oberwerk SE 8 x 32 with its ED objectives is an exceptional performer but at 800g it’s not a glass you want to carry round your neck all day!
Chromatic aberration is better controlled in the Habicht compared with the EII, particularly off axis, but this might be due to the former’s smaller field of view(7.8 compared with 8.9 degrees in the EII). Pincushion distortion is also vanishingly low in the Habicht, even at the extreme edges of the field, rendering it a most excellent instrument for studying architectural features. The sweet spot on this unit is quite generous: maybe covering the central 60 per cent of the field, after which gentle field curvature gradually distorts the outer part of the field of view. The Habicht has a very uniformly illuminated field though. Moving the gibbous Moon from the centre of the field to the edge revealed little in the way of light drop off. Some lateral colour and a touch of astigmatism were also in evidence by studying the bright star Procyon as it was gradually moved from the centre to the field stops. Notes from the Field:
Roofprism binocular killer.
Several Habicht 8 x 30 W users have reported that the instrument suffers from excessive glare. I can report that this is grossly exaggerated. Yes, it behaves less well against the light than the Nikon EII or Zeiss Victory but I have never perceived it as excessive with the worst cases easily improved by shielding with an outstretched hand over the objectives. The Habicht does exhibit strong off axis flaring however. Just placing a bright Moon just outside the field of view reveals this fairly easily.
Close focus was measured to be 2.68m: better than the advertised 3m but this can actually be improved owing to the large beyond infinity reach of the existing focus wheel. By resetting the position of infinity closer to the end of its travel, a significantly better near focus value could be obtained. I am aware of a binocular repair company that can provide such a service. For others, the extra focus travel beyond infinity will help severely myopic individuals achieve good infinity focus without wearing glasses.
I have not had any issues with the focus wheel on the Habicht. Reports that it can’t be used for extensive birding activities because of the sluggish movement of focus wheel are also untrue in my experience. I’ve been able to track birds flitting from nearby bushes to trees in the middle distance with no problems at all. In short, it’s called skill and practice makes perfect!
Depth of focus and the wonderful stereoptic view only provided by Porro prism instruments are very similar in both the EII and the Habicht. Indeed they render roof prism models decidedly ‘flat’ in comparison.
Storage:
Easy access.
I elected to store the Habicht 8 x 30 W in a dry box: just like all my other non/waterproof Porros. It’s much easier to access the instrument using this set up compared with storing it in the zipped Cordura case supplied with the instrument.
Closing Remarks & Conclusions:
primus inter pares
The Swarovski Habicht 8 x 30 W exhibits the best optical performance I have personally experienced in the 30mm/ 32mm binocular format, with ergonomics that don’t fall far behind it. If anything it underscores my conviction that compact alpha roof models are a profligate waste of money. If you’re after world class optics in a small, lightweight and weather resistant chassis, check this binocular out! It will delight its owners with years of peerless optical and mechanical performance.
Very highly favoured!
Neil English’s new book, Choosing and Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birdersand Outdoor Enthusiasts, is now available for purchase.
Although I fully acknowledge the superiority of larger compact and mid-sized binoculars, pocket instruments have always remained a charming proposition to me, especially when ultra portability is the desired endgame. That’s why my new book, Choosing and Using Binoculars, has a large chapter dedicated to such instruments.
In this review I’ll be setting down my thoughts on arguably the most sophisticated small binocular ever made: the Zeiss Victory Pocket 8 x 25, which caused quite a stir when it was first brought to market in 2017. Zeiss, of course, has a long history of creating sophisticated pocket binoculars. For example, I’ve already extensively showcased the less expensive Terra ED 8 x 25in previous blogs, where I’ve extolled its many virtues.
The original Victory Pocket had an 8 x 20 format, just like Leica’s Trinovid BCA and Ultravid BR models. It too had an asymmetric single-hinge design, folding down neatly so that it could fit inside a typical pocket, but Zeiss decided to completely redesign their flagship pocket glass, packing it full of features only found on their larger Victory models. Gone are the small 20mm objectives which were replaced by larger 25mm lenses, with magnifications of 8 x or 10x. I decided to test the more popular 8 x 25 model in this review with a view to answering an intriguing question raised in the fascinating Birdforum thread highlighted in the preamble above: can the performance of this little 8 x 25 come close enough to a top-rated 30 or 32mm model to justify abandoning the larger format altogether?
First Impressions
The Victory Pocket 8 x 25 folded up.
Considering the fact that Zeiss has bestowed their Victory label on this instrument, I was expecting an attractive presentation box. I wasn’t disappointed. The rigid, white cardboard box opens up to show a picture of a bear family in the wilderness. The instrument is laid in a foam cutout adjacent to the grey Cordura clamshell case, which also contained the supplied neck strap. The only two other accessories:- an instruction sheet and Zeiss microfibre lens cloth are tucked away at the sides. Given the considerable expense of this instrument I was surprised to see no ocular or objective covers for the instrument included in the package. More on this later.
