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Magnification	Lens diameter	Angular field of view	Prisms	Eye relief	Weight	Price
10	42	108/1000(6.2o)	BaK-4/roof	16 mm	675 g	1199 PLN
Owners opinions: 0 Specifications

Real front lens diameter	Left:   41.87+/- 0.05 mm Right:  41.9+/- 0.05 mm	7.5 / 8.0 pkt
Real magnification	10.14+/- 0.05x	3/3.0
Transmission	87.3+/- 1%	15/25.0
Chromatic aberration	Low in the centre, medium on the edge.	6.5/10.0
Astigmatism	Decently corrected. Stars are sparkling but only slightly so.	6.5/10.0
Distortion	Distance of the first curved line from the field of view centre compared to the field of view radius: 94% ± 3%	10/10.0
Coma	Starts in a distance of about 75-80% field of view radius and is on the borderline of medium and low on the very edge.	8.8/10.0
Blurring at the edge of the FOV	Blur occurs in a distance of 91% ± 3% from the field of view centre.	8/10.0
Darkening at the edge the FOV	Medium.	2.6/5.0
Whiteness of the image	Slight orange-red hue. Quite flat transmission graph with a slight dip for green light.	4.2/5.0
Collimation	Perfect.	5/5.0
Internal reflections	Left: Right: Areas near exit pupils look nice, with just a few brighter points.	4/5.0
Housing	Quite typical barrel for the 42 mm class when it comes to its dimensions and weight. The real weight amounts to 679 grams and is by and large in accordance with specifications. Good quality rubber armour, slightly rough but sticks to your hands quite well. The armour doesn't stick out but you can remove it easily near objective lenses. Rubberized eyecups 45 mm in diameter with three detention stops. Their diameter might be too big for many users – it's a pity they aren't shaped better. Produced in China.	6.5/8.0
Focusing	A big, rubberized and ribbed central wheel. It moves smoothly and is properly damped. Running through the whole distance range needs a turn through an angle of as much as 1170 deg but you have to remember that the minimum focusing distance amounts here to 1.2 meters. Dioptre correction on the right eyepiece moves the outer element.	4.5/5.0
Tripod	A quite comfortable access.	3/3.0
Interpupilary distance	from 55.9 to 77.6mm	5/6.0
Closest focusing distance	1.20 meters.	2/2.0
Eyepieces FOV	Apparent field of view of 61.8 deg (simplified formula) and 56.7 deg (tangent formula).	11.5/20.0
Field of view	Measured by us amounted to 6.09 +\- 0.04 deg and was a tad narrower than stated in official specifications. A typical field for this class of equipment.	6/8.0
Quality of the interior of the barrels	Inner tubes are dark gray, not completely matt and smooth. Significant ribbings on the sleeve with a focusing element. The bottom of the prisms is dark gray. Very clean.	4.2/5.0
Vignetting	Left: Right: OL: 2.27%, OR: 0.79%	6/8.0
Prisms quality	High quality BaK-4.	8/8.0
Antireflection coatings	Green on objectives and prisms, green-purple on eyepieces. Medium intensity.	4.5/5.0
Warranty [years]	25	5/6.0
Final result	77.5%	147.3 / 190 pkt
Econo result		0pkt.

Summary

Pros:

• stylish, solid, and waterproof casing,
• good transmission,
• sharp images almost across the whole field of view,
• sensible white balance,
• decently corrected astigmatism,
• slight chromatic aberration in the field centre and a tad lower than average on the edge,
• exemplary coma correction,
• invisible distortion,
• sharp images already from 1.20 meters,
• proper blackening and cleanliness inside the tubes,
• high quality prisms made of BaK-4 glass,
• very good price performance ratio.

Cons:

• too big eyecups.

Testing such instruments as the Pentax SD 10x42 ED is a pleasure. You get a well-put-together pair of binoculars that are nicely designed and are able to meet all your requirements. This model didn't have any serious slip-up in our test; in many categories it fared very good, sometimes even outstandingly so.

Some might complain that for modern 10x42 binoculars, a 6.5-degree field of view has become the standard, with many new designs reaching values around 7.0-7.5 degrees, leaving Pentax behind the top competition in this regard. However, I wouldn't go too far with the criticism here. A field of view exceeding 6 degrees in 10x magnification binoculars is already very comfortable, and pushing toward 7 degrees or more leads to compromises in ergonomics as well as a noticeable increase in weight and overall size.

As we've already started talking about ergonomics - it is also a category where, in our opinion, the Pentax made the biggest mistake. The eyepieces of this pair of binoculars are not as big and wide-angle to justify such big eyecups. They fitted me only marginally and I admit it they didn't provide full observation comfort. I think they should be smaller or better shaped and changing them would improve the impression of the whole instrument. It would also increase the number of its potential users.

Delta Forest 10x42 ED Gen3, Focus Nordic Optimum 10x42 ED VHG i Pentax SD 10x42 ED.

Apart from these eyecups the Pentax SD 10x42 ED is such a good instrument that indeed, it is difficult to find any other flaw. It costs around 300 Euro so its price performance ratio remains very favourable, making it an excellent option for even more demanding users.