First light with Pentax 12x50 PCF WP II

[Knighty2112]

Picked up some great Pentax 12x50 PCF WP II binoculars off Dobbie today (thanks for meeting up at the services), and unbelievably managed to get some first light with them tonight too!  Great view through them as is to be expected from Pentax, but I was pleasantly surprised on how good the views where. The moon looked great with the earthshine, and I even managed to see M81 & M82 with them (with the help of my Orion P binocular mount). M42 was very pleasing, and the open clusters in Auriga where easy (if with a stiff neck at zenith) to spot.

All in all very pleased with these binos, and look forward (when clouds allow) to use them to tease out other Messier objects etc!  

[Alfian]

Obviously a good purchase Gus, came within a whisker of buying some myself a little while ago and still wouldn't rule it out. I have the 20x60s and they have a nice solid feel to them.

[Knighty2112]

21 minutes ago, Alfian said:

Obviously a good purchase Gus, came within a whisker of buying some myself a little while ago and still would,'t rule it out. I have the 20x60s and they have a nice solid feel to them.

Yes, solid feel and well balanced too. I was specifically looking for a good pair of 12x50's to replace the current pair I have (Strathspeys) which are OK for daytime use, but not the best for astronomy. These fit the bill perfectly. I also like the fov that you get with 12x50 binoculars, which seem to fit into that Goldilocks zone for me of not been too large or too small In either weight or fov.  

[JG777]

Pentax? 

[Alfian]

Ooops! Missed that one.

[Knighty2112]

Ooops! Me too! Hehe!  

[Knighty2112]

Error now corrected! Silly me!  

[Knighty2112]

In my defence I was pretty zonked out when I originally posted this up, plus I also have a smaller pair of Nikon binos too, so was obviously thinking of those too at the same time! Hehe!  

[Andy Mitchell]

I've got the 10x50 version of those, they seem solid, ergonomic, they are sealed so the inside cant fog up. Optically I'm happy. They work well with or without my specs on. Only thing I dont like is the cover for the front lenses which has a habbit of falling off.

[Knighty2112]

1 hour ago, Andy Mitchell said:

I've got the 10x50 version of those, they seem solid, ergonomic, they are sealed so the inside cant fog up. Optically I'm happy. They work well with or without my specs on. Only thing I dont like is the cover for the front lenses which has a habbit of falling off.

Yes, that is the only draw back so far, but I'm used to it as I have another pair of binoculars that has the same eyepiece cover on them. Very pleased so far with them!  

[Roy Challen]

I agree with all the comments above, I love my 12x50s but the eyelens cover is a bit weak.

[JG777]

I also have 10 x50, great set of bins but yes the front covers are not good at staying on. 

[BinocularSky]

12 hours ago, JG777 said:

I also have 10 x50, great set of bins but yes the front covers are not good at staying on. 

This is not a fault, it is a design feature to ensure that you never suffer the public embarrassment endured by Amir Peretz (front right):

 

 

[festoon]

On 04/03/2017 at 22:07, Knighty2112 said:

and I even managed to see M81 & M82 with them (with the help of my Orion P binocular mount)

The amount of times I've atempted to do this with my Barr & Stroud ED 10x56mm and been unsuccesful I've lost count! They must be superb! Well done

[dobbie]

On Monday, March 06, 2017 at 07:59, BinocularSky said:

This is not a fault, it is a design feature to ensure that you never suffer the public embarrassment endured by Amir Peretz (front right):

 

 

so thats where i went wrong?  gus i need them back ... lol.

glad you like them gus . 

[Knighty2112]

3 minutes ago, dobbie said:

so thats where i went wrong?  gus i need them back ... lol.

glad you like them gus . 

Sorry mate! There all mine now!