Ergonomics
As mentioned earlier, the instrument has a single, folding hinge offset to the left. Having only used more conventional, dual-hinge models, I found I had to totally re-think how I was going to handle this binocular but I’m delighted to say that after a little practice, I took to it like a proverbial duck to water. I found the most stable arrangement was to wrap my right hand round the right barrel, resting some of my fingers on the bridge and using the left index finger to rotate the focus wheel. This neatly avoids any contact with the dioptre compensation wheel mounted at the opposite end of the bridge. With a little bit of practice, I found this to be a considerably more comfortable arrangement than any dual- hinge glass I’ve experienced before.
The focus wheel is covered in textured rubber and is noticeably larger than that found on most other pocket binoculars. The motion is silky smooth and very precise, – much smoother than the Leica Ultravid 8 x 20 for example- taking 1.75 revolutions clockwise to go from closet focus to a little bit beyond infinity. Having a larger focuser is a real blessing, especially when wearing gloves.
The large, textured focus wheel makes using the binocular a joy.
The Magnesium alloy chassis is overlaid by thick black texturised rubber armouring helping to bulk out the instrument for better gripping. I did note that it attracts dust and other debris rather easily however.
The twist-up eyecups are well made and hold their position firmly.
The twist up eyecups lock firmly in place. Overlaid by black rubber, they are very comfortable to rest one’s eyes against even for prolonged viewing periods. Eye relief is generous, especially for an 8 x 25 format. However, I was just able to see the entire field of view when the cups were retracted, but I wouldn’t describe the experience as comfortable. Luckily I don’t wear eyeglasses so this wasn’t an issue for me. In retrospect, I felt the Leica Ultravid 8 x 20 BR was easier to use with spectacles on, even though it has less quoted eye relief.
The ocular lenses are 20mm in diameter, so fairly large for this format.
The large(20mm) ocular lenses are very easy to engage with.
The objective lenses are decently recessed for a pocket binocular, providing a few millimetres of protection from stray light and the elements. I noted different antireflection coatings on the ocular and objective lenses(purple).
The small 25mm objectives are decently recessed.
The supplied neck strap is a scaled down version of the bigger Victory SF models. And while many complained about how difficult it was to pass the loops through the tiny lugs, I didn’t find it overly fiddly to attach. Round the neck it sits very comfortably and is an ideal match for the weight of the instrument(289g).
All in all, the ergonomic qualities of the Zeiss Victory Pocket( VP) are a good step up from the Terra ED pocket previously showcased.
Storage
One of the other issues commonly raised in the preamble thread link was the security of the dioptre wheel. Many reported that it moved quite a lot. Others even reported that it came right off! One would hope someone from the Zeiss team was listening as these reports came out. That said, the wheel on this unit seems firm and has a decent amount of inertia against movements. When set in the zero position, the wheel slots into a small groove. Moving it either clockwise or anticlockwise reveals no other grooves. For the first few days of my tests, I placed the folded up binocular in the supplied case, wrapping the neck strap around the barrels. But I quickly noticed significant departures of the dioptre wheel from my ideal setting just taking it out of its case. Clearly the wheel was either catching on the top of the case or the neck strap, or both.
To store the Zeiss VP 8 x 25, first double fold the neck strap under the bridge as shown.
I soon hit on a solution however, by storing the binocular with the barrels fully extended and the neck strap doubly folded under the bridge. Stored this way I have not encountered any movements. Problem solved.
Next place the fully extended binocular flat on the floor of the case.
I do like the case however, a miniature version of those supplied with the bigger Victory SF models. I think it’s a very good match for the instrument.
Optics
My first tests involved seeing how well the Zeiss VP 8 x 25 handled a bright beam of light from across a room. I’m delighted to say that it passed this test easily. I saw no significant internal reflections, no diffraction spikes and no diffused light around the target. This was a significantly better result than the lower-cost Terra ED 8 x 25 units I tested, which did show a prominent diffraction spike when pointed towards strong light sources after dark.
The appearance of the exit pupils in the Zeiss VP was not quite as excellent as those I recorded with the Terra pocket however, as you can see below.
The Zeiss VP 8 x 25 left exit pupil.
The Chinese-made Zeiss Terra ED 8 x 25 in comparison.
While the Terra produced an excellent result with a dark, cavernous blackness around the bright pupil, the Zeiss VP showed more light leaks, with a slight false pupil near the main entrance pupil. More on this a little later.
The image served up by the Zeiss VP is truly excellent: tack sharp from edge to edge, bright and contrast rich. Colour correction is excellent. I see none within its very large sweet-spot and only a few splashes of colour fringing near the field stops.
I also noted that unlike the vast majority of other instruments I’ve tested, this well corrected field is seen both vertically and horizontally.
Pincushion distortion is very well controlled in this instrument too, only appearing very mildly at the extreme edges of the field. The Zeiss VP 8 x 25 performs well against the light with very good control of glare: something pocket instruments are not renowned for. All in all, I can easily see why this little Zeiss binocular is a true member of their prestigious Victory series.
