A Work Commenced 1/6/2023

Preamble 1

Preamble 2

Product: Nikon E II 10 x 35

Country of Manufacture: Japan

Exit Pupil: 3.5mm

Field of view: 122m@1000m(7.0 angular degrees) advertised, 129.1m@1000m(7.3 angular degrees) measured

Eye Relief: 13.8mm

Chassis Material: Die Cast Magnesium Alloy

Coatings: Fully Broadband Multicoated

Close Focus: 5m advertised, 2.95m measured

Eco Glass: Yes

Waterproof: No

Nitrogen Purged: No

ED Glass: No

Weight: 625g advertised, 612g measured

Dimensions: 12.6 x 18.3cm

Accessories: Neck Strap, faux leather soft carry case, instruction manual, objective caps, rain guard, warranty card.

Warranty: 10 Years

Price: £729(UK)

About 15 months ago, I took possession of the Nikon E II 8 x 30. That instrument radically transformed my opinion about the relative merits of roof prism models versus Porro prism designs, so much so that it all but extinguished my interest in the former as a serious long-term investment. This world-class compact Porro delivers and astonishing, ultra-wide field of view with excellent brightness, contrast and sharpness across most of the field. But I also quickly appreciated the astonishing ease with which I could engage with the field of view despite its small (3.75mm)exit pupil, with zero blackouts or rolling ball effect, which I frequently encountered while using high-performance roof prism models such as the Nikon Monarch HG 8 x 30. Collectively, these qualities greatly endeared the instrument to me, and it remains my favourite, general-purpose instrument to this day.

When Nikon launched the E II back in 1999, they produced two models; the 8 x 30 and a larger 10 x 35 instrument. I had long resisted the larger 10 x 35 owing to my very positive experiences with the earlier Nikon E 10 x 35 Criterion model, which gave me a real taste of high-power widefield glassing in a compact, lightweight Porro prism format. But the newer E II model was never far from my mind. If the Nikon E 10 x 35 delivered such delightful images, what could I expect from the more advanced E II instrument? There was only one way to find out, so I ordered up a unit from a reputable UK dealer.

First Impressions

The instrument arrived in exactly the same box with the same accessories as I received with the smaller E II; just a simple faux leather carry case, a neck strap, plastic objective caps and rain guard, instruction manual and warranty card. The serial number of the instrument is 020173, which my research was able to confirm, is a post-2017 manufacturing date.

The instrument exudes quality. The light weight, die-cast magnesium alloy chassis is a real work of art. Tipping the scales at 612g without the strap, it’s exceptionally easy to hold in my middle-sized hands. The central hinge is strong and rigid, holding my required IPD perfectly. The fine kinematics of the central focusing wheel was a great relief to me. One of the things that niggled me about the Nikon E 10 x 35 was its stiff turning. I simply believed that this was a built-in design feature of the instrument and never occurred to me that it might have stiffened up over the years. That said, the E II focus wheel is a good step-up performance wise, moving with super smoothness through 1.25 revolutions clockwise from closest focus to a little beyond infinity. Indeed, its lightly tensioned gearing is pretty much identical to its smaller sibling.

The right eye dioptre ring has the exact same tension as on the smaller E II model. Once adjusted it’s very hard to move accidentally. That came as a great relief to me also, as one of my pet peeves is a wandering dioptre. The objective lenses are decently recessed, and the antireflection coatings take on a very deep, dark blue hue in broad daylight. Indeed, as the image below reveals, there is a noticeable difference in colour cast between the smaller EII 8 x 30 and larger 10 x 35 objective coatings, which surprised me. The 8 x 30 has a stronger green hue to my eye and appears to reflect slightly more light than the 10 x 35 E II. The eyepiece coatings appear to be identical in each model, however.

Handling the 10 x 35 EII is a real joy. The leatherette armouring is very easy to grip with or without gloves – as good as traditional rubber substrates. You can wrap your hands round those barrels, where your fingers naturally rest on the large focus wheel. I like to place my hands closer to the front of the instrument, for extra stability while glassing, something you can’t really do with the smaller and stubbier 8 x 30 EII. Indeed, on balance (excuse the pun), I think I prefer the handling on the 10 x 35 that little bit more. Like the smaller Nikon EII 8 x 30, the 10 x 35 has fairly tight eye relief for eyeglass wearers. By turning the rubber eye cups down, I could see the entire field while wearing eye glasses, but it’s a tight squeeze!

Optical Evaluation

Just like its smaller sibling, the Nikon E II 10 x 35 shows negligible internal reflections when aimed at a bright internal light source or a street lamp at night. Nor was there any diffused light around these light sources. Examining the exit pupils, I got broadly similar results to those found on the 8 x 30 E II, that is, perfectly round pupils with a pleasant degree of darkness surrounding them. Although very good, I’ve seen significantly better on less expensive instruments.

