Olympus Binocular 10x 50 DPS-1 - Black

Just got back from a cruise down the Norwegian Fjords and enjoyed looking at the scenery through my old binoculars but realized that they weren't really all that good, so when I got home I treated myself to a new pair of binoculars. The cruise was fantastic and I would happily go again - especially now I have the new binoculars; oh why did I not think of buying them before the cruise!! Compared to my old binoculars (which were supposedly 12 x 50)...... well there is no comparison. The clarity of vision is such that I can see things way way in the distance, perfectly clearly - things that I would have no chance of seeing with my old binoculars - and the field of vision is much wider than my old ones. Just looked out over the fields at the back of my house and seen (small) birds flying around in crystal clear vision - could see their markings very clearly. Not being a bird-watcher I had no idea what they were (although definitely not sparrows, blackbirds, pigeons, gulls, magpies or starlings - or robins - or owls - or eagles) but they were good to watch and almost converted me to being a twitcher! Might even become a train-spotter now! Will have a look at the moon later tonight. If you buy these binoculars you will not be disappointed - not for the price, anyway. I can't say this for certain, but I am pretty sure you could pay a lot more and not get much better quality of vision. OK, not the cheapest you can buy, but certainly not expensive. I bought my old binoculars years ago, but obviously did not pay much for them! The difference is truly amazing. Update: I have now had the binoculars for a couple of weeks and "sold" them to a friend - not physically, but I think she is now going to buy two pairs, one for her husband and one for her brother, she was that impressed. Having bought these, I began to wonder, "have I got a really good bargain here?" and have spent some time researching the matter even more than I did before I bought them! My conclusion is yes, I have got a bargain. For £65 these binoculars are exceptional and, having now used them a lot over the two weeks I have owned them, would say that if I had paid £100 (or even £150) for these binoculars, I would still think I had got a bargain and be very pleased with my purchase! So, if you are thinking of buying a cheaper pair, think again - the extra £10, £20, £30 that you spend on buying these binoculars will be money well spent. And if you are thinking of buying a much more expensive pair of binoculars, also think again. Buy these and you could save yourself hundreds of pounds. OK, if you need a really, really good pair for some reason (perhaps because of your job), it might be worthwhile you spending that extra money, but for the vast, vast majority of us, these binoculars are all you will ever need (for whatever purpose you need them for). They give fantastic quality of vision at a very (very) reasonable price. My old bins have been binned with just one regret - why did I put up with them for so long!

I used to use Pentax 7x50s for years and they were great but very large and heavy. I then moved to 8x25 and 10x25 Minox binos which are small, light and waterproof. They have great definition and good contrast in good light, but their performance falls rapidly in poor light, as one would expect. Their field of view is also relatively limited. So I decided to move to an 8x40/42 to get improved low light capability. I have been studying the market carefully and thought I would need to pay £350-400 for good quality 8x42 binos - there are several great optics in this range. But then I saw the Amazon reviews - almost a thousand of them - rating the Olympus 8x40 DPSI so highly. I must have read a few hundred of these reviews and thought that for around £45 delivered it would be silly not to buy a pair. Mine arrived this morning (around 15 hours after ordering them!) and I have put them through their paces. I am delighted by the crisp, bright image, the good contrast (even in dull, cloudy conditions), the good sharpness near the edge of the field of view and the quality of construction. A particularly great feature is their 8.2 degree field of view (143m at 1000m) which surprised me. Even though they are significantly bigger and heavier than the 8x25 Minox, I am pretty sure the marked improvement in brightness and field of view will be worth it. I am generally a fair weather bird watcher and game viewer so the waterproofing and nitrogen purging is less important for me. But if conditions are foul, I can use my trusty old Minox and just not see quite as well and as wide in low light. So I think these are really good binos for my purposes and extraordinary value at the price.

Fantastic bins for the price. I can't compare these to the bins which are 10 times the price - maybe there are differences which if you are constantly observing wildlife 90% of the time, are worth the extra cost. In which case you will probably go there immediately. I wanted some good high quality bins for looking at the wildlife outside my house, and looking at the views - I live in an area of outstanding natural beauty. These fit the bill perfectly. You get crystal clear perfect 3d vision. They are a decent size too, not too big so you have problems holding them without shake, and not so small that your field of view is narrow which is the problem with compact bins. These are a lovely goldilocks fit. Light, easy to use, and yet excellant optics. The 8x40 configuration is pretty much perfect for general use without needing to carry a tripod. And once you have set up the right eye left eye difference, they stay there, so no constant fiddling, when you want to pick them up quickly and look outside. I would definitely recommend. For those new to bins, the first figure is the magnification, and the second figure is the lens size (or as I prefer to put it, how much of everything do you see when you look through them). With bins it is a tradeoff between magnification, lens size, and weight. The higher the first two, the bigger the bins, and the bigger the bins, the more you will need a tripod to stop the miage shaking. If you go for the same magnification, but a smaller lens size ( 8x25 are typical), you are looking at "compact" bins, which you can shove in your pocket or bag. However, you will not see as much of the view looking through these. The holy grail is something that is light, you can carry, but still use without a tripod, but with a great field of view. These pretty much fit the bill.