Notes from the Field I found that the flexi plastic rain guard offered by Opticron to be a decent fit for the Zeiss VP. Objective covers are unnecessary in my opinion, as these lenses hang downwards while the instrument is being transported around your neck. In addition, the objectives are treated with Zeiss’ proprietary LotuTec coatings to repel water and dirt during field use.
The Opticron flexi rain guard can be used to protect the ocular lensesof the Zeiss VP.
Reading through the many threads on the Zeiss VP 8 x 25, including the preamble linked to above, I noted the number of people who claimed that this instrument had replaced their 8 x 32 Alpha glasses, citing the VP’s large field of view(~7.5 degrees), its generous eye relief, superb optics and much better handling than any other pocket sized instrument. One seasoned naturalist even claimed that the Zeiss VP 8 x 25 was a “revolutionary” instrument or even “one of the great binoculars of our times.”
At home in nature.
I can certainly understand and even agree with many of these sentiments, having tested it under a variety of different environmental conditions. It most definitely behaves much more like a 32mm glass than I had expected.
Close focus was a little underwhelming however, as I fully expected a value near 1.5m based on so many other reports. My measurements revealed a 1.65m close focus value: very good in the scheme of modern roof prism binoculars, but not exceptional.
Focusing is buttery smooth and easy even in sub-zero temperatures. On a family visit to Braemar in the Scottish Highlands over the Christmas holidays, I subjected the VP to temperatures as low as -6C and it performed flawlessly, with no stiffening up of the focus wheel. Indeed Zeiss claim that the instrument operates flawlessly in temperatures ranging from -25C to +63C!
I did detect a slightly increased amount of glare glassing strongly backlit targets near or just after sunset. I attribute this to the minor false pupil engaging with my dilated pupils under these lower light conditions.
During a very windy spell of weather in early December, I often found myself out in open fields, glassing with the Zeiss VP. I found it was sometimes very difficult to hold such a lightweight instrument steady as 50mph winds swept across my line of sight. It was at moments like these that I started pining for my more bulky 8 x 30, which handles these blustery conditions much more convincingly.
Can the Zeiss VP 8 x 25 Replace an Alpha Compact 8 x 32?
Comparing the venerable Nikon EII 8 x 30 (left)to the Zeiss VP 8 x 25(right).
Millimetre for millimetre, the Zeiss VP 8 x 25 is a little sharper than the Nikon EII 8 x 30, but at this level of quality there is never very much between them. Having said that, the Nikon is the easier glass to use, because it’s all about lots of little things adding up:
Better handling
Greater mass to dampen vibrations better
A larger exit pupil for easier eye positioning
A far more relaxed view
Better performance in low light conditions
A much wider and more immersive field of view
A much more enhanced stereoscopic image
Greater aperture allowing for more astronomical targets to be enjoyed
So while the Zeiss VP 8 x 25 brings you very close to a top performing 8 x 32 roof, at least by day, it just can’t compete with the sheer, unabashed insouciance of a top performing compact Porro like the venerable Nikon E II.
Recommendations
Superb optical performance in a great ultraportable package.
The Zeiss VP 8 x 25 delivers superb optical performance in a highly ergonomic, low weight package, making it ideal for lots of activities including travel, watching sports events, studying flowers and insects at close range, birding, trips to the theatre and/or museum, hiking etc.
For many it can and has replaced larger formats but in my opinion it will never match those unique views served up by a top quality 8 x 30 Porro system such as the Nikon E II, Swarovski Habicht, or Nikon SE 8 x 32. However and, acknowledging those marker stones, if uncompromising daylight optical performance and ultra-portability are your main requirements, the Zeiss VP is an easy choice to make. It is, in my estimation, the best pocket binocular ever made!
Kudos Zeiss Sports Optics!
Read more about this binocular and many other models in my new book, Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts, now available for purchase on Amazon and all good book stores
Title: The Binocular Handbook: Function, Performance and Evaluation of Binoculars.
Foreword by Neil English, author of Choosing & Using Binoculars
Publisher: Springer Nature
Author: Holger Merlitz
ISBN: 978-3031444074
218 Pages
Price UK: £39.99(Hardback)
It was with a great sense of anticipation that I finally got my hard-back copy of Holger Merlitz’s new book, freshly and expertly translated into the English language. Anyone who has expressed even a cursory interest in binoculars will be familiar with Holger’s accumulated writings on his website(http://holgermerlitz.de), where he has built up a formidable portfolio of work covering all aspects of binocular optics, reviews and theoretical speculations. His new book, The Binocular Handbook: Function: Performance and Evaluation of Binoculars, represents the culmination of many years of work.
Holger presents a full treatise on binocular optics in this book, covering everything from the design and execution of theoretical optics and their applications to building binoculars, a detailed overview of how the eye-brain interfaces with the binocular before launching into some fascinating chapters covering the testing and evaluation of binoculars during field use. In total, 9 chapters arranged in 3 distinct parts, walk the reader through pretty much everything you need to know about the fascinating world of binocular optics.
