Pentax DCF SP impressions

I bought a pair of Pentax DCF SP 8x43 binoculars this summer ($600
list, $450 from Adorama) and wanted to share my impressions.

I ordered them along with a pair of DCF SP 10x43s for comparison. I
expected to prefer the 10-powers, which have nearly the same true
field of view (6.0 degrees vs. 6.3) and accordingly a larger apparent
field of view. But even when looking at a bald eagle swooping far away
over the ocean, I was surprised to find the 10-power DCF SPs'
increased magnification was less noticeable than their loss of
brightness and resolution compared to the 8x43s. (The difference in
apparent field of view, something I had thought might be important,
was a complete non-factor in actual use.)

And for birds closer in there was generally no comparison: the depth
of field and ease of view (due to the larger exit pupil) were both
much better with the 8x43s, making them an easy choice. It didn't help
that there was no twist-out setting for the eyecups at which the
10-power binoculars' 17 mm of eye relief was precisely right with my
glasses; one twist out was almost, but not quite, right. The 8-power
pair (which have 22 mm of eye relief) were exactly right with the
eyecups two twists out. Try before you buy.

Mechanically these binoculars are wonderful. The diopter adjustment,
focus, and interpupillary adjustment are all solid-feeling and
resistant without being stiff. The binoculars feel very dense in the
hands, although not heavy. Despite the somewhat showily thin supplied
neck strap--as if Pentax is saying, See how light these are!--I had no
discomfort wearing them on 4-hour outings. The rubber armoring is
thick, just this side of squeezability, and extremely comfortable. It
will mar more easily when jabbed by tree branches than a harder, more
plasticky rubber would. There are cut-outs underneath for your thumbs.
These binoculars are comfortable to use one-handed. The carrying case
has a leather bottom, but is not really very substantial or
protective.

As advertised, they are fully waterproof and fogproof. I simply rinse
them off under the sink when salt water or dust gets on them.
Intentionally using them in a driving, misty rain, I also found that
the hydrophobic coating was genuinely helpful. The objectives came to
be covered with tiny, perfectly round beads of water rather than large
drops, and the views were not worsened at all by the rain. Their
tight-fitting rainguard and tethered objective covers, which fit
inside the barrels with a satisfying 'pop,' mean you can seal them up
against water or dust wherever you are.

Optically the 8-power binoculars are terrific, with the only minus
being their 6.3 degree field of view. The field flatness is great.
They are very bright. The focus is quick (about 1.5 turns to infinity)
without being at all picky. They close-focus to 5 feet for me, which I
find rather a thrill. I can and do look at butterflies now.

I compared them in the field with two Porro prisms, Swift Audubon
8.5x44s and Nikon Superior E 8x32s. On inspection their sharpness and
resolution proved indistinguishable from the Swifts', although the
Swifts give the first impression of being sharper because their field
of view is so much bigger: the same amount of detail looks smaller and
finer in the Swifts because you see it embedded within a bigger field.
Conversely, the same bird or object looks as if it is magnified more
in the Pentaxes because it is centered in a smaller visual field. It's
really quite a striking effect, but using the two binoculars side by
side uncovers the illusion.

There is no illusion about the Superior Es--they are perceptibly
sharper than the Pentaxes (even with their smaller objectives) at
least during the daytime. (The eyecups and eye relief on the Superior
Es, on the other hand, are awful. They don't work well for me with
glasses either up or down.) The Swifts' and Superior Es' views are
both also more 3-dimensional and hence somewhat more satisfying. I
liked the color rendition and richness (and lack of ghosting) best on
the Superior Es, then on the Pentaxes, followed more distantly by the
Swifts. Comparing the DCF SPs with other roof prisms instead of Porro
prisms I would say they are easily the equal of any I have looked
through (albeit more casually).

Would I buy these again? Perhaps not--although I am pleased as punch
with the DCF SP family, the 8x32 DCF SPs were not available when I
made by decision to buy, and their field of view is far larger than
that of the 8x43s. Still, in low-light situations (which are more than
half my birding: at dusk, early in the morning, or in dense forest
cover) I am just delighted with the 8x43s' performance, and it's
possible the 8x32s would be less satisfying. As is often the case with
people who think too much about optics, I find myself wanting to have
both.

One other note: I also bought a pair of Pentax PCF WP 8x40s for my
wife this summer ($120 from Adorama), and they are such good
binoculars that they almost take all the fun out of choosing lower-end
binoculars. Their sharpness is simply outstanding, and they are
submersible, fogproof (despite being Porro prisms), handsome (despite
looking a bit strange in photos on the Web), and well machined. In
short, they were way above my expectations in every respect. The only
conceivable down sides are that their field of view, again, is not
much more than 6 degrees; that they are physically large, although not
too heavy; that they have slide-out rather than twist-up eyecups (I
had no problem with them sliding in inadvertently in actual use); and
that their field curvature is noticeable compared to binoculars like
the DCF SPs. It's amazing how little you tend to be aware of field
curvature when actually watching birds, though, since you naturally
center them in the visual field, and I was almost jealous of these
binoculars--especially considering how little they cost. You certainly
can't do any better for the price, or even for quite a bit more, if
you're in the market for genuinely waterproof binoculars (and when I
go out with non-waterproof binoculars, I find myself constantly
wishing that they were, in fact, waterproof). These are the binoculars
that I would recommend to a wide variety of buyers who just want to
have one very good pair for all situations, and who aren't interested
in paying the sorts of prices binocular afficionados are comfortable
with.

(Note, though, that the PCF WPs' field curvature is a lot more
noticeable when looking at the sky. I found the 8x43 DCF SPs were
almost all I wanted for casual binocular astronomy--giving views of
Milky Way star fields and the Lagoon Nebula, under a very dark sky,
that somehow seemed to rival or even better those of my Orion Vista
10x50s. But this is not something for which I would want to use the
PCF WPs.)

I realize this has read like a long ad for Pentax's product lineup,
and I apologize. My current thinking? If I had a pair of Pentax DCF SP
8x32s and a pair of Zeiss 7x42s (for those *really* low-light
situations), I would be All Set. As a compromise, these 8x43s will be
all I need for birding--and hopefully all that I will buy--for a long
time.

Peter