Nikon Action 7 binos - bomb or bargain?

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

I had an awesome time observing just outside Marysville on Saturday night, but later I discovered that I left my AOE 7x50 binos behind. Went back to look for them the next day but some lucky sod must have grabbed them already.

So now I need a pair of binos presto (because I butchered my old pair for the EPs when I got the new one from AOE...)

I'm thinking of going for something with a wider FOV than a generic 7x50 has. And in recognition of my inevitably shrinking (with age) dark-adapted pupil diameter, I probably don't need 50mm of aperture at low mag, so I've been looking at around 7x35, 8x40 sizes. Ted's Camera have 8x40 Nikon Action Seven binos on special for $159, which sounds like a good buy. Bintel's price for these is $289!

So waddaya all think, am I onto a bargain (provided I don't lose this one too ) or is this just a cheap pair of binos in brand-name packaging?

[h0ughy (David)]

cheap 10x50's at Go Lo for $19.95 ;-)

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Thanks to the heads-up Houghy! I'll check them out. They're unbelievably cheap; maybe they only had a few per store for lure...

[h0ughy (David)]

don't know what the quality is like at that price, but they even have ruby coated lenses!

[h0ughy (David)]

oh and forgot to add, they had about 50 sets just at one store in Jesmond

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

The Nikon Action "EX" are more expensive but an infinitely better binocular if you can stretch the budget further. Nothing much has changed in life, you basically get what you pay for. I rate the Nikon Action's as fair only. Importantly the 8x40 Action 7's have only 11mm of eye-relief whereas the 8x40 Action EX have about 18mm of eye relief. If you shop around you will find the 8x40 EX for about $300, rrp is about $450.

http://www.maxwell.com.au/products/n...ard/index.html

If you're interested I would be prepared to sell you my Pentax 8x40 PCF WP for $170, these have a lifetime warranty and have been hardly used. Refer to my previous advert in buy and sell.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ead.php?t=2034

CS-John B

[h0ughy (David)]

Oh come on John, he can buy a few pairs, and leave one behind at every viewing

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Originally Posted by ausastronomer

The Nikon Action "EX" are more expensive but an infinitely better binocular ...

That's a big statement. But I get your point; thanks for the info. And I found your posts on the Binocular advice thread very informative.

Originally Posted by ausastronomer

If you're interested I would be prepared to sell you my Pentax 8x40 PCF WP for $170, these have a lifetime warranty and have been hardly used.

I would be interested if it wasn't for the narrow FOV of 6.3 degrees.

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Oh come on John, he can buy a few pairs, and leave one behind at every viewing

I was thinking the same thing, Houghy! Disposable binoculars!

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

OK, John has put me off the Action Sevens, so I might just get one of these:

http://centre.net.au/Olympus_7x35_DP...rs_0006RN.html
http://centre.net.au/Olympus_8x40_DP...rs_0006RN.html

... or are these a lot worse?

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

I got the GoLo binos for $20. GoLo is true to its name because you can't go much lower than these, in terms of both quality and price.

[dhumpie]

I have seen some of these $20 10x50's at our local Crazy Clark's. They are ruby coated so they prob not be the best for astro use...

Darren

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

They are not the best for any use Darren. They're cheap and nasty, but better than nothing. On the plus side, they are very light, because apart from a couple of screws there is not a trace of metal in them. Plastic all the way!

[h0ughy (David)]

Ahh!! nothing like true value for money!

[ving (David)]

so you cant see much with them hey steve?

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

You can see something, it's just that they are very poor mechanically. The plastic bends and flexes so forget about things like maintaining proper collimation, diopter adjustment, or focus even. The ruby coating filters out the red part of the spectrum, so everything has a blueish tinge and reduced brightness. The FOV is about 6 degrees (just fits the Cross) but the AFOV seems very narrow, less than 50 degrees, so they're probably more like narrow FOV 7-8x50 than 10x50. But they are usable, and will keep me star hopping till I get something better.

It is instructive to check out just how bad cheap binos can get. These could actually be made to look good in photos (like the one on the box) and I'm sure they could be sold for over $50 on ebay, if one had no conscience.

[ving (David)]

they will let you see the galaxy in a new light. and the neighbours..