Instead of exhaustively covering the material, I would like to highlight just a few interesting topics covered in the book. I was most impressed with Holger’s use of an aeroplane’s ride from the North Pole round the world as a way of explaining why phase coatings are needed in roof prism binoculars. I also enjoyed his inclusion of discussions on unusual, cemented prism formats, such as the Uppendahl and the Perger (page 51-54) arrangements, the latter of which doesn’t require a phase correction coating and is used in the design of the third-generation Leica Geovid. Holger believes there are no binoculars containing Uppendahl prisms, but I have heard it on good authority that the little Leica Ultravid 8x and 10 x 25 may still be using such prisms.
I found section 4.8 to be particularly amusing when Merlitz discusses sealing and gas purging. The use of the noble gas, argon, in particular, has been touted as being superior to molecular nitrogen owing to its greater molar mass. But as Holger astutely points out on page 97, the very low ambient concentration of argon in air(less than 1 per cent) would create a powerful concentration gradient causing the argon to diffuse out faster than if it were filled with nitrogen under the same circumstances. But it’s worse than that: a binocular filled with argon will cause nitrogen to diffuse inward and increase the pressure enough to eventually damage the seals! It neatly explains why all the big European binocular manufacturers have stuck with nitrogen purging.
Chapter 5 is written by Gerhard Eller, a fellow binocular enthusiast and engineering veteran, who describes the construction of a fascinating 12 x 62mm binocular using twin Leica Apo objectives and Porro II prisms serving up an impressive field of view of 113m@1000m.
The book has full colour illustrations.
The discussion on depth perception in chapter 7 and 8 proved to be fascinating entries, especially since I’ve cultivated a particularly strong fondness for compact Porro prism binoculars over their roof prism counterparts. Merlitz discusses the Japanese made RISO-1 7 x 40 instrument which were employed by the US navy during the Korean War. Indeed, he further informs us that specialised stereoscopic binoculars used in precision range finding measurements had enormous separations in their objective lenses of the order of several metres! That said, while the enhanced stereoscopic effects of Porro prism binoculars are greatly appreciated by yours truly, Holger also discusses some disadvantages of this design, such as inferior close focus performance and an optical illusion called the ‘cardboard effect,’ which was previously unknown to me.
The human eye takes centre stage in the final few chapters. With its 3-megapixel colour camera(cones) and 120 megapixel light detectors(rods), it can respond to changing ambient light levels and even alter the spectral response of the human eye. I’ve always wondered why, for example, many older glasses I’ve viewed through have a yellow tint. In discussing the differences between regular BaK4 and BK7 glass versus their HT equivalents, for example, companies like Zeiss have been able to increase the transmittance at blue wavelengths which helps in low light observations when the human eye becomes more responsive to shorter wavelengths (so called scotopic vision).
Sections 8.2 through 8.4 discuss the interesting topic of binocular efficiency and dim target detection as well as the factors – magnification, aperture, exit pupil and eye pupil size – that determine the outcomes in broad daylight, twilight and under darkness. Magnification alone determines efficiency in daylight, but the situation becomes far more complicated during twilight and full darkness, enabling binocular enthusiasts to experimentally determine the relative importance of these factors in target resolution and detection. Indeed, I’m currently busy comparing and contrasting my two main binoculars – the 8 x 30 and 10 x 35 Nikon EII – with their similar light transmission and exit pupil size – under twilight and true darkness based on Holger’s analysis, to determine if these predictions are validated.
Section 8.7 offers an excellent overview of atmospheric scattering and I really like how the author brings some basic physics such as Rayleigh scattering into the mix. Later in chapter 9, he discusses colour bias in binocular images, explaining why many binoculars having a so-called warm tone exhibit better contrast by (Rayleigh)scattering shorter wavelengths of visible light. On the contrary, he also explains why instruments delivering a cool colour tone are often better for low light work, when the eye becomes increasingly sensitive to shorter wavebands.
These are but a few invaluable nuggets of information presented in this book. The reader will note that much of this surmising is not just based in optical theory but derives from the rich storehouse of practical experience with many fine binoculars he has amassed over the decades. In short, The Binocular Handbook will prove invaluable to keen binocular enthusiasts eager to determine the best instruments to use in their arsenal, with the author gently encouraging active experimentation under real life conditions. Like most good books, it raises more interesting questions than it answers, but rest assured, there is enough content in this timely volume that will keep you thinking and looking for years to come.
Accessories: Padded neck strap, rubber rain guard and objective covers, instruction manual, soft padded case
Price: US $84.99
Ever since its founding in 2009, Svbony has been delighting the astronomy and sports optics community with an expanding range of high-quality products offered at very affordable prices. SVBONY is an acronym which stands for Saturn(S), Venus(V), Birding(B), Optics(O), Nature(N), Youth(Y). I was first introduced to the company a few short years ago when I stumbled on their excellent SV202 ED roof prism binoculars, which have since gone from strength to strength and are now being enjoyed by an army of nature enthusiasts the world over. Not long before this time, consumers were left with very little option to shell out significantly more money for products that often left a lot to be desired quality-wise. Be sure to check out the most recent reviews of these binoculars. Since discovering the SV202s, I have also enjoyed some of their excellent spotting scopes, and regularly use some of their high-quality zoom eyepieces, like the SV191, which I’ve begun to employ extensively this season to observe Jupiter.
