- Joined
- Jun 7, 2000
- Messages
- 298
Looking for some good binoculars. REad a recent article the said romanian made IOR binoculars were good for the money. Anyone have experience with them?
dave
dave
-
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Anyone used IOR / Valdada Binoculars?
- Thread starter Mississippi_Dave
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2000
- Messages
- 298
BTTT
certainly someone has some hands-on with these
certainly someone has some hands-on with these
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2000
- Messages
- 386
I have two pairs, the 10x40 and the 8x21 pocket model. Both are good buys (and even cheaper now than when I bought them two or three years ago). The glass is excellent on both, as is the case with all IOR products I've seen. The overall execution is less than perfect, though.
The 10x40 is a heavy, rugged, military-style binocular. It has a thick rubber armor covering the entire body except the eyepieces and the connecting strut. I haven't abused mine, but I definitely think they could survive being knocked around.
The objective lens covers are individual snap-ins, permanently attached, with low-light filters inside (which I've never used). In would imagine that opening the individual covers in the field, taking out the filters, and inserting them without smearing, dropping, or losing them would be difficult. Sometimes, the front covers are difficult to snap in to the rubber armor around the objectives, and sometimes they pop off by themselves. I'm glad they're permanently attached. The rear eyepiece cover is a single oval cup made of plastic, attached to the neck strap, that covers both eyepieces. This doesn't stay on very well at all, and doesn't provide very good protection. The covers are one of the biggest minuses in an otherwise very good product.
The eyepieces have rubber eyecups that fold down, and individual diopter adjustments on each one. This is the only focus adjustment; there is no central focus wheel on the connecting strut. I find that I spend more time messing with the adjustment on these than on binoculars with a center wheel, but then again, that's me compensating for my lousy eyesight. Eye relief is good when wearing glasses (with the eyecups folded down). The only other adjustment is the standard friction fulcrum. On my pair, the right eyepiece adjusts very smoothly, but the left one is rough and difficult to turn through part of its rotation. It wasn't enough for me to do anything about it, though.
If this sounds like a bad review, it's not. The quality of the glass makes these binoculars a pleasure to look through, even for long periods of time, with no eyestrain. As with any 10x binocular, they work best when you have something to steady them, but overall, I think they were worth the money. If they had better lens covers and smoother adjustment, they'd be a 10 out of 10.
The 8x21 is also a great little binocular, small, light, and handy. It also has rubber armor, but not as thick and heavy as its big brother. this one has no lens covers and a standard center adjustment wheel, with a single eyepiece diopter, an arrangement I like better.
The only problem I had with this one was that the eye relief was not very good for this eyeglass-wearer. This is because the rubber eyecups on this model are not removable and they don't fold down. I ended up cutting the eyecups off, and now the relief is fine. It doesn't look great, but now at least they're usable. These also have great glass, and are very handy. I leave them in the console of my truck.
I also have a pair of Swarovski 8x21 binos, and they make the IORs look dinky by comparison, but they also cost twice as much.
Overall, though, I'd say that the IOR binoculars are a good value. I doubt that you could get glass this good anywhere else for the same price.
By the way, if you're not aware of http://www.snipercountrypx.com, check them out. They have good prices on IOR optics, and they're good people.
The 10x40 is a heavy, rugged, military-style binocular. It has a thick rubber armor covering the entire body except the eyepieces and the connecting strut. I haven't abused mine, but I definitely think they could survive being knocked around.
The objective lens covers are individual snap-ins, permanently attached, with low-light filters inside (which I've never used). In would imagine that opening the individual covers in the field, taking out the filters, and inserting them without smearing, dropping, or losing them would be difficult. Sometimes, the front covers are difficult to snap in to the rubber armor around the objectives, and sometimes they pop off by themselves. I'm glad they're permanently attached. The rear eyepiece cover is a single oval cup made of plastic, attached to the neck strap, that covers both eyepieces. This doesn't stay on very well at all, and doesn't provide very good protection. The covers are one of the biggest minuses in an otherwise very good product.
The eyepieces have rubber eyecups that fold down, and individual diopter adjustments on each one. This is the only focus adjustment; there is no central focus wheel on the connecting strut. I find that I spend more time messing with the adjustment on these than on binoculars with a center wheel, but then again, that's me compensating for my lousy eyesight. Eye relief is good when wearing glasses (with the eyecups folded down). The only other adjustment is the standard friction fulcrum. On my pair, the right eyepiece adjusts very smoothly, but the left one is rough and difficult to turn through part of its rotation. It wasn't enough for me to do anything about it, though.
If this sounds like a bad review, it's not. The quality of the glass makes these binoculars a pleasure to look through, even for long periods of time, with no eyestrain. As with any 10x binocular, they work best when you have something to steady them, but overall, I think they were worth the money. If they had better lens covers and smoother adjustment, they'd be a 10 out of 10.
The 8x21 is also a great little binocular, small, light, and handy. It also has rubber armor, but not as thick and heavy as its big brother. this one has no lens covers and a standard center adjustment wheel, with a single eyepiece diopter, an arrangement I like better.
The only problem I had with this one was that the eye relief was not very good for this eyeglass-wearer. This is because the rubber eyecups on this model are not removable and they don't fold down. I ended up cutting the eyecups off, and now the relief is fine. It doesn't look great, but now at least they're usable. These also have great glass, and are very handy. I leave them in the console of my truck.
I also have a pair of Swarovski 8x21 binos, and they make the IORs look dinky by comparison, but they also cost twice as much.
Overall, though, I'd say that the IOR binoculars are a good value. I doubt that you could get glass this good anywhere else for the same price.
By the way, if you're not aware of http://www.snipercountrypx.com, check them out. They have good prices on IOR optics, and they're good people.