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If you enjoy the outdoors, there is a likely chance that you also have jumped into the world of optics. I know there are many different opportunities for the use of a good binocular but for this article, I am going to be sticking to hunting purposes as the example.
I am a total nerd when it comes to binoculars, spotters, cameras, etc. There is something satisfying to me when I use a new pair of binoculars, compare them, and look at their specs. A shameless plug for me: I have tons of gear because I rent gear out to clients. However, I am constantly testing gear out and adding to my inventory because I like to have variety and there are many different strokes for different folks, including myself.
One new piece that I just added were the Kowa BDII XD 8x42 Binoculars. A few things that I knew right off the bat about them were:
1. They were super light! At a whopping 22 oz. for an 8x42 binocular, I was excited!
2. They have Fluorite in the glass which helps with brightness and clarity
3. The Wide Field of view was something I heard was remarkable at 429 ft.
4. Their price is affordable. $499 or below.
In the hunting community, there is a known variant to the levels of optics. I would break them down as the Budget, mid tier, mid-high, and the Alpha glass. I could also break this down into the costs which would be sub $500, sub $1k, sub $2k, and alpha glass. I believe the Swarovski NL's can run into the mid 3k's which is why I just pose the alpha glass metric. When it comes to hunting, you can really find some gems out there and I was hoping that this binocular would fit the mold. The positive with this product is that it is a sub $500 opportunity which means it can fit in most hunters budgets.
I was able to spend some serious time with these optics and I was thoroughly impressed. Here is my breakdown.
The Fit: They are premium feeling in hand. I felt like I could hold them very easily, I could glass freehanded with them, and they also fit my eyes with their IDP (Inter Pupillary Distance).
The Eyecups: The Eyecups are sort of stiff which I actually liked. Again, this goes towards a higher end feel with them. There is nothing worse than an eyecup that is flimsy and moves around all the time.
The Focus Wheel: The focus mechanism felt great. Again, this was one of those polished off details that I feel Kowa paid attention to. It is smooth and it doesn't give you any sloppy play.
The Diopter: The good news here is that there is a diopter! This helps with aligning both eyes to a separate focus to ensure you see as clearly as possible. The bad news here is that it doesn't lock. The potential issue that you could have with the diopter would be that it moves over time from you putting it in and out of a binocular harness, etc. With that said, I have to say that I had no issues here as the diopter is very stiff and it needs some coaxing to get it to move.
The Glass: Ah, the main event! Here we go! I thought the glass was good for the price point. I was very impressed with the brightness and the field of view, WOW! The 429 ft for the FOV was shocking. I typically glass with 10x42's but this took me back to when I would use 8's all the time.
Below is a picture of the view. I will give you my opinion overall on the entire picture.
I took this picture with an iPhone 13 pro and the Magview B1 Adapter (added a video link for YouTube)
The view is super wide which I do like. I did mention this in my video review that the wide FOV will help hunters find more animals because they are more likely to find movement. When looking at this image, you can see immediately that there is a really nice sweet spot. That sweet spot is crystal clear! For a sub $500 binocular, I find it damn impressive. I can say that the left side of the picture does show that the clarity drops the closer you get to the outside view.
I have 2 thoughts here.
Should I be bummed to have such a wide field of view (FOV) but it is not 100% usable?
Should I be happy that I have more FOV and while it is not perfect, I still can catch more movement compared to other 8's, 10's, etc?
I had to opt for option #2. The clarity overall is large enough to be comparable to a much higher priced 10x binocular and then I could gain more width in the view that would still catch movement from big game.
I also was able to compare these with some vortex diamondbacks as well as some Swarovski EL's with the low light quality. The Kowa's absolutely smoked the diamondbacks when it came to clarity, color, light gathering and overall low light image. On the end of the Swarovski EL's, they still left things to be desired.
Here is the breakdown.
8:30 pm was sunset. I could see a cottontail at 78 yards (clearly) until 8:38pm with the diamondbacks. With the Kowa's I could see that same cottontail until 8:45pm. As you can imagine, with the Swarovski binoculars, I could see that bunny until last light. I cannot say I expected to be able to outshine the higher end Swaro's but I do always enjoy comparing to the top dog out there.
I gathered all this information and felt that I would not shy from using these binoculars and would feel good recommending them to a client for use on either eastern and western hunts. I personally will be using these on a couple hunts this year, especially a western Kansas hunt with a pair of 15's. This will be a dynamic duo and a fun time to compare/experience what these optics can do. In a nutshell, for the money, you would be hard pressed to find another optic that would punch at this level for its price point, weight and FOV.
Below I have added a few links. These are to a couple video reviews I have done, including the video version of this article. Thanks for reading and until next time...
Scout, Hunt, Repeat
Alex