Nikon Action 10-22x50 vs Bushnell Natureview Plus 10x42 (Porro) (1 Viewer)

[Ben M]

I'm looking for a reasonable replacement for some old (I'd guess pre-1960s), damaged and scratched 8x30 binoculars, which I inherited from a great uncle!

My main requirements are:

• Greater magnification (10x or upwards);
• Improved image quality (I think any new binoculars would improve this!);
• Porro prism;
• Price limit of around £100.

I've looked over several threads/reviews and narrowed my choices to the following two, both of which are on offer at Warehouse Express:

Nikon Action 10-22x50 (offer price: £99.95)
Bushnell Natureview Plus 10x42 (offer price: £79.00)

My questions are:

1. The Nikon Action's magnification is given as 10-22x, what does this really mean? Is it adjustable? If so how, and are there any drawbacks of this?
2. I've read good reviews of the exact Bushnell Natureview model, but for the roof prism type. Both porro and roof are Bak-4 prisms. Should there be any distinguishable difference in image quality between the porro and roof prism versions?

Any other comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Ben.

 

[matt green]

the 10x42 bushnells were my first binoculars..

played the field quite a bit since,however those bushnells kept me happy till
i could afford a better pair of roofprisms.

the one thing strikes me now about those binoculars was the lack of backlash
and bridge flex that plagues some porro prisms,the build quality was very good
for the money,they never really went wrong.

as for the optics,they're pretty much as good as anything else in this catagory,though i'd sudgest you try and get hold of some nikon action 10x40 models,these nikon models have always been highly praised on this site,the bushnells get very little mention.

compared to fixed magnification wide angle bins you might find the optics of the nikon zooms dissapointing.this is due to extra lenses needed in the zoom mechanism.

matt

 

[Marko_]

As Matt said, 10-22x means a zoom model, that has a lever for adjusting the power. They are never optically as good as normal (fixed power) binoculars.

You will have a smaller field of view (the view in degrees, or m/1000m), and sharpness and brightness will almost certainly deteriorate when the zoom is adjusted to higher power.

As to the porro/roof prism question, in this price range porro prism models are recommended. Roof prisms are more expensive to make and thus would be of inferior quality in the lower price range.

So, my advice would be to go for a porro prism model, non-zoom.

Marko

 

[Tero]

If you want 12x or 16x, get the fixed power. There are a few models out there but most 16x porros are pretty poor.

But eventually you will get a scope like most of us. So the 16x ends up being waste of money and hard to even sell.

 

[Marko_]

Good point, Tero. I would say 10x would be the maximum useful magnification. You lose in the width of the field as the power grows, and it's hard to keep the image still with anything over 10x.

Most birders use something between 7x and 10x.

 

[kmiernik]

I seems very funny to me that almost every newbie starts with the same requirements: high power, zoom and cheap binoculars. I've started with 12x40 but I've learned very quickly that 12 power is much too high. Then I moved to 8x40, 8x32 and 8.5x44 (and I love this last one).

"Ukbenny" leave that zoom rubbish and leave high power (no more than 10x!) binoculars. As far as I know there are only two binoculars with zoom that are something more than rubbish toy: Eschenbach Farlux 8-15x35 and Minox 8-14x40. Both are priced much more than your budget.

Buy something like 7x35, 8x40, 8x32 or 8x30. You won't be dissapointed and you'll get nice binoculars you'll be able to take everywhere. I assure you'll see much more with 8x40 than with 16x50.

At this price level aim at Porro system design because they offer higher optics quality at lower price. Do not go for any cheap roof prisms. They are dark and image is dim and blurry as they lack of phase coating.

Take a look at Nikon Action EX series. I was using 8x40 EX for one year and I was very happy with them.

 

[Tero]

I actually like 10x, but not in the porros. And if you do decide that you are more like a 10x guy than an 8x, it still does not hurt to start off at 8x. The 10x binocular is harder to make and the roof prisms that are worth anything cost a bit more. 8x is easy to find porros in, and the Actions, Pentaxes Opticrons all work fine at 8x.

 

[Ben M]

Wow! I wasn't expecting this many replies...certainly not so quickly. Thank you all for your valuable advice.

At one point I was considering very high magnification (saw some low-cost 20x), but after looking into things more thoroughly and reading many of the other threads I saw that, not only the image quality will be poor, but anything more than 10x is not very practical as a binocular. Also, after discovering more about scopes, I'm sure (as one of you pointed out) that I'll save up for a scope sometime in the future.

My reasoning behind the magnification being greater than 8x is that I'm often wanting to ID raptors which fly high above the woodland behind my house. Even with the improved image quality of the new bins, I doubt if 8x will provide enough for me to do this. My dad (a fellow birder) has 10x50, which I've often used in many different situations and am comfortable with.

The info on the zoom and porro versus roof was very helpful. I think I'll try and find a store near me where I can try out the Bushnell Natureview and possibly the non-zoom Nikon Action 8x40 (on offer at £49).

Many thanks for your excellent advice,

Ben.

 

[Tero]

There are raptor experts that go strictly 7x. There are a few porros that work for raptors, something like this
http://www.opticsplanet.net/audubon-10x40-intrepid-binoculars-7900.html
and still focus close up. I have not seen those. But you really want to spend time looking for the 10x with the widest field of view and actually hold all in your hand. I use my 8x mostly for flying birds, and my 10x for birds in the field or lake or river.

 

[Ben M]

I decided to go for a mix of both and went for Nikon Action 10x50 EX. This was after testing the above against the Natureview. I preferred the overall feel of the Nikon (especially the eyecups) and the optical quality seemed a little better, but I'm far from expert on that matter.

The RRP seems around £150-170, but I found one online store that did them for £115 with free next-day delivery. They arrived on Thursday and I've had chance to use them in various conditions over the past few days. (Even managed to get good quality of digibin/vidibin from them, although I was just playing around.)

I'm very happy with my purchase so far, so thanks to everyone for the excellent advice.