The impressive SV 191 7.2-21.6mm zoom eyepiece.
As a dedicated fan of Porro prism binoculars, I’ve steadily come to realise their exceptional value for money owing to great advances in technology, as well as their much simpler design compared with high-performance roof prism binoculars. Truth be told, it takes a lot of knowledge and technology to create roof prism binoculars that can even begin to approach the quality of a traditional, well-made Porro prism design. What’s more, many of the conventional objections purists have laid against the humble Porro prism binocular have now been satisfactorily addressed, including advances in anti-refection coating technology, water- and fog-proofing, and the introduction of modern twist-up eyecups with much better eye relief to accommodate eye glass wearers. In addition, advances in material science also means that good Porro prism binoculars can now be manufactured with lower mass chassis, allowing them to be carried longer in the field.
It was these considerations, as well as my own experiences with several budget-priced Porro prism models that led me to appraise one of Svbony’s newest products, the SA204 10 x 50, a traditional Porro prism binocular. Having ordered several products directly from their online store, I decided to purchase this instrument directly from Svbony too, since they’re currently not available from Amazon UK.
First Impressions
The Svbony SA204 10 x 50 binocular.
The SA204 10 x 50 package took about two weeks to arrive from the Far East to my home. As usual with Svbony, I was extremely impressed with the attention to detail in how it was packaged during its long trip to the UK. The instrument arrived double boxed inside some bubble wrap to ensure that nothing moved out of place during transit. All the accessories were also neatly packed away, including the ocular and objective covers, a carrying strap, lens cleaning cloth, a well-written instruction manual and a decent soft padded carry case. Inspecting the binocular, my first impressions were very favourable. The instrument is covered in a high-quality textured rubber substrate, ribbed at the sides for extra grip. The twist-up eyecups moved smoothly and were easy to adjust, keeping their individual positions firmly when clicked into place. Two intermediate positions are available between fully retracted and fully extended, so plenty of options for those who like to experiment.
Belly side up.
The aluminium central hinge is nicely tensioned, allowing you to easily adjust it to your preferred IPD. Once there, it stays rigidly in place. The rubber-covered central focus wheel has deep ridges to afford extra grip. Turning is very smooth with no free play. It ‘s quite stiff though, a consequence I suppose of the instrument being properly sealed and nitrogen purged. The focuser moves the eyepiece assembly up and down with no annoying wobbles I’ve seen in other instruments in this price class. 0.8 turns anticlockwise takes you from closest focus to jut beyond infinity. Eye relief is very generous. I was easily able to engage with the entire field using my varifocals, although I don’t wear spectacles when glassing under normal circumstances.
The dioptre adjustment is made using a small lever under the right eyepiece that rotates either clockwise or counter-clockwise, and I was easily able to find my optimal position. Once set in place, it stays there. I would say it’s very nicely engineered.
The large ocular lenses and twist-up eyepieces are easy to engage with.
The large ocular lenses have nice green multi-coatings and the objectives are decently recessed as all good binoculars ought to be. The objective coatings appear to be significantly more subdued to those applied to the ocular eyepieces and I detected a faint reflection off one of the interior lenses possibly indicative of one surface being singly coated. The rain guard and tethered ocular covers are quite basic but do an adequate job protecting the lenes from rain and dust.
The 50mm objectives have good coatings although there appears to be one surface that may be singly coated based on its appearance in daylight.
The instrument feels really nice in the hand with plenty of wiggle room to engage with my medium-sized mitts, making it easy to hold the instrument firmly. I was pleasantly surprised by the weight of the instrument without the strap and lens covers. Although the specs claim 925g, my SA204 tipped the scales at just 875g or 50 g less than advertised! All in all, I came away with the impression that this was indeed a nicely appointed binocular, significantly better built than other 10 x 50 Porros I’ve tested in the past, including the Opticron Adventuer T WP and the Nikon Aculon.
Optics
My optical testing began by measuring the effective aperture of the instrument by directing my iPhone 11 torch into one of the eyepieces and measuring the size of the resulting circular shaft of light emerging on the other side of the objectives. By tracing a circle of diameter 50mm, I was able to show that the circular light shaft fitted snugly into the circle indicating that the SA204 was operating at its full aperture.
The SA204 10 x 50 operates at its full aperture.
