Theron Wapiti LT 8x32 and 8x42 review
I have had both of these for several days. I had a chance to see a prototype of the 8x32 some months ago. It was a pretty decent little binocular, although since it has aluminum prism mirror and pretty basic multicoatings on the lenses, it was still a nice glass.
Theron has now expanded that to include both 32 and 42 mm size objectives and are calling it the Wapiti LT, for light weight. For now, the Wapiti HQ remains. These have a composite body, and that is largely where the weight reduction comes from. Otherwise they are pretty typical open hinge binoculars. They bear a lot of similarity to designs seen lately from Kenco, Vixen, Sightron, and Minox.
The new LT replaced the aluminum prism and lens coating of the prototype with what appears to be very good dielectric coatings and has greatly improved upon the multicoatings used in this lineup. The LT is a pretty plain, all black binocular with practically nothing printed on the binocular. There is waterproof, 8x32, and Field 8*/140 m/1000 m lettered on the focus wheel of the 8x32 and 7.6*/115m/1,1000m on the 8x42. Other than that there is a small, silver Theron badge between two parallel silver lines on the left objective barrel of the binocular, that�s it. It has a very basic nylon case, without strap, but with a belt loop on the back. It comes with a cleaning cloth and an unmarked, stretchy foam type neck strap that is just the right length. They have objective covers and a standard rain guard. The objectives are tethered. However they are a little different on the 8x32 than typical in that the caps have an inner ring that presses into the objective housing. The exposed ends of the barrels past the bottom hinge are very short, and I doubt a standard style tethered rain guard would work. That was what came with the prototype and there simply was not enough room there for that to work. These covers work just fine. The tether rings are snug enough they will stay put. It is a bit of a pain to pop the covers into place on the end of the objective, but once on, they stay put too. There is more space on the 8x42, so they have a typical, snap on over the barrels tethered cover. These are sized properly and stay put.
The large focus knob on both binoculars is comfortable, and easy to manipulate. The focus operates through somewhat over one full turn, viewed as a clock face, there are about 14 hours of rotation. The rotation is on the firm side, but smooth and has very little slack. The binocular focuses counterclockwise to infinity and has a close focus of about 6.5 feet. One half turn of the wheel takes the binocular from close focus to 100�. The other one half turn goes from there to infinity, with the rest, about � turn, going past infinity. The depth of focus seems to me typical of other 8x glasses I have. The focus is precise, and best focus is not hard to find.
There has been recent discussion of some similar 8x32 binoculars in a thread on bird forum, linked below, which you might find interesting, along with two AllBinos reviews.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=211793http://www.allbinos.com/190-binoculars_review-ixen_New_Foresta_HR_8x32_WP.htmlhttp://www.allbinos.com/203-binoculars_review-Kenko_Ultra_View_OP_8x32_DH.htmlThe Theron seem to me to more exemplify the comments on the Sightron. I was interested in the fov comments on the Kenco and Vixen 8x32�s in the AllBinos reviews. While both of those list an 8* fov (420�), the reviewers found them to be in the range of 7,5* (394�) . The 8x32 have a fov that measures just about 8.3*, or 436� @ 1,000 yds, or 145 m @ 1,000 m. This makes wider than the Kenco and Vixen binoculars in the AllBinos reviews. The 7.4*, or 387� specification of the 8x42, on my sample, checks out at 7.7* or 404� at 1,000 yards. My measurements were done by mounting the binocular on a Slik Pro 700 tripod. I used a cloth measuring tape, bright chartreuse in color with black 1/16� increment markings. This was taped to the side of a large, behind the pickup, industrial air compressor we have. I used this because it was parked in just the right place and was the right height above the ground to match my height with the tripod. I placed the front of the objective as close to exactly 30�, or ten yards, as I could measure from the measuring tape on the compressor. Carefully adjusting the tape edge at the very left edge of the fov, I measured to the last marking that I could see in the right edge. Extrapolated to 1,000 yards from ten yards, that yields the measurements listed above. I did this multiple times, same result. Maybe not quite lab quality, but this should be close enough to indicate that the Theron seems to be slightly over spec on fov. Another thing I find useful with the measuring tape is to use the distortion in the clarity of the numbers and increment marks could be read provides some interesting observations on the various edge effects.
