Nikon Action VII 10x40 CF
The producer boasts of prisms made of BaK-4 glass and multilayer antireflection coatings. The binoculars are also supposed to include some aspherical elements. The buyer gets caps, a strap and a case in box. The Action VII series binoculars come with 10-year long guarantee.
| Magnification | Lens diameter | Angular field of view | Prisms | Eye relief | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 40 | 105/1000(6o) | BaK-4/Porro | 10.5 mm | 740 g | 299 PLN |
| Real front lens diameter |
Left: 39.9+/-
0.05 mm Right: 39.9+/- 0.05 mm |
8 / 8.0 pkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real magnification | 10.89+/- 0.05x | 2/3.0 | ||||
| Transmission | 83.5+/- 1.5% | 11/25.0 | ||||
| Chromatic aberration | Noticeable in the centre, huge on the edge. | 2.7/10.0 | ||||
| Astigmatism | Medium. | 5.5/10.0 | ||||
| Distortion | The distance of the first curved line from the field centre compared to the field of view radius: 57% ± 5% | 6/10.0 | ||||
| Coma | Appears near 70% of the field of view radius and is a bit higher than medium on the very edge. | 6.5/10.0 | ||||
| Blurring at the edge of the FOV | The blur occurs in the distance of 70% +\- 3% from the field of view centre. | 3/10.0 | ||||
| Darkening at the edge the FOV | Slight. | 4/5.0 | ||||
| Whiteness of the image | Surprisingly good. The transmission curve is perhaps not the highest but very flat in the wide range of the spectrum. | 4.8/5.0 | ||||
| Collimation | Perfect. | 5/5.0 | ||||
| Internal reflections |
|
2.2/5.0 | ||||
| Housing | Classic Porro casing with black, smooth rubber padding and ribs in places for your thumbs. Comfortable to hold. A relatively solid casing for such a price. The rubber sticks out a bit near objectives. Rubber, narrow eyecups which can be folded. | 6.6/8.0 | ||||
| Focusing | Big and comfortable central wheel which moves smoothly. Full turn through 500 degrees. Individual focusing on the right eyepiece moves the whole eyepiece and squelches a lot. The bridge moves evenly but sways sideways a lot. Pressure applied on the eyepieces don’t causes significant defocusing. | 2.7/5.0 | ||||
| Tripod | There is a comfortable tripod exit. | 3/3.0 | ||||
| Interpupilary distance | from 56.3 to 73.5mm | 4/6.0 | ||||
| Closest focusing distance | 2.85 m | 1/2.0 | ||||
| Eyepieces FOV | Apparent field of view of 63.3 deg (according to simple formula) and 57.9 deg (accoriding to tangent formula). | 12.5/20.0 | ||||
| Field of view | Measured by us amounted to 5.81 +\- 0.04 degrees and it was a bit narrower than that stated in specifications. Typical field of view for this class of equipment. | 4/8.0 | ||||
| Quality of the interior of the barrels | Inner tubes dark and matt, the bottom and areas near prisms grey. A lot of white glue. Some tiny specks of dust. | 3.1/5.0 | ||||
| Vignetting |
|
6.5/8.0 | ||||
| Prisms quality | Good quality BaK-4. | 8/8.0 | ||||
| Antireflection coatings | Greenish on the outer elements of eyepieces and objectives. The inner part of the objectives’ elements as well as a part of surfaces in eyepieces and prisms seem to be left uncovered or they have very weak coatings. Medium intensity. | 2.5/5.0 | ||||
| Warranty [years] | 10 | 4.5/6.0 | ||||
| Final result | 62.7% | 119.1 / 190 pkt | ||||
| Econo result | 0pkt. |
Summary
Pros:
- very good colour rendition,
- good quality of BaK-4 prisms,
- sensibly corrected distortion,
- not bothersome coma,
- slight brightness loss on the edge of the field of vision,
- long guarantee period.
Cons:
- significant chromatic aberration,
- magnification noticeably bigger than declared,
- slightly truncated exit pupils,
- a lot of inner flares,
- significant blur on the edge of the field of vision,
- lack of coatings on several air-to-glass surfaces.
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The result of 112 points which the Nikon Action VII 10x40 CF got in our test, certainly is nothing to boast of but, on the other hand, it doesn’t disgrace this pair of binoculars either. It’s enough to consult our 10x42 class binoculars’ ranking to find out that the Nikon, costing less than 100 USD, is simply unbeatable in its price segment. Only more expensive devices had better scores. The binoculars which price ranged from 50 to 150 USD fared noticeably worse. If you are interested in a relatively handy day pair of binoculars and your price limit is set at 100 USD you should consider buying the Nikon Action VII 10x40 CF very seriously.
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