Customer Reviews

Pentax Whitetails Unlimited 10x50 Binoculars

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this binocular from Amazon. When it arrived, I was surprised by the packaging. It was packaged like a cheap toy in plastic covering and nowhere was Pentax name identified. I thought that i might have made a mistake buying something else so I went back to Amazon and sure enough this was a Pentax product. Except Pentax do not want to put their name on it.

It was easy to see why. It was heavy, heavier than all my binoculars ( I have 7 of them), the necklace was a joke, the case a cheap piece of cloth vinyl. Everything about it was cheap. So we do get what we pay for. Frankly because I had to cut the plastic to access the binocular, I did not want to return it to Amazon.

On the plus side, the optics were OK but not great. But nowhere near the Pentax quality that I had expected. This was Whitetails not Pentax.

I would gladly pay more for a better quality product.

I had bought this product having read the previous poster review so I am compelled to write this review.

Okay, I admit it ... I've become a binocular junkie! I live in a small town where there simply isn't a good selection of binoculars (actually our Wal-Mart store is the ONLY place that sells new binoculars, and their selection is very limited). Therefore, buying binoculars elsewhere (primarily online) is about the only way I have of testing different binoculars for my particular uses (mainly astronomy). I wanted to get a 10x50 set of binoculars to compare to the other sizes I already have, so that I could determine which sizes work best for my uses. But, after buying multiple sets in varying sizes, expense was starting to become a consideration as well. So, I thought, why not try a set of these binoculars? After all, most of the reviews were quite favorable, and the price was certainly not going to put me into bankruptcy. In addition, Amazon.com is an exceptional place to do business with, so if they are just junk, I suspect I'll be able to return them without any problems. But, once I got them, and was able to try them out, I was very pleasantly surprised! The 50mm objective lenses gather plenty of light (lots of stars can be seen!), and with 10x magnification, I'm able to make out a substantial amount of detail in the night sky. Terrestrial viewing is top notch. And, for a lower-priced set of binoculars, they even have a place to mount a tripod adapter. Yes, the neck strap is pretty cheap (I bought a better one), and the case isn't going to provide much protection beyond keeping the dust, dirt & rain off them, but the binoculars themselves are very nice, and so the total package was well worth the price!

Lowest price of all the pentax 10x50's. These match up with the expensive pcf wp for 1/3 the price. Super sharp, great fov and super eye relief at 19mm. You'll look long and hard for this kind of quality for the price.

I wanted binocs for astronomical use. The "Whitetails" name clued me in that these were intended for birding (daytime). But the "Pentax" name is famous for optical quality, so I took a chance.

The "Pentax" name does not appear anywhere on these binocs.

The quality of the optics & mechanism is good, as is balance, and weight is decent. They have a large central focus wheel, better for fine focusing when one doesn't have to change focus (eg astronomy), rather than a focus paddle as I expected on binocs intended for birding. They also feel rubber-clad; I haven't drop-tested them (in water or otherwise), but that provides a more comfortable feel, not least because they don't get as cold at night. For the price (at the time, I paid less than US$40), they are a good value for astronomical binocs.

I've not used them in daytime, nor in a sandy or dirty environment.

Very nice and clear. Pulls in alot of light. You can look through them at dusk when you cannot make out any details with the naked eye and see things very clear.

THese reminded me of some of the surplus stuff I used to get from former soviet Union or China: case and lanyards cheaply made, but the optics themselves are of good quality, esp. at this price. we've used them for stargazing, field and nature outings, looking in the neighbors' windows, and I have no complaint at all about function or durability. I've been keeping an eye on some Nikon 10X50'c at the local WalMarx. Marked down to $106.00 last check, but these turned out to be a better deal.

I am very pleased at the performance of these binoculars at this price point. I recently compared them side by side to some really high dollar Zeiss binoculars and yes there is a difference. But the difference in dollars is way, way larger than the difference in the view. Throw in free shipping and no tax and you can't beat it.

These binoculars fog easily if you are a heavy mouth breather and it's cold out, but that's not too big of a deal, just breathe through your nose, nobody likes a mouth breather anyway. I have used these mainly astronomically, and been quite pleased. They can't really focus points as bright and glaring as Venus at elongation, but that's hard anyway. They are good for faint objects, especially if you can get them on a tripod, or balance them on your bike seat when you get to your observing location like I do. When stabilized, I could see the moons of Jupiter at an 8/9 light polluted site, as well as Uranus (in the same field of view!) as an even fainter point. Beware the strap! I had them around my neck while biking very slowly and they slipped and fell off and hit the ground, I sort of slowed the collision with my foot, but there have been no noticeable optical differences since the fall, so that's a big pro in my book. If y = quality and x = cost and y = a(x)*x^2 where a is some value representing variability between products, these have a very high "a" for the x!

I have had more expensive binoculars than this Pentax 10 X 50 binoculars, however I would consider the quality as good if not better.

Good value, these appear to be well made, great feel to them and do a good job for watching birds at a feeder from inside. (Needs to be about 30 feet away.) Specs are about right combination so one gets a good magnification, and doesn't have too much trouble with the field of vision being too "jerky". NB other than the title of the product, it appears to have nothing to do w/ Pentax, you will not find their name anywhere but on Amazon.