Collimation was spot on as judged by defocusing a bright star using the right eye dioptre whilst keeping the left barrel image tightly focused. The tightly focused star was seen in the centre of the defocused anulus of light, as sketched below:

What perfect binocular collimation looks like.

Optically, the images served up by the Nikon E II 10x 35 are superb; extremely sharp, bright, faithful colours, lovely contrast and very little glare even in tough backlit scenes. The image is rendered even more compelling by virtue of its enormous field of view. The specs say it’s 7.0 angular degrees, but my own tests threw up a very pleasant surprise. Mounting the instrument on a sturdy photographic tripod, I centred the star Altair in Aquilla and measured the time it took for it to move to the field stop. Altair lies close to the celestial equator(+8.87 degrees declination), making it ideal for such measurements. Taking an average of three timings, I found that the true field in this instrument is actually 7.3 degrees(129.1m@1000m) That puts it right up there with the very widest roofs available today. For example, the Zeiss Victory SF 10 x 32 delivers a true field of 130m@1000m and 135m@1000m for the Swarovski 10 x 32 NL Pure. By any measure, this a hugely impressive result. Indeed, it’s like looking through a regular 8x birding glass, except the images are amplified to 10x. As you can imagine, this greatly adds to the sheer enjoyability of the instrument in field use.

An interesting Aside

When I got the results of these measures I contacted a very experienced E II user and astronomer, based in Nevada. Rich V has owned and used both of the E IIs for over 20 years. He was able to confirm that his measurements also provided a field of view of between 7.2 and 7.3 degrees for the 10 x 35 EII. He also measured the field size on the smaller 8 x 30 E II and it came out at 9 degrees! I subjected my own 8 x 30 E II to four timing measurements and my results yielded an average of 8.97 angular degrees – call it a cool 9.0 degrees!

Screen shot:

As additional evidence to support the larger than expected field of view on the Nikon EII 10 x 35, I took shots with my iPhone through my trusty Svbony SV202 8 x 42 and compared it directly to the image of the same scene through the Nikon glass. The reader will note that as part of my review of the SV202, I measured its field size to be almost exactly 7.5 angular degrees by noting that it was just barely unable to hold the stars Betelgeuse and Bellatrix (separation 7 degrees 33′) in the same field. The first shot shows the SV202 field:

Now compare this to the Nikon E II 10x 35:

I hope you’ll agree that the Nikon E II field is just a little smaller than the field served up by the SV202. Indeed, I shared these images with Rich and he agreed that the results were pretty compelling.

One of the first instruments I compared it to is the venerable Nikon E 10 x 35 Criterion WF binocular, the direct antecedent of the EII series. Although I’ve greatly enjoyed the Nikon E with its immersive 6.6 degree field, a few minutes comparing and contrasting the images through both instruments showed the newer Nikon E II to be the clear winner. It had better brightness, contrast and superior control of glare and internal reflections. In addition, you can immediately perceive the enlarged field of view in the Nikon E II.

Like the Swarovski Habicht Porro prism binoculars, the Nikon E IIs do not employ ED glass. Despite this they serve up remarkably bright and vivid images. Indeed, it would be remiss of me not to stress that, despite what some birding magazine binocular reviewers keep parroting falsely, the incorporation of ED glass does not result in brighter images. Indeed, the binocular with the highest transmission measured to date – the Swarovski Habichts – have a light transmission of 96 percent – higher than any model employing ED glass currently on the market! Although I did not have any means to measure light transmission, I wouldn’t be surprised that the E II 10 x 35 delivers in excess of 90 per cent to the eyes. Indeed measurements made over a decade ago showed a light transmission of 86 per cent but Nikon has continually improved their coatings(often with no public notice to the effect) since then, resulting in brighter images with improved contrast.

As expected, chromatic aberration is a little bit more evident on high contrast targets than the smaller 8 x 30 model, but it’s largely unobtrusive. Close focus was measured to be 2.95m, significantly closer than the advertised 5m. What the 10 x 35 excels at though is presenting extraordinary stereoscopic views of the objects in the middle distance. One fine summer evening in bright sunshine, I visited one of my local patches, the Buzzard Field, on account of a pair of nesting Buzzards that have taken up residence in the trees on either side. One of my favourite targets is a large fallen tree that often shows birds that perch there before moving on. When I turned the Nikon EII 10 x 35 on the tree some 30 metres in the distance, I was gobsmacked -disabled even – by the stunning three dimensionality of the view, almost as if I could reach out and touch it with my hands!