In the next test, I examined how well the binocular handled a beam of bright light. Turning on a sodium street lamp after dark, I was relieved to see that only a few minor internal reflections were seen that were largely non-injurious to the image. There was no diffused light around the light ether. Consulting my notebooks, I reported a little more internal reflections for both the Nikon Aculon and Action EX Porros(both of which retailing for considerably more than the SA204) I reviewed some time back and about the same as I recorded with two models of Opticron Adventurer T, but not quite as good as that seen in the significantly more expensive Opticron Imagic TGA WP(a £200 value).
Looking at the exit pupils yielded quite good results. I recorded nice round circles but I could see some light leaks around the pupils suggesting that better blackening on the inside of the tubes wouldn’t have gone astray.
Left pupil.Right pupil.
I had the opportunity to test the SA204 in all kinds of lighting conditions. The image is quite good: sharp, nice contrast, with a surprisingly large sweet spot. Colour fringing is very well controlled, especially off-axis.In this capacity, it’s certainly in a completely different league to the Nikon Aculons I tested, which displayed alarming levels of lateral colour to my eyes. Glare suppression is quite good too. I discovered that by retracting the eyecups one notch down from fully extended improved both the visibility of the field stops and the amount of glare I recorded. The instrument has an impressively wide field of view of 6.5 degrees with very well-defined field stops. I did perceive some peripheral softness near the field edges but it was not at all objectionable to my eyes. The instrument does display strong pincushion distortion however. I took the liberty of photographing some pink flowers at a distance of about 30 yards to give the reader an idea of how well corrected the field is:
Flowers imaged obliquely at 30 yards distance. Medium Resolution Image.
Close focus was measured at about 5m, less than the 6m advertised, putting it in the same ball park as a few other 10 x 50 Porro’s I’ve used. Of course, an instrument like this excels under the stars, where the 10x magnification and 50mm objectives pull in a lot of starlight. I checked collimation under the stars by defocusing the bright star Capella using the right eye dioptre while keeping the left barrel image as sharp as possible. The focused star remained well inside the defocused anulus not only in the centre of the field but also when placed to the extreme north, south, west and east edges, indicating very accurate alignment of the left and right barrels. Examining the Alpha Persei Cluster high up in the eastern sky reveals a rich cache of stars scattered across the field, I was delighted to see that they remained acceptably small and sharp across most of the field with only the outer 20 per cent of showing some mild distortion. But even at the field stops bright stars like Vega and Altair remained quite tightly focused. Moving bright stars to the edge of the field showed little in the way of illumination drop off either. These results were most impressive for a large binocular retailing for significantly less than $100. Indeed, this instrument can be used to very good effect for general stargazing.
I estimated the field size by trying to image Alkaid and Mizar in the Plough, which have an angular separation of precisely 6 degrees 40’ or 6.66 angular degrees. I was unable to keep both stars in the same field of view but only just so, indicating that the advertised field size of 6.5 degrees was quite accurate. Views of the bright waning Moon rising over the eastern hills showed very nice results, with excellent crater detail coming through across the southern Highlands. There were a few minor internal reflections seen around the silvery orb, but they weren’t judged to be too offensive. I could detect a sliver of chromatic aberration at the edge of the Moon when centrally placed in the field but this could be largely ameliorated by carefully reconfiguring eye placement. Off-axis colour fringing was more obvious though, but nothing I would describe as being out of the ordinary.
There was one negative however, and it manifested itself as I was imaging star fields in the vicinity of some streetlamps. Some of this peripheral light was entering the field, brightening the background sky by a tad. This disappeared however when I moved to the darkest location in my garden away from such light sources. In contrast, my Nikon E II 10 x 35(retailing at nearly ten times the price of the SA204) handled this stray light much more effectively. That said, I don’t count this as a major issue, and Svbony would do well to blacken the inside of the barrels that little bit more effectively.
Aperture Wins!
Comparing the Svbony Sa204 10 x 50(left) and Nikon E II 10 x 35(right) under the starry heaven.
Lest anyone be uncertain about the benefits of aperture, I took the opportunity to test both the SA204 10 x 50 and Nikon E II 10 x 35 under a dark country sky with no Moon during the wee small hours of September 17. Turning the instruments on the faint galaxy duo M81 & M82 in Ursa Major, I did manage to see them in both instruments, but they were much easier to see in the 10 x 50. The same was true when I moved the instrument to the celebrated Double Cluster in Perseus, now passing near the zenith at about 2.00 am local time. The view was compelling in both instruments, but the clusters were considerably richer in the larger glass. Ditto for the wondrous Pleiades and Hyades in Taurus as well as tracking down the trio of Messier open clusters in Auriga still low in the east. Indeed, I was quite impressed by just how well the SA204 managed to image the Hyades, with its constituent stars filling most of the field. I noted how well defined fiery red Aldebaran presented itself when positioned at the south-eastern edge of the field! All this to show that ‘you cannae change the laws o’ physics captain’ no matter how sexy and optically pristine the smaller, more expensive glass may be.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Great bang for buck!
