Bushnell Excursion EX 10x42
The tubes are filled with dry nitrogen and sealed with O-rings which should prevent any fogging and makes the whole instrument weather and dust-resistant and also partially submersible. An ergonomic, rubber armour is supposed to protect the binoculars against shocks, ensuring a firm grip at the same time. Buyers get both caps, a strap, a hard case with its strap, a soft case and a cleaning cloth for optics. The binoculars come with 30-year warranty period.
| Magnification | Lens diameter | Angular field of view | Prisms | Eye relief | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 42 | 114/1000(6.5o) | BaK-4/roof | 15.5 mm | 630 g | 1199 PLN |
| Real front lens diameter |
Left: 42+/-
0.05 mm Right: 42+/- 0.05 mm |
8 / 8.0 pkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real magnification | 9.89+/- 0.05x | 3/3.0 | ||||
| Transmission | 83.4+/- 1.5% | 11/25.0 | ||||
| Chromatic aberration | A bit higher than average in the centre, higher than average on the edge of the field as well. | 3.3/10.0 | ||||
| Astigmatism | Very low. | 8/10.0 | ||||
| Distortion | The distance of the first curved line from the field centre compared to the field of view radius: 41% +\- 4% | 4/10.0 | ||||
| Coma | Appears in the distance of about 65% from the field centre and is a bit higher than average on the very edge. | 6/10.0 | ||||
| Blurring at the edge of the FOV | Blur occurs in the distance of 80% ± 3% from the field of view centre. | 5.5/10.0 | ||||
| Darkening at the edge the FOV | Noticeable but still can be considered medium. | 2.8/5.0 | ||||
| Whiteness of the image | Noticeable dip in the centre of the range but the differences between red and blue light do not exceed 10% so the colour rendering is good. | 4/5.0 | ||||
| Collimation | Perfect. | 5/5.0 | ||||
| Internal reflections |
|
2.9/5.0 | ||||
| Housing | Quite handy and nifty casing for the 10x42 class. Covered by rubber of sensible quality, perhaps a tad too slippery. The rubber sticks out near objectives under a small amount of pressure. Rubberized eyecups with 3 regulation stops. Produced in China. | 6.7/8.0 | ||||
| Focusing | Big and comfortable central wheel. It moves lightly but still within the norm. A fluid movement in one direction, in the opposite direction you can hear some squelching/scrapping. There is a lot of turning because running through the whole distance scale takes a turn through 690 degrees. The wheel has a cool feature – a click-stop. It doesn’t operate the individual focusing but lockis the focus in a given position. Individual focusing is done through a ring on the right eyepiece. The ring moves sensibly well (the ridges of the ribbing are a bit too sharp) and it moves the outer element. | 4/5.0 | ||||
| Tripod | There is an exit but far from the centre of gravity. | 2.5/3.0 | ||||
| Interpupilary distance | from 52.2 to 72.8mm | 3/6.0 | ||||
| Closest focusing distance | 2.3 meters. | 1.5/2.0 | ||||
| Eyepieces FOV | Aparent field of view: 64.3 deg (according to simple formula) and 58.6 deg (according to tangent formula). | 13/20.0 | ||||
| Field of view | Measured by us amounted to 6.50 +\- 0.03 degrees and it was in perfect accordance with the specifications. A wide field of view for this class of equipment. | 7.5/8.0 | ||||
| Quality of the interior of the barrels | Both tubes and the area near the prisms are black and quite matt. Some tiny specks of dust. | 4/5.0 | ||||
| Vignetting |
|
3.5/8.0 | ||||
| Prisms quality | Good quality BaK-4. | 8/8.0 | ||||
| Antireflection coatings | Greenish on objectives and eyepieces. The prisms from the side of the objectives might not be covered at all because the light reflections are very intensive there. | 4/5.0 | ||||
| Warranty [years] | 30 | 5/6.0 | ||||
| Final result | 66.4% | 126.2 / 190 pkt | ||||
| Econo result | 0pkt. |
Summary
Pros:
- handy, well-made casing,
- wide field of view,
- very low astigmatism,
- not very bothersome coma,
- good whiteness rendering,
- good darkening of insides of the tubes,
- good quality BaK-4 glass prisms,
- long warranty period.
Cons:
- quite weak correction of the chromatic aberration,
- egg-shaped exit pupils.
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The Bushnel Excursion EX 10x42 fell into my hands a bit by accident. After a good result the Bushnell Elite 8x42 ED got in our endurance test I decided to look closely also at its 10x42 brother. As I always organize binoculars tests in groups, so the comparison pool is richer and the assessment more objective, I ordered the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10x42 as well. Unfortunately the Polish distributor, Militaria.pl, has just sold the last pair of binoculars of that kind and the next delivery was scheduled only after several weeks. Not wanting to delay the tests I asked for any other Bushnell model of 10x42 class and that’s how I got the Excursion EX 10x42.
The parameters of this lens are exactly the feature which encourages you to get interested in it. It features a large field of view, amounting to 6.5 degrees, and, what’s important, the declarations of the producer are in perfect accordance with our measurements. The same can be said about the diameter of the objective and the magnification. Also the casing, physically light and well-made, might be a selling point.
In the case of a roof prism binoculars produced in China and costing about 1000 PLN you shouldn’t really carp about the transmission level. Although you get a characteristic dip in the middle of the visible spectrum the transmission for red light approaches 90% which can be considered a very decent result. There are no big transmission differences between particular colours so the whiteness rendering of the binoculars is good.
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It is important that the Excursion EX didn’t have any really significant slip-ups. It lost the biggest number of points for bad chromatic aberration correction and egg-shaped exit pupils – in those two categories there is a lot to carp about. However, everywhere else there is no reason to complain because the results are either medium or good. All in all the final score of the Bushnell reaches a good level of almost 120 points. It seems the most serious problem these binoculars can face is a very strong competition in the 10x42 class. Our ranking�shows that there are a lot of roof prism models which, for a similar price, can offer the same or even better performance. Still their parameters are another story – a wide, not exaggerated field of view of the Excursion EX remains certainly its most serious advantage.
