Pentax PCF WPII 10x50 binoculars review

The Pentax PCF WPII 10x50s have a sleek appearance and exude quality despite their low price tag, while their rubber armour gives a good grip.

They come in a soft carry case, which surprisingly was the only one not to have its own carry strap.

The front lens caps are plastic and fit well, while the eyepieces are protected by a single plastic cover, which was a bit loose for our liking.

The eyecups are twist-up and are quite chunky, but stylish.

We did notice a small amount of play in them when fully extended, however.

The dioptre adjustment was a click-stop system and we felt it was the best of the three of these in the test.

When focusing, we found a nifty innovation that gained the PCF WPII extra points: the centre focusing wheel has a lock that lets you preserve a particular focus when putting them away for later use; all binoculars should have this as standard.

The fully multicoated optics did the job with only a small amount of ghosting on bright stars and planets.

Altair was sharp across 75 per cent of the view before any significant distortion began to creep in.

The 5° field meant that we could split Albireo better than with similar binoculars we’ve tested.

All our test nebulae and galaxies showed good contrast.

There were pleasing views of the nebulae M17 and M16 and the fuzzy nature of the globular cluster M13 was evident.

The Andromeda Galaxy was also a treat, with its large disc extending across the view.

Despite being quite heavy, these were enjoyable to use.

This review appeared in the October 2010 issue of Sky at Night Magazine