Both Theron binoculars have much sharper edge of field than a whole lot of other binoculars. The AllBinos reviews found the fall off in edge sharpness of the very similar Kenco and Vixen to be greater than what I saw with these Theron binoculars. With the Theron, there is just about one inch at the outer edge out of 52.25 inches (48.5� for the 8x42) that showed a distinct darkening and the effects of pincushion. There is about three inches inside of that that appears to be field curvature, as it can just about all be focused out. When viewing the tape from the center of the field, I think I could perceive a little more curvature than what I could measure. The problem was, when I looked toward the edge of the field, my eyes can evidently can focus all but that last 4� inches of the outer edge of the field to the point I couldn�t see it well enough to try and quantify it. So for me anyway, the 8x32 yields a very usable, comfortable center field of about 400� (more or less) or some 7.6* (more or less). The 8x42 seems like about 380� or so usable centerfield, where you can look around free from focus issues. That measurement was kind of hard to pin down further than that. However, that gives me the distinct impression that the fov is both wider and more distortion free than AllBinos found either the Kenco or the Vixen. The edge is sharper than the ZEN 7x36 ED 2, the Promaster Infinity Elite ELX ED, or the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD (significantly better than the Bushnell). Both are about like the Kruger Caldera, which is very good. The 8x42 has better edge of field performance than the 8x32.
Stars and Jupiter can be focused to nearly precise pinpoints with very minimal spiking effects. The moons of Jupiter resolve satisfactorily. The distortion showed by moving the star slowly away from the center field more or less mirrors the distortion pattern I saw from reading the measuring tape. There is ample resolution to separate pretty fine detail on Mule Deer antlers at any distance you would expect to get detail from an 8x. I�ve spent quite a bit of time the last few days glassing deer in alfalfa fields and sorting out deer bedded in the sage and juniper adjacent to the fields. Fortunately there is a lot of this sort of habitat within a 10 mile drive, so I didn�t have far to go. In short, there is nothing to fault the resolution of the binocular, particularly at the level of its competition in this price range.
The image has only a very slight reddish bias. The contrast is very good and all colors appear natural. The little binocular has a very easy to look at image, and a nice, wide, picture window sort of view. While the glass does not have any ED or HD elements, it controls CA and fringing pretty well. I am not typically bothered by this and I have to purposely go looking for it. With effort, I can find some in the Theron, very little, a sort of slight purplish effect on the ridgeline of a mountain in the blue sky background in bright sunlight. So unless you are particularly sensitive to CA, I would not worry much about no ED glass in this binocular. Theron specified dielectric prism coatings here, as well as an upgrade to the multi coatings of the prototype. There is s definite green reflection on both the ocular and objectives. There is a pink reflection off the prism.
The image has only a very slight reddish bias. The contrast is very good and all colors appear natural. The little binocular has a very easy to look at image, and a nice wide picture window sort of view. While the glass does not have any ED or HD elements, it controls CA and fringing pretty well. I am not typically bothered by this and I have to purposely go looking for it. With effort, I can find some in the Theron, very little, a sort of slight purplish effect on the ridgeline of a mountain in the blue sky background in bright sunlight. So unless you are particularly sensitive to CA, I would not worry much about no ED glass in this binocular. Theron specified dielectric prism coatings here, as well as an upgrade to the multi coatings of the prototype. There is s definite green reflection on both the ocular and objectives. There is a pink reflection off the prism. The 8x42 controls the glare from stray light better than the 8x32. The 8x42 9s actually very good in this regard.
I�d really prefer a standard, is somewhat more conventional, if more old fashioned, right eye diopter on a less expensive binocular. I have seen some problems with the diopter on the focus wheel arrangement, most recently in my much more expensive Razor HD. However, the diopter adjustment has stayed put on both binoculars and I have not had to adjust either a second time. This may not be a problem.
Some will undoubtedly prefer a metal body, and dislike the lightweight composite structure of these. However, they do feel pretty solid for a binocular in their price range.
I did get a chance to compare these to the very similar appearing Minox Comfort Bridge binoculars. There is a new sporting goods place in town, that carries Minox and Leica binoculars, and they happened to have an 8x33 and 10x 42 Minox in stock. The Minox are priced here at just under $500. The Minox also has a right eye diopter, and if I had time for a better, closer look, there appeared to be some differences in the internal optical system. The Theron is a lot better at the edge of the field than the Minox. The Minox I think are a little bit sharper, as they should be, considering their price.
Assessing these two Theron binoculars, I will say they answered yes to my standard question��are these good enough for me to use as an only binocular�. In fact, I�ll probably keep the 8x32. So, if anybody is interested in not spending a lot of money for a very good, entirely usable spare glass�or whatever use you might have, I say you would be well serve4d to give these a look. The coupon code below will get these to you for about $180.
You can find more on these binoculars at the following website. Rumor has it that the use of coupon code �adtheron� will net another $36 discount.
http://theronoptics.com/WAPITI_LT_BINOCULARS.html
