Forester 8x42ED binoculars with Taobao came to my test. The binoculars are rare – there are no reviews, no tests. Stated full multi coating, dielectric coating of prisms and ED-glass in the lenses.
Options, appearance, ergonomics
The binoculars come in blue cardboard packaging without any prints. There is a sticker with a QR code and the name of the binoculars. The set includes binoculars, a bag with a belt, a neck strap, lens caps, a double cap for eyepieces, a cloth for wiping optics and manual. The bag is made quite high quality. Our neck strap is wide, soft. The lens caps are held on the case of the binoculars – conveniently, they are not lost.
The binoculars with caps are 155 mm long and 130 mm wide. Outside, the binoculars are coated with matte rubber. Weight with a belt – 820 grams. In the front of the binoculars under the plug is a nest for tripod carving. The width of the neck strap is 37 mm. The design of the binoculars is ascetic, but the build quality is good, everything is done carefully.
Focusing is carried out by a ribbed drum with a diameter of 32 mm. The entire focusing range is two and a quarter turns. Focusing is smooth, without jamming. There is a ribbed ring on the right eyepiece for additional diopter adjustment.
Optics
The measured aperture is slightly smaller than stated and is 41.5 mm. The lenses are recessed into the binoculars by 13.8 mm. The lens flare and prism flare are green; behind the prism there is one purple flare. All optical surfaces adjacent to the air are coated.
Eye lenses with a diameter of 23.5 mm. Coating color is green, as on a lens. The measured field of view of the eyepieces is 55.5 degrees, the visible field of view is approximately 7.5 degrees (between the stars Vega and Sulafat). The edge of the diaphragm in one of the eyepieces is not quite even, with a small notch, but this is not too noticeable. Exit pupil 5.2 mm. Prism ribs without blackening.
Eyecups are Extendable with 4 positions. Fixation is weak, they can twist with strong pressure on the eyes. The pupil distance from the screwed-in eyecup is 16.5 mm, you can watch with glasses. From the twisted eyecup, the extension is 8 mm.
Near the exit pupil there are a number of bright elements.
The clearance test showed that the Forester 8x42ED binoculars had a pink color rendering. The light transmission in the green and blue spectral regions is identical to the Olympus 10×42 EXWP I binoculars, however, in the red region the light transmission of Forester is noticeably higher.
Image
An evening test on ground-based objects showed that the image was bright, rich, and contrasting. About 50% of the field of view is clear, then the sharpness gradually degrades. There is a curvature of the field – when refocusing the edge becomes sharper. Chromatism on the axis is not noticeable; on the field, chromatism of increase is noticeable. Collimation is fine. When observing bright lights, a dim vertical beam in the left channel and a beam inclined at an angle of 30-40 degrees in the right channel are noticeable. To my surprise, there are practically no glare on the lights. The image of the night streets seems “transparent”, with no signs of “warmth” in the image.
Pincushion distortion, moderate.
When testing in the night sky, approximately 50% of the field is sharp. In the left eyepiece below, the star below blurred a little more than in the right. At the edge of Vega, it blurs to about 28 arc minutes. A noticeable darkening of the edge of the field of view. Across the moon, the picture is sharp, with a few faint reflections, low chromatism. Bright diagonal rays on the moon are not visible.
Summary
+ comfortable housing
+ excellent sharpness in the central zone
+ bright image
+ low chromatic aberraion on axis
+ low distorsion
+ nice collimation
+ good mechanics and good build quality
+ long eye relief
+ fully coating
— noticeable blur at the edge of the field of view
— glare near the exit pupil
— warm shade in the image
— field sharpness is slightly different in the left and right channels.
To my surprise, the binoculars turned out to be very good for their price for the “dark horse”. Perhaps this is an example of the right Chinese budget binoculars. I liked it a lot more than the Nikon Prostaff 3s 8×42 at a similar price, as well as mine Nikon Sporter EX 8×42.