HELIOS 8x40 WA Naturesport-Plus

[Charic]

 Summer Sale - Limited Availability! flo!

Helios Naturesportp-Plus 8x40 WA - Magnification 8x -  Objective Diameter 40mm  -  Exit Pupil Diameter 5mm -  Field of view 8.2° - Length 130mm -  Weight : 690g 

Wow! they look so tiny compared to my 30 Year old Bresser Hunter 7x50's  and so insignificant against the Astro 15x70's. The view during the day appears brighter, cleaner and is  wider than my 7x50, so I'm grateful for that. I'm certain the image is better, visually, not by just going on specification alone of the BaK-4 prisms  but they really do appear to be brighter for my eyes against my 7x50 BK7's  and now the long wait for darker nights to test their night performance. On spec, the 50's should gather more light, however, as the 40mm optics appear brighter already, maybe that will overcome the 10mm loss of aperture from the 7x50's.

For £49, I think these are excellent value, and straight away, I feel very comfortable with these optics, that's the important part. ( I recently purchased the Nikon 10x50 Action (EX) ATB via the internet, but alas was not comfortable with them?) 

The 5mm Exit pupil  from this Bak-4 does not produce the perfect circle ? ( For all those that expect perfection from BaK-4. prisms, Steve has some information on the subject if you check here......http://binocularsky.com/binoc_minefield.php  )  The exit pupil is clipped in the 2 o'clock and 10 o'clock position in the Left/Reft respective eye lens, already  explained on this site in another thread by flo,

....."The exit-pupil will not be perfectly round in a binocular at this price, it is normal to see a slight flat along one part of the circumference. There will also be some aberrations around the image periphery......2012...Hope that helps, Steve )

I also noted  the  binocular case (  faux leather?)  is a rather tight fit, which no doubt will loosen a little in time, otherwise, removing the objective lens caps for me due to the tightness, is a quicker route to observing?

These optics are small, light and comfortable in the hand,  stunning when mounted, the view is so clear ( for my eyes - always remember, our eyes are different in what we perceive )

So far, the overall impression is very good, and still only a few hours old. Their  not the Weather proof mil-spec binoculars I could have bought, but crazy not to buy them for this price ( ***£49*** ). I'm sure they'll be my newest long term Wide View Low Power keepers, and will probably replace my Bresser 7x50s even  after such a short daylight trial. The Mrs can make use of the Bresser 7x50's now,  replaced,  not gone!

[Laurie61]

I own a pair of these and have been very happy with them, mine arrived perfectly collimated and both sides perform equally well. There is some drop off in sharpness beyond 50/60 percent of the field of view but good for the money.

[Charic]

Just a quick update for spectacle wearers. I choose not to wear my spectacles for normal telescope observations, and likewise, the same applies to my binoculars.

So, eye-cups lowered, I'm too close for comfort, well inside the eye-relief zone, so have to hunt to get the critical zone, but perfect with glasses on. With eye-cups raised, perfect without glasses, as stated, but also good with glasses, but the cap extension reduces the field of view slightly. So in my case, my eyes only, I can operate these binoculars with or without prescription glasses. I mention this, because normal viewing without glasses, I cannot focus on a Telrad finder, and I dont want to be swapping and putting more glass in my optical train, so choose to observe, in general, without glasses, letting the focuser, make the correction for me. Also note the eye-cups are indented at their extremes, in effect, locked. Its possible to move the eye-cups if positioned midway, if you hold them firmly against your face? But overall, so far, still a great binocular, for my eyes.

[John]

Interesting reports on these binoculars.

My son has a pair of these which I bought him to take on a birding / wildlife trip to Sri Lanka last year. I like them myself and my son said they did very on his trip well despite some rather rough treatment at times. When he returned we cleaned them up and they have come up very well and still put up crisp bright views. 

Good and reasonably priced binoculars I feel 

[HN50]

I have been looking for a smallish binocular for going away on holiday and also for astronomy when I just want to nip out for half an hour.  I have the 10x50 version and as the 8x40 is on clearance to £50 at the moment I bought them.

I tried them out late last week and I have to agree with the other postings.  They are compact, sharp and are easy to hold steady.  Plus the eye relief is fine with glasses on.

I compared them side by side to my 10x50s and I like them a lot.  I could see the benefit of the extra aperture in the 50s but I do like the wider fov of the 8x40 as it feels that little more immersive.  

I am sure that there are better binoculars out there but for what they cost I think they are rather good.

And as the sky appears to be clear they might get an outing tonight!