The Svbony SA204 10 x 50 represents excellent bang for buck. It serves up a well corrected, sharp, bright and high contrast image with good control of chromatic aberration. It will serve as a fine general-purpose binocular, where it excels at low light observations and astronomy. I would have been thoroughly delighted with an instrument like this were I starting out in binocular astronomy again. I would however recommend using a more substantial neck strap than the generic one supplied with a chunky instrument like this. Better attention to internal blackening to improve contrast when observing under bright night lighting would also go a long way to making it an even better performer. That said, if you’re after a cost-effective instrument that does many things well, I would certainly recommend this neat 10 x 50 Porro to all and sundry.
Dr Neil English’s new 650+ page book, Choosing and Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts, caters for all budgets and will soon be published in paperback. Now available for pre-order.
After reviewing and continuing to use the 8 x 32 SE for a further seven months, I am more impressed than ever with this instrument. I’m not at all surprised that it has garnered more than 10,000 views on Birdforum alone, and an even greater number of visits on my website. As detailed in my original review, I showcased many terrific features of this instrument which I will summarise as follows:
Exceptional blackening around the eyepieces with near perfect exit pupils
Complete lack of any internal reflections or diffraction spikes when directed at a bright artificial light source
Exceptional colour correction from the small 32mm objectives
Exceptional glare suppression
Sensibly perfect images within its very large sweet spot
Excellent edge-of-field performance despite its lack of field flattening optics
Superb handling in all weather conditions
Exceptionally well protected objective lenses
A Reminder: left exit pupil of the Oberwerk SE 8 x 32 ED.
I’ve already commented that its sharpness and colour correction are superior to the highly rated Nikon E II 8 x 30, but its optical and ergonomic excellence has also been noted by a number of other experienced observers including the Irish birder, ‘Sancho,’ who compared it to his Zeiss TFL 8 x 32 and, based on subsequent field testing, now uses it as his ‘favourite all-round’ birding instrument. I would like to remind you of his posts here:
My Oberwerk SE 8×32 arrived today. I haven’t had much chance to “test” it, and in any case a birding bino needs to be tested over a few weeks while actually birding. Also, I am non-technical, so anything I say is “amateur user” opinion only, applying only to my eyes. I agree wholeheartedly with everything Dipperdapper says in the excellent review. Total cost to my door (in Ireland) was 368 euro, inclusive of 68 euro customs charges, plus postage. Communication and tracking details from Kevin in Oberwerk was excellent. At first, I was dismayed when I lifted the box…it felt heavy. But when I removed the packaging, and held the binos in my hand, they didn’t actually feel that heavy because the ergos and balance are excellent. Not unlike my Nikon SE 10×42, but about 50g heavier. The Oberwerk certainly is a tough, tank-like bino, feels very solid and durable. I like the longer objective barrels because I can get two fingers around them, as with the SE 10×42, and I find this helps further with stability. The objectives are deeply recessed, another feature I like because I presume they are more protected from stray light or damage. The focus wheel is stiffer than I would like, but I reckon this is the price you pay for a waterproof porro, like the Habicht 8×30. Although it is a wide wheel (see OPs photos), I find it a little difficult to get my fingers to it, and prefer the position of the FW on the Nikon 10×42. (OTOH, the diopter adjuster is on the right ocular, where the Binocular God intended….easy to adjust, but also firm enough to stay put). In any case the focusser has no play and turns smoothly. Eyecups twist in and out and have four positions. The bino came with a strap for the case, plus two straps for the bino…a lighter “stretchy” neoprene one for comfort, or a tougher fabric-type one. Try as I might, I could induce no CA, even looking against bare tree branches against a bright, high-cloud Irish February sky. In this it was the equal of my Zeiss TFL 8×32, which is excellent. The FOV (8.2 degrees) is similar, and to be honest it was sharp across most of the field, to the extent that to find any softness at all, I almost have to stick my eyeball into the bino and search sideways! In other words, the field-flattener question is a non-issue. I tried to induce flare/glare, and couldn’t manage that either, even while looking as close to the lightly-clouded sun as was possible without endangering my eyesight. I have no idea how to “measure” light transmission, but it seems plenty bright, not quite as bright as my TFL 8×32 but that’s unsurprising. I’m going to stick my neck out a bit here and say that I think the sharpness/constrast/pop (I don’t know how to separate these “concepts”) might be a little ahead of the TFL. However, this may be just because of today’s conditions, or I may be suffering from “new-bino enthusiasm”….it needs a bit more study out in the field, in different lighting conditions. The warranty is two years, but it feels like a bino that will be used by my as yet non-existent grandchildren. An interesting feature is that in the plain black box (thank you Oberwerk, no expensive fancy boxes!), there is a card headed “Quality Checklist”, with Date, Sale, SN etc., and all the features ticked off (under the headings Appearance, Mechanical, Alignment/Collimation, Resolution) and initialled “KGB” (whom I presume is Kevin rather than the defunct Soviet body). I’ll take these out and about over the next few weeks, and play with them a bit more, but I think they are a pretty stunning binocular at any price, and for 368 euro delivered a no-brainer, unless you favour roofs and very light binos.