Porro prism binocular images are qualitatively different from roof prism instruments. The much greater image plasticity in the former confers more information to the eyes allowing the observer to glean much more accurate spatial relationships between the objects in the image. Some have claimed that this enhanced stereopsis is unnatural because it artificially extends the separation of the human eye. But I find such arguments to be largely unfounded and somewhat disingenuous. Isn’t parallax- a closely related phenomenon – a useful optical parameter? Do we not employ it subconsciously to infer the relative distances to targets in the visual field? Should we then dismiss the seminal work of the German astronomer, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel(1784-1846), who was the first person in the history of the world to measure the mind-boggling distance to the star 61 Cygni using this very phenomenon? Couldn’t we make the same argument for magnification? Perhaps we should all go round with binoculars magnifying 1x to get the most natural views? All jokes aside, the enhanced stereopsis at 10x over 8x is very easy to discern in the Nikon E IIs. It enhances the view of everything, from buildings and tree branches swaying in the wind, to swirling pools of water and rock formations, and all for the better.

Astronomical Applications

I have cultivated a strong preference for smaller exit pupils(4mm or less) when viewing the starry heavens, preferring 10 x 42 over 8 x 42, for example. The smaller exit pupil ensures that you’re imaging the field with the best(least curved) part of your eye. Larger exit pupils bring out the astigmatism in my eyes, distorting the images of point sources like stars. In addition, smaller exit pupils create more contrast between the stars and the background sky, painting more aesthetically pleasing vistas. Observing in summer twilight, when the sky doesn’t get properly dark, comparing the views through an 8 x 42 and a 10 x 35 shows the advantages of the smaller exit pupil. The 10 x 35 darkens the background sky much more effectively than the 8 x 42, causing the stars to stand out more. I have thoroughly enjoyed the astronomical views through the Nikon E 10 x 35 with its generous 6.6 degree field, but I must say the more advanced EII 10 x 35 is a nice step up, with its magnificent 7+ degree true field. Stars remain tight pinpoints within a generously large sweet spot, with only mild field curvature and astigmatism creeping up as one approaches the field stop.  Another nice feature of the E II 10 x 35 is that there is a negligible drop in field illumination at the field edges, making the field appear larger than it really is. Although it doesn’t have the reach of a more traditional 10 x 50, its low weight and excellent form factor render it decidedly more ‘handy’ than the larger 10 x 50 glass. For serious astronomical forays, 10 x 50 is the better option, but for casual stargazing, especially doing autumn Milky Way sweeps, the 10 x 35 simply can’t be beat.

Comparing the 8 x 30 and 10 x 35 Nikon E IIs

Both instruments are beautifully designed with fantastic ergonomics. Both exhibit that majesty factor characterised by their expansive fields, as well as the instant gratification one gets when you bring them to your eyes. Small details, such as the position of the dioptre compensation are identical in both instruments, as the photo below shows.

The 8 x 30 is a magnificent glass for scanning landscapes and closer range birding. It’s ideal for glassing in forests and its low weight makes it a wonderful travel binocular. The 10 x 35 excels at longer range viewing in wide open areas or for picking off details in smaller targets closer at hand. If you’re one who enjoys 3-D terrestrial impressions, the 10 x 35 is the clear winner. In addition, the larger EII is the superior astronomy glass as I’ve noted time and time again comparing the 8 x 30 EII to the 10 x 35 E model during the winter months, where it pulls in fainter stars and deep sky objects.

Storage

As outlined in Preamble 2 above, I’ve developed a simple storage technique that keeps the instruments bone dry as well as rendering them fog proof. Lining a Tupperware container with about 200g of activated silica gel draws all of the water vapour from the inside of the binocular so that it won’t fog up in normal use. It will also prevent fungal growth inside the instrument so that they can be used for years to come. I make sure to rack the focuser out a bit to get the the most rapid outward diffusion of water vapour. Indeed, having stored the new E II 10x 35 in such a container at room temperature for a couple of weeks, I was able to verify its fog proof status while carrying out the star drift measurements, when the instrument was exposed to the cool, humid night air for more than an hour. Once I brought the instrument into my living room, the outer lenses rapidly generated condensation, but once it had evaporated away, the interior remained completely clear and dry.

Conclusions & Recommendations

The Nikon E II 10 x 35 is an excellent, high-performance Porro prism binocular manufactured to the highest standards. It’s a greatly under-rated format, combining high power, wide-angle views in a light-weight chassis that can be carried around for hours on end. Despite its relatively high price tag, I think it represents excellent value for money when you consider the quality of the views it serves up, as well as its extremely comfortable handling. I for one am very glad I took the plunge to add a second E II to my collection.

Thank goodness there are only two!

I’d like to thank Rich V for interesting discussions on the Nikon E II 10 x 35

You can sink your teeth into a great many binocular reviews in my up-and-coming book, Choosing & Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts, which will be published by Springer Nature in late 2023.

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De Fideli.