Andrew,
I have always found Pentax optics great value for money and have used
the for years. I currently use 8x40 PCF WP, 8x33 DCF XP (a marvellous
light weight) binos and a PF 80 ED scope and have had no intention of
changing marques. I was at the 2005 Raptor Watch at Port Dickson, in
Malaysia and had an opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison with
Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss and Minox optics with mine and could not see
any great advantage in the more expensive brands. I noticed this in
the scopes in particular, my PF 80 blew the others out of the water.
Even the reps for the companies on display admitted that it was a
better scope. The web site "Better View Desired" http://
www.betterviewdesired.com/RefSet.html has had the PF 80 as their
benchmark scope in the 70-80 MM group for a while now.
Pentax's service in Australia is great as well. I dropped my scope
rather dramatically onto bitumen last New Years eve and it broke in
two. I sent it off to the agents for a repair quote for the
insurance and they came back with "not repairable' (surprise,
surprise!), and then offered to sell me a new one at wholesale price.
Sorry about the rant but I am a Pentax fan and it makes me sad to see
people spend too much money on optics, just for the name.
Also, while I am ranting, if any one is looking to buy binos or a
scope, have a look at
http://shop.centre.net.au/index.html , you might find the prices
very attractive, and the service is great as well
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
On 19/03/2007, at 9:33 PM, Andrew Taylor wrote:
Last week I visited the Binocular&Telescope shop to try out bincoluars.
A recent arrival is Pentax binoculars with ED glass. I liked the
view through the Pentax DCF ED 8x43 - at least until I compared
them to Swarovski 8.5x42 Els. But at $1280 about half the price of
Swarovski/Leica/Zeiss and waterproof, nitrogen-purged, ....
Ergonomically
they didn't work for me but that is a very much individual preference.
Worth looking at if they are in your target price range.
Not as new but very interesting were Pentax Papilio 6.5x21 - which focus
down to 0.5 metres - designed for butterflies/other inverts/flowers
rather than birds. I took a look purely out of curosity and was so
taken with the stunning close-up views that I bought a pair. At long
range the view is OK - probably average for a $180 binocular.
Andrew
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