Furthermore, Sancho followed up with this post some months later:
Hi just reporting back on the Oberwerk SE 8×32, after four months of use. You know how it is, you never “really” know until you’ve used binos in the field in various conditions. I have to say these have become my favourite “all-rounder, grab n’go” binoculars, and my closet contains original SEs and some big European badges. I thought early on there was a bit of “play” in the focus, but there isn’t, it just focusses at different speeds as you turn the dial (if that makes sense). It is the best bino I have at suppressing CA and stray light, and the image has the punch and contrast that reminds me of my old (sadly sold) Nikon EDG 8×42. I love the stereopsis (3D?) effect of porros, so that’s a plus for me. I’m sorry I don’t have the technical vocabulary for talking about optics; I just love these and am thinking of buying the Oberwerk SE 10×42 to complement them.
Another experienced observer, ‘Paultricounty,’ also offered his opinion on the 8 x 32 SE:
“These are bright and sharp binoculars. I’m going to get in trouble here with some Nikon guys, but they are brighter and at least as sharp as the Nikon SE’s. They’re more neutral in color than the Nikons and has a much wider field of view. There is no field flattener like the Nikons , so they’re not sharp to the edge. It’s a very usable FOV with fall off starting at around 75% , but no mushy edges like the Kowa BDII 6.5 and 8x and some other MIC bins. Contrast is as good as the Nikon and I couldn’t see the slightest amount of CA, clearly superior to the Nikon in that area.”
Swiss binocular enthusiast Pinac, had this to say about the same instrument on the Oberwerk website:
I ordered one online at Oberwerk in Dayton OH on a Thu midday, Oberwerk dispatched the same day, and I got the SE at my home in Switzerland after 3 business days – not bad (for Oberwerk customer service and UPS)! I had been forewarned by the various reviewers that the SE is quite big and heavy for a 8×32 – it is indeed, but build quality and finish are excellent, and ergonomics are superb, the bino fits snugly into my hands, a joy to use. The immediate impression is that for a 250 $ bino, the optics are really good.
My sample actually magnifies 8.2 x. The measured RFOV and AFOV values are a bit narrower than specified by Oberwerk, but still very nice.
Plenty of eye relief; spectacle wearers should be fine.
Nice extra travel of the focus wheel of ca. 5 dpt beyond the infinity position.
Given that the number of available good 8×30 / 8×32 porro binos is continually shrinking, this is a very welcome additon to the binoculars market, not only for porro enthusiasts.
And yet another review from a gentleman named Noah Lawes, who compared it to his Leica BN 8 x 42:
I’m extremely impressed with the 8×32 SE. It provides a beautiful, sharp, sparkling view. It compares favorably with my Leica BN 8×42, and it’s even better in some ways, including CA control, ergonomics, and handheld stability (especially when using the “hat trick” resting the bill of a cap on the prism housings. I’m working on a longer review which I plan to post on one of the forums, but for now, suffice it to say that I think this is a great binocular in absolute terms, and it’s just amazing that you can get it for $250.
It was also very favourably reviewed by the experienced Italian binocular enthusiast, Piergiovanni Salimbeni, who stated that its performance was similar to roof prism models costing €1K. Be sure also to check out the extensive video footage he captured through the instrument on his accompanying YouTube presentation.
Having said all that, I must report one additional observation regarding the instrument’s field of view. It was after comparing it to the Oberwerk Sport ED 8 x 42 that I noted its smaller field of view in comparison. Indeed, I conducted a star drift measurement and found its field of view to be 7.48 angular degrees, which is actually the same as the Nikon SE 8 x 32. Curiously, this was also noted by CNer Rustler 46 in this link.
I fixed the problem I had with the wandering dioptre, simply by securing my preferred position with a drop of Loctite superglue – problem solved!
No more dioptre wandering!
Finally, I suggest a few improvements to the instrument:
Reduce the overall weight of the chassis by housing the optics in a polycarbonate body. Better still, a magnesium alloy chassis would offer greater ruggedness and a reduced overall weight. These days, magnesium alloy is not confined to high-end models but is now being offered even on budget-priced instruments.
The focus wheel could be tuned better. Some owners have complained that there is some slack in the focuser, while others have noted its overly stiff tension. Improving this important ergonomic feature will greatly improve its enjoyability.
Please don’t be discouraged concerning the undeserved attacks Oberwerk has endured regarding its Chinese manufacture. Is not China a sovereign nation, just like all the other nations under the sun? Does it not have people? I note that most of the negativity came from folk who never experienced the instrument first-hand. Indeed, I suspect from the sheer volume of views that many of these dissenters actually ended up secretly purchasing the instrument lol!
In summary, it’s no exaggeration that the Oberwerk SE 8 x 32 is destined to become one of the great 32mm binoculars of our time. It’s all the more remarkable that you were able to bring it to market at such an attractive price point, which resonates well with my key objective to provide the reader with genuine bargains in today’s market in order to grow this wonderful hobby worldwide.
I wish you continued success with this amazing product!
