Customer Reviews

Nikon Premier LX-L 8x20 Binoculars

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have this pair of binoculars and a Nikon 82 ED Fieldscope for observing Texas wildlife. Lately, I find myself using these binoculars almost exclusively.

They are bright, sharp and quick. The higher eye-relief accommodates my eyeglasses well giving a large view. I've used them w/o the eyeglasses and noticed no difference in the view. Being waterproof means I can take them on the river without worry.

The placement of the focus adjustment took a bit of getting used to, but seems natural now.

I gave my Ziess classic compacts to my wife because I wanted some compacts with better eye relief for glasses. I went to a place that had them all on display.... Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss, etc. These Nikons were the hands down winner. They are a bit bigger and heavier than the Zeiss and Leica but if you wear glasses there is no other choice. I've had these about 1.5 years now and still love 'em. I have full sized Swarovski's and Nikon SE's, etc. but these get used 5x as much as those. These truly deserve 5 stars.

These little Nikon Premier 8x20 LX glasses are very good quality optically, sharp from corner to corner and easy to focus. But mine have proven to be delicate and the hinges have loosened and become floppy twice in two years. Nikon USA fixed them under warranty, but I am not impressed with the lack of robustness. Not recommended.

This is my third pair of Nikon binoculars, second in the Premier series. The 8x32 midsize are superb optically, comparing favorably to the Germans at half the price, though kind of heavy. Wanted a better pair of pocket binocs for a while, and these fit the bill. Optics again quite comparable to Zeiss and Leitz, and close to Swarovski (IMHO) for center and edge sharpness, brightness and lack of color fringing - and *so* much cheaper! Some pincushion distortion, but that's normal and inoffensive.

Far-end focus adjustment with little or ring finger takes some getting used to, and is a little stiff at near-zero temperatures - that might get smoother with use. Off-center fold feels awkward, but a fair exchange for the good mechanisms and tiny folded size. Unusual diopter adjuster design is nice. Extensible eyecups very smooth. Hinges feel a little weak, but time will tell.

The included case, with magnetic clasp, is well-made, though would prefer Velcro clasp rather than having to thread belt through the loop. Only real annoyance is lack of objective lens caps (eyepiece caps are included). These are positioned as pocket binoculars, and my pockets aren't that glass-friendly. Brought this to Amazon's attention, pointing out that although their ad doesn't specify caps, Nikon's own site does say that supplied accessories include lens caps, which sort of implies all four. When I called Nikon, they said that they don't even make front caps for their compact binoculars. Weird - risking the lenses of their fine product to save maybe twenty cents on $400.

With typical courtesy, Amazon invited me to return them at their expense, or to make other accommodation. Not their fault (though the ad might be clarified) and they are otherwise ideal for my needs, so I kept these excellent binoculars. Eventually was able to get a second pair of eyepiece caps, which fit almost perfectly and can (barely) be threaded into the same straps for full protection when not using the case.

Five stars for the actual product, but they really ought to include front lens caps.

When I bought these binoculars for travel I was very impressed at first. They clearly exhibited more contrast than my cheap Minolta 8x25, more resistance to flare and great detail rendition. I was puzzled though by the fact that the required diopter adjustment was quite significant unlike for my other binoculars.

However, after some use I've found some problems:
1. The appropriate diopter adjustment was not constant and required correction all the time. After some checking it has turned out that the correction was depending on position of something loose inside the binoculars - I could actually hear it rattling when shaking the binoculars slightly.
2. Something is wrong with contrast. I compared these Nikon with Bushnell 7x26 and it seems that the smaller details are rendered with higher contrast than larger objects. While smaller details contrast is close on both binoculars larger details, like leaves from 20 meters, look different - 7x26 cuts them against the sky while Nikon shows a much duller picture. As a result, image from the Nikon looks unnatural to the extent that even view through that cheap Minolta 8x25 feels better.
3. Weak mechanics. Even though the Nikon are made from metal, a minor bump when in a case was enough to weaken right hinge so that holding by the right tube alone was not possible anymore without the binoculars folding down. As for the plastic Minolta 8x25 - I dropped them once on stone floor from about 1.5 meters so that some latch snapped open. I just snapped it back and the 8x25 are still working without problems.
4. The warranty. Naturally, I wanted to fix the problem number 1 and sent the binoculars to California. Good news: the warranty is valid wherever you are in the world, at least if return address is in US. Bad news: they have fixed loose hinge and corrected the diopter compensation offset somewhat but have not fixed the inconsistency from the number 1 and still something is rattling inside.

So here is the risk - even if your binoculars do not have this number 1 problem from the beginning, it may develop over time and it is not covered by the warranty.

So 5 stars minus 4 problems equals 1 star.