What to replace a 7x20 reverse Porro with? (1 Viewer)

[MacGee]

I bought my wife a pair of Pentax Jupiter 7x20 over 15 years ago and she's been very happy with them. They are pretty cute. Just recently, though they've not been focussing beyond a dozen metres or so. Assuming they can't be fixed easily and cheaply, I thought I would buy her a new pair, maybe for Christmas. (That's also assuming I can persuade her that she needs a new pair). I'd like to get her a pair that are as close as possible to the Pentax in size, weight, field of view and general demeanour, but are the highest quality possible. These are the details:

Height 86mm
Width 108mm (at widest)
Weight 250g
Field of View 7.5° (131m @ 1000m)
Eyecup diameter 30mm
Colour black
General appearance dinky

Her IPD is in the normal range, unlike mine. I don't know how she would get on with smaller or larger diameter eyecups, but in general, the likes things to stay the same - unless they can be made simpler. Which is why I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like a double hinge.

The Pentax Papilio 6.5x21 is out, because she's buying me that for my birthday and I don't want us to be going around with matching binoculars.

Any suggestions?

Michael.

 

[Alexis Powell]

Tero is the one who can probably be of the most help in this case. My thought is that it is going to be hard to match that FOV. The Bushnell 7x26 Custom is the only reverse porro that I know of that is small, relatively wide-field, and has good eye-relief. But if your wife doesn't need much eye-relief, maybe the Swift 8x21 minimicron (800R) would be worth a try. There are probably others like it that I am not familiar with (because they all have too little eye-relief for me).
--AP

 

[Tero]

Pentax has some new reverse porros that are better in the optics, but they only start at 8x
http://www.opticsplanet.net/pntx-bino-62209.html
FOV is a little smaller Field of View at 1000m: 108m

They do look a lot like the papillo and to the casual person look almost the same

The Jupiter is still available mail order
http://www.opticsplanet.net/pentax-mcf-2-jupiter-8x20mm.html
I never liked them as the birds further away are hard to get a sharp image of

Bushnell gets to FOV of 123m or about 7 degrees
http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-8x30-natureview.html

 

[MacGee]

Tero is the one who can probably be of the most help in this case. My thought is that it is going to be hard to match that FOV. The Bushnell 7x26 Custom is the only reverse porro that I know of that is small, relatively wide-field, and has good eye-relief. But if your wife doesn't need much eye-relief, maybe the Swift 8x21 minimicron (800R) would be worth a try. There are probably others like it that I am not familiar with (because they all have too little eye-relief for me).
--AP

Thanks, Alexis. I'll look at the Custom Compacts. BVD also speaks well of them. I remember seeing somewhere that they're available in this country under another name, but I've forgotten what name that is. I'll search.

I don't know about eye-relief. She wears glasses, but used the Pentax without folding the eyecups down. What the significance of that might be, I don't know. Is it possible to work out the eye-relief of binoculars for yourself?

Michael.

 

[MacGee]

Pentax has some new reverse porros that are better in the optics, but they only start at 8x
http://www.opticsplanet.net/pntx-bino-62209.html
FOV is a little smaller Field of View at 1000m: 108m

They do look a lot like the papillo and to the casual person look almost the same

The Jupiter is still available mail order
http://www.opticsplanet.net/pentax-mcf-2-jupiter-8x20mm.html
I never liked them as the birds further away are hard to get a sharp image of

Bushnell gets to FOV of 123m or about 7 degrees
http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-8x30-natureview.html

Thanks, Tero. The new Jupiters are a different order of binoc from the ones my wife has. They were top of the line compacts at the time and I'm looking for something similar this time. The 8x30 look interesting, and I might favour them myself, but I feel she might balk at them being almost twice the weight of her present pair. Still, if I can find a pair for her to try, I'll see what she makes of them.

Michael.

 

[pduxon]

there are very few really wide angled compact porros about. Most seem to have a field of view of 6-6.5 degs.

The only ones I can think of is the 8x21 Opticron DBA Oasis but they are £250 or the Pentax Papillio 6.5x21

Have a look at the Opticron Taiga's 8x25 they are a nice bin

 

[Otto McDiesel]

Any suggestions?

Michael.

Leica Ultravid 8x21. You love your wife, don't you?

 

[MacGee]

there are very few really wide angled compact porros about. Most seem to have a field of view of 6-6.5 degs.

The only ones I can think of is the 8x21 Opticron DBA Oasis but they are £250 or the Pentax Papillio 6.5x21

Have a look at the Opticron Taiga's 8x25 they are a nice bin

Hi, Pete. I've already got the Papilios coming - for me. Well, except the shop emailed to say there's a supply problem and they may take 6 weeks.

I spoke to her about the Opticron, and she wasn't bothered about the double hinge, though she was bothered about the price. But that remains an option. My motives are purely selfless here, but they're a binoc I would enjoy borrowing.

The Taiga has only a 6° FOV and she really wants as wide a field as possible.

Michael.

 

[MacGee]

Leica Ultravid 8x21. You love your wife, don't you?

Luca, she's the one who is concerned about the price, not me.
I would buy them for her with pleasure if I thought they would suit her, but I'm not sure they would. They have tiny little eyecups and the FOV is only 6.4°.

We'll be in Edinburgh on Saturday; I'll see if I can drag her into a couple of binoc shops.

Michael.

 

[MacGee]

Latest news

When we were out today one of the eyecups on my wife's binocs came unglued and disappeared into the undergrowth. So there will be no reprieve for the Jupiters; their fate is sealed. Unlike the eyecup.

