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Real front lens diameter	Left:   43+/- 0.05 mm Right:  43+/- 0.05 mm	8 / 8.0 pkt
Real magnification	10.38+/- 0.05x	3/3.0
Transmission	86.7+/- 1.5%	14/25.0
Chromatic aberration	Low in the middle, medium at most on the edge.	7.7/10.0
Astigmatism	Corrected in a perfect way.	9.5/10.0
Distortion	The distance of the first curved line from the field centre compared to the field of view radius: 79% +\- 3%	9.5/10.0
Coma	Appears in the distance of about 65% of the vision radius and is higher than medium on the very edge.	4.9/10.0
Blurring at the edge of the FOV	The blur occurs in the distance of 78% +\- 4% from the field of vision centre.	5/10.0
Darkening at the edge the FOV	Slight.	3.9/5.0
Whiteness of the image	Good. The transmission curve is a bit inclined.	4.2/5.0
Collimation	Perfect.	5/5.0
Internal reflections	Left: Right: Slight.	4/5.0
Housing	Small and neat for a 43 mm objective lens. Good quality rubber on the padding but it sticks out a bit near objectives. Rubberized eyecups with 4 degrees of regulation.	7.4/8.0
Focusing	Big and comfortable central wheel with the full turn of 560 degrees. It is well-damped. A comfortable ring on the right eyepiece which moves the outer lens.	4.5/5.0
Tripod	There is a comfortable exit.	3/3.0
Interpupilary distance	from 58.3 to 74mm	5/6.0
Closest focusing distance	1.4 m	2/2.0
Eyepieces FOV	Apparent field of view of 62.1 deg (according to simple formula) and 56.9 deg (according to tangent formula).	11.5/20.0
Field of view	Measured by us amounted to 5.98 +\- 0.04 degrees and it was in accordance with our specifications. A typical field of view for this class of equipment.	5/8.0
Quality of the interior of the barrels	Black inner tubes but slightly shiny. Gray bottom. Very clean.	4.1/5.0
Vignetting	Left: Right: OL: 7.1%, OR: 6.6% Very truncated exit pupils.	0.5/8.0
Prisms quality	Good quality BaK-4.	8/8.0
Antireflection coatings	Pink-orange on objectives, greenish on prisms, green-purple on eyepieces. Low intensity.	5/5.0
Warranty [years]	25	5/6.0
Final result	73.5%	139.7 / 190 pkt
Econo result		0pkt.

Summary

• solid and compact casing,
• good transmission,
• correct colour rendering,
• chromatic aberration well-corrected,
• negligible astigmatism,
• splendidly corrected distortion,
• exit pupils on dark background,
• low brightness loss on the edge of the field of vision,
• high quality of prisms and coatings,
• clean, correctly blackened inner tubes,
• long warranty perriod.

• significantly truncated exit pupils.

As the lists of pros and cons show very clearly the Pentax ED 10x43 has only one but a very painful slip-up which is connected to small prisms – they make the exit pupils very truncated. The binoculars lost as many as 8 points in this category. If it hadn’t been for this slip-up the device would have been given 140 points – with such a score it would have been one of the most interesting choices in the 10x42 class. We must emphasize, though, that the current result of 132 points is still very good. The problem is that similar number of points was awarded to many other pairs of binoculars which cost more or less the same and were produced by as reputable companies as Pentax. It’s enough to mention here such instruments as the Meopta Meostar, the Minox HG 10x43 BR MIG, the Kahles, the Kowa or the Swarovski Habicht. Undoubtedly select company - without the exit pupils slip-up the Pentax could have offered a bit more than them. Unfortunately, these exit pupils being as they are, might make some prospective customers buy the product of a rival company.

When it comes to other achievements the Pentax can be only praised. The binoculars are put in a compact, handy casing, the device features ED glass in objectives which works very well; the astigmatism and distortion are corrected in a splendid way and the coma – quite well. The coatings are very efficient, providing good transmission level, natural colours, and damping down unwanted flares. If it wasn’t for these wretched pupils we would deal here with a real market hit.