Kowa YF II 8x30

These are the second pair that I have bought to birdwatch and look at the natural world. Why? The porro prism design is a bit wider and easier to get a comfortable view than the roof prism. They are light and easy to carry and simply nice to handle. They aren't cheap to buy but they are of very high quality. The buying process was simple and good email contact made to update me on the progress of delivery.

Nice quality, not too big and reasonably priced ... took a little bit of time to get here as the price must be lower in Japan where they were posted from ... just over a week I think but there was no rush

Good points first - Excellent build quality, nice feel, comfortable to the eyes with excellent eye relief. Waterproof and light weight at 475 grams. Not so good - Although a very sharp image is possible, it is difficult to sustain. The focussing is very critical, and you find yourself searching back and forth for the sharpest image. It must be a very narrow depth of field, unusual for a porro prism. This makes focussing very frustrating. The bad - The neck strap is too short. If you are bigger than a 38'' chest, even over just a shirt, the bins will be under your chin. There is no shoulder strap for the case, just a belt loop. I am sure they are not designed by the right people, birdwatchers for instance. Who carries binoculars around their waist???

PROS: These are great little binoculars with excellent optics and ergonomics and very lightweight to use. Clear bright images and accurate focusing, excellent definition and contrast and really good value for the money. CONS: Could have done with a soft case with a shoulder strap maybe instead of the 'purse' type. The object lens caps are useless as there is no way to fasten them to the binoculars so I have ordered some hang down type rubber ones.

Very clear with a good field of vision and a nice solid feel. Comfortable to hold. Not as clear as my Nikon 7x50's but at a fraction of the weight and cost these will get much more use.