Michael.

 

[MacGee]

...I'll look at the Custom Compacts. BVD also speaks well of them. I remember seeing somewhere that they're available in this country under another name, but I've forgotten what name that is. I'll search...

I found it: Monk Explorer. But they're very little different in price from the Bushnell version, which sells for as little as £209 here. Meanwhile they can be got in the US for $225. I think I'll pass on those.

Michael.

 

[pduxon]

the Opticron 8x21 DBA's have a 7.5deg fov. the cheapest price I've seen for them is £199

http://www.sherwoods-photo.com/opticron_binos/opticron_index_fs.htm

and scroll down for pocket bins

I use the Nikon HGL8x20 fov 6.7

You really need to try compacts. Some people won't like the little finger focusing of the Nikon's (I've not had a problem). Although I recognise that the Ultravids are excellent optically I couldn't get on with them

in-focuses delta 8x25wp has a 6.7deg fov and costs £99.

 

[ceasar]

You can still get a Leica Trinovid 8 x20 for about $150.00 US funds less than the equivalent Ultravid and your wife will love you just the same. Same great optics for all practical purposes. (don't swim while wearing them!) 335' FOV. And I'll also put in an enthusiastic recommendation for the Bushnell 7 x 26 Custom Classic. Best small bin out there, bar none!
Bob

 

[Otto McDiesel]

Howdy MacGee, it would be a great idea to take the lady into binoculars shops and have her try some of the smaller and lightweight 8x32's. They are small, great optics with wide field of view (7.5-8*) and you should be able to find some good ones for 200 smackers.
Many of the 8x32 are small and light -500-550 grams.
Nikon has many good compacts, maybe some will fit.

 

[kmiernik]

How about Opticron Traveller 8x32? I've heard lot of good things about them. They are 465 g and 98x118 mm. I know this is something heavier (but size is the same!) then 10x25 compacts but I belive their optical performance is far beyond those toys. Price 210£.

 

[swalker]

http://www.microglobe.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cName=bushnell-binoculars-custome-compact-binoculars

Do the Bushnell custom compact 7 x 26 for £209

How about the Leupold 6 x 30 Yosemite Binoculars: £81.50
at http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/detail.php?id=1502

Actual Magnification: 6x

Linear Field of View (ft @ 1000 yd): 420

Linear Field of View (m @ 1000 m): 140

Angular Field of View (degrees): 8.0

Weight (ounces): 17.0

Weight (grams): 482

Length (in): 4.6

Length (mm): 117

Objective Aperture (mm): 30

Twilight Factor: 13.4

Exit Pupil (mm): 5.0

Eye Relief (mm): 20.0

Interpupillary Distance (mm): 50-70

Close Focus Distance (ft): 16.4

Close Focus Distance (m): 5.0

 

[MacGee]

The outcome was a bit unexpected. The Opticron was looking favourite until I looked up the Olympus PC1 8x25 to recommend in this thread. In doing so, I stumbled across this, which looks almost like a clone of my wife's old binox, and pointed it out to her. "Oh, great," she said, "I'll have them." So she did.

She was looking for something small and light and cheap so she can always have it with her and not have to treat it with too much care. And for something so cheap and mono-coated, the PCIII is quite pleasant to look through.

Thanks to all for your suggestions and advice.

Michael.

 

[Tero]

Good that she liked them. I gave my wife some small Nikons. She takes them to games where our son plays in the half time parade band. She has bonded with the binoculars, takes them every time.

 

[MacGee]

...She has bonded with the binoculars...

Same here. The Olympus got their first real test today when we went out to Flanders Moss. Mrs M was very pleased with them. In fact she was amazed at how good they were for the money. She thought they were miles better than her old Pentaxes. I had to agree. They seemed brighter, sharper and more contrasty. And they have a huge depth of field. The only problem she had was with me asking to to borrow them all the time.

I suppose we shouldn't have been surprised at how good these are. The Olympus 8x21s have had rave reviews on here and the 8x25s scored 9 for optical quality from BVD.

Michael.

PS. If you decide to visit Flanders Moss, there are no information points along the A873 nor Viewpoints with information panels located at Flanders View Tea Shop - in fact there's no Flanders View Tea Shop. There probably is a South Common, but we managed to miss it.

 

[MacGee]

I took the PCIII's out on my own today (Mrs M's away visiting her parents) and put them through their paces again. They are very contrasty, which I like. When a bird disappears into cover, they seem very good at picking it out. I managed to identify a whinchat who thought she was invisible down among the heather.

The colour seems pretty true, though I don't yet have enough experience to be sure. I pointed them at some of my paintings, which I know pretty intimately, and didn't see anything to complain of.

When looking at a ranch fence, I discovered some pincushioning, which I think is slight but quite noticeable. It's not troubling when looking at wildlife.

With our old binocs, there was an obvious area of softness partway to the edge. And while I wouldn't say these are sharp right to the edge, they're sharp enough for it not to be a problem.

The focus knob makes a noise when turning. I don't know if this is usual for the model or not, but again it's not troubling. Still, I won't mention it to herself. (I wonder if I should oil it.)

Altogether I'm really pleased with them; they're a pleasure to look through. I would recommend them to anyone who's looking for a cheap, light pair to keep in a pocket for when you don't want to take out the binoculars.

They would also have been good for children but for the fact that their minimum IPD is 60mm.

Michael.