ghirofelgo
New member
Hey guys, this is my first post on BirdForum!!
I had recently purchased Barksa HuntMaster 8x42 roof binoculars for 120 USD incl. shipping to Australia and couldn't really find a good review for these on the net prior to purchasing them so I thought I'd write up a review for others to use.
One of the problems with purchasing Barska products is the numerous product lines which they maintain, some lines being very similar to others. Further, other people have reported quality control issues with Barksa binoculars and so the usefulness of this review as a buying guide is debateable. Here is what the manufacturers say the binoculars feature:
Model # AB10570
Magnification 8x
Objective Lens 42mm
Waterproof Yes
Fogproof Yes
Prism type Roof
Prism Glass BAK-4 P.C
Exit Pupil 5.25mm
Optical Coating Fully Multi-Coated
Focusing System Center
Field of View (ft@1000yds/m@1000m) 400/133
Close Focus (ft/m) 6.6/2
Eye Relief 18.4 mm
Weight 27 oz.
Included Accessories Lens Covers, Carrying Case, Neck Strap and Lens Cloth
Warranty Limited Lifetime Warranty
I should note that I am no expert with binoculars or reviewing them. Nevertheless, considering the price bracket these fall into, they are not worth a very detailed review. Let me tell you how I found these binoculars.
The binoculars arrived perfectly collimated with no glaring mechanical or optical faults. They feature a largish FOV of 133m/1000m or 400ft/1000yd but are rather blurry away from the centre of the image. I have not done any detailed tests but I feel it is around 50-60% of the distance away from the centre of the image that the blurring starts. Further, the left barrel has truncated exit pupils at the bottom which caused significant blurring at the bottom of the image. So despite the largish FOV very little of it is actually sharp and useable (about a quarter in terms of area).
The image displays barrel distortion which is quite noticeable especially when you take your eyes away from the eyepiece a little bit; this doesn’t particularly affect the image when you are looking directly through the binoculars however.
In terms of light transmission I have not done any rigorous testing, however, I do have a pair of 7x50 porros and they transmit a noticeably higher amount of light in low light conditions. This isn’t the fairest test due to the much larger size of the exit pupil on the 7x50s. However, I think that the larger pupil of 5.25mm combined with the FMC and Phase coating makes these quite bright (brighter than any 10x42s in the same price range??)
In high contrast situations chromatic aberration is noticeable but is not wildly out of control; it certainly doesn’t ruin the image. However, I have seen it controlled better in other binoculars within this price range with this low magnification (they were porros though).
When using them for astronomy I noticed that stars do collate to a point quite well but not perfectly like when looking by naked eye.
The focusing knob turns about 440 degrees from max to min focus and allows for quite a precise focus on objects based on their distance from the viewer without making them too fiddly when finding the perfect focus setting. Further, the binos are very nice to handle and the tripod exit is comfortably placed; the binos are a bit heavy though.
In Conclusion, I think it’s evident that binocular collectors will find these to be a very amateurish pair. However, as always, you get what you pay for. I think for the price these are good binos if you get a pair that is collimated with no faults which last for a while. For $50 more you might get a lot nicer pair though with a bit more peace of mind!!
I had recently purchased Barksa HuntMaster 8x42 roof binoculars for 120 USD incl. shipping to Australia and couldn't really find a good review for these on the net prior to purchasing them so I thought I'd write up a review for others to use.
One of the problems with purchasing Barska products is the numerous product lines which they maintain, some lines being very similar to others. Further, other people have reported quality control issues with Barksa binoculars and so the usefulness of this review as a buying guide is debateable. Here is what the manufacturers say the binoculars feature:
Model # AB10570
Magnification 8x
Objective Lens 42mm
Waterproof Yes
Fogproof Yes
Prism type Roof
Prism Glass BAK-4 P.C
Exit Pupil 5.25mm
Optical Coating Fully Multi-Coated
Focusing System Center
Field of View (ft@1000yds/m@1000m) 400/133
Close Focus (ft/m) 6.6/2
Eye Relief 18.4 mm
Weight 27 oz.
Included Accessories Lens Covers, Carrying Case, Neck Strap and Lens Cloth
Warranty Limited Lifetime Warranty
I should note that I am no expert with binoculars or reviewing them. Nevertheless, considering the price bracket these fall into, they are not worth a very detailed review. Let me tell you how I found these binoculars.
The binoculars arrived perfectly collimated with no glaring mechanical or optical faults. They feature a largish FOV of 133m/1000m or 400ft/1000yd but are rather blurry away from the centre of the image. I have not done any detailed tests but I feel it is around 50-60% of the distance away from the centre of the image that the blurring starts. Further, the left barrel has truncated exit pupils at the bottom which caused significant blurring at the bottom of the image. So despite the largish FOV very little of it is actually sharp and useable (about a quarter in terms of area).
The image displays barrel distortion which is quite noticeable especially when you take your eyes away from the eyepiece a little bit; this doesn’t particularly affect the image when you are looking directly through the binoculars however.
In terms of light transmission I have not done any rigorous testing, however, I do have a pair of 7x50 porros and they transmit a noticeably higher amount of light in low light conditions. This isn’t the fairest test due to the much larger size of the exit pupil on the 7x50s. However, I think that the larger pupil of 5.25mm combined with the FMC and Phase coating makes these quite bright (brighter than any 10x42s in the same price range??)
In high contrast situations chromatic aberration is noticeable but is not wildly out of control; it certainly doesn’t ruin the image. However, I have seen it controlled better in other binoculars within this price range with this low magnification (they were porros though).
When using them for astronomy I noticed that stars do collate to a point quite well but not perfectly like when looking by naked eye.
The focusing knob turns about 440 degrees from max to min focus and allows for quite a precise focus on objects based on their distance from the viewer without making them too fiddly when finding the perfect focus setting. Further, the binos are very nice to handle and the tripod exit is comfortably placed; the binos are a bit heavy though.
In Conclusion, I think it’s evident that binocular collectors will find these to be a very amateurish pair. However, as always, you get what you pay for. I think for the price these are good binos if you get a pair that is collimated with no faults which last for a while. For $50 more you might get a lot nicer pair though with a bit more peace of mind!!