Just received these bins and took them out for a first field trip. First things first though; the strap which comes with them is worse than useless, it's positively dangerous for the binoculars. If I were to use this strap I would want to stitch or staple the ends to make sure they don't slip free, which I'm sure they would if left as they are. I just threw the strap away and used a quality neck strap I had spare.. Right, the binoculars, they are outstanding value for money. You expect a good image with Porro bins, but these exceeded my expectations by a long way for what I paid for them and I did a big 'WOW' on first use. They feel good in the hand as well, comfortable and solid. I found the focus wheel just about right, if anything a little on the stiff side, but rather that than sloppy. The rubber eye cups are fine for me, but I could understand if some might find them a bit softish. They're in the average weight range for Porros at 850g and with the good quality wide neck strap I used I didn't find them tiring at all. After the quick initial field trip I spent a whole day with them round my neck walking the cliffs around my seaside home observing everything from hovering kestrels to a pod of dolphins rolling across the bay, a search and rescue helecopter doing what looked like training out at sea, and a big 3 masted 'tall ship' just about on the horizon. These binoculars returned an excellent image in all these different applications. They represent outstanding value money and I'd recommend them to anyone for general purpose use. By the way, they have 'Field 6.5' stamped on the side which if my trigenometry is about right should be around 56 metres at half a kilometer. I checked this using some prominent landmarks and using the Google Earth ruler on my PC at home found that the 56m field at half a kilometer is sopt on. So definitely 4½ out of 5 for these binoculars. Such a pity about the supplied strap. A decent strap would definitely raise them to a 5/5

I spent some time researching binoculars before deciding on these Olympus 8 x 40.I have a lager pair which are heavy and rather cumbersome so a small pair for travelling were a better option. Amazon delivered before the date stated,which was good as I was home at the time. The binoculars were well packed and contained within their own branded box together with a soft case and neck strap. Of solid and quality construction the binoculars give very sharp vision and clear definition of birdlife at the bottom of my 200 foot garden. I would describe the binoculars as of light to medium in weight. The neck strap supplied is thin in width but would cause no issue if worn over clothing , however I have ordered a comfort strap from Amazon as a preference. The soft nylon material case has a fold over top flap which will give protection in the event of light rain fall. The neck/carry strap is thicker in width than that of the binoculars attached via plastic oval rings. If a comfort strap was to be fixed to the case the existing strap would have to be cut. If there is a downside, and this may be nit-picking, is that of the lens caps which are individually independent and not connected via cord etc. to the main body of the binoculars. If asked to improve on the product this would be my only, albeit minor, suggestion. In summary the Olympus 8 x 40 binoculars are a quality product and recommended for bird watching and general use. I am very satisfied with my choice in all aspects.

These are my second pair of Olympus binoculars. My first pair, the 8 X 21 DPC I, were purchased at a local photography shop, and were recommended by the owner as being of better optical quality comparable to much more expensive models and boy was he correct. That was over 15 years ago. Deciding I needed something with slightly larger exit pupil/field of view, and not wanting to stick my Zeiss Jenas in my rucksack, I decided to try the Olympus 8 X 40 DPS I based on the number of 5 star reviews. I was not disappointed. Optical clarity is comparable to my vintage Zeiss', zero chromatic aberration, excellent colour rendition and contrast, sharp bright image, zero spherical aberration, 100% visual acuity, very smooth hinge, body is covered in a protective rubber, very tactile. Only downside are the case and strap and lens covers. A wider neck strap would be more comfortable over extended periods of time, and the case could do with a bit more padding, but at this price point, I'm really clutching at straws. The lens caps are OK, but not tethered, therefore could go astray, I overcome this by replacing with Opticron 31046 & Opticron 31076, which fit perfectly. These binoculars can also be tripod mounted, and I've gone for the Opticron 31004 Tripod mount. Thank you Olympus and thank you Amazon!! 💯/💯 Updated: They're still giving good service, no issues at all. Updated update: Still giving excellent service. Now I also have a pair of Opticron Adventurer T WP 6.5x32 to compare against and the Olympus’s hold their own optically. Updated updated update: having used all three bino’s above in daylight and twilight conditions, I can now confirm the best performer in low-light as follows: 1. Zeizz Jenna Jenoptem 8x30, first launched in 1920, a design that’s over 100 years old! 2.Opticron Adventurer T WP 6.5 x 32 comes a very very close second. 3.Olympus 8 x40 DPS I. Which is perverse, as the exit pupils are in exactly the reverse order, as follows: 1. Olympus = 5mm 2. Opticron = 4.9mm 3. Zeiss = 3.75mm It must come down to the glass. 1 & 2 both use BAK4, a much better quality light barium crown glass, whilst 3 uses BK7, a type of borosilicate glass. At midday they are so close it’s a gnats todger between them, however, at twilight the quality of the BAK4 prisms becomes apparent. I still love my Olympus’, as they are fantastic quality and unbelievable value for money, but for twilight obs. it’s got to be the Zeiss’ or, if it’s damp, the Opticron’s

I didn't know anything about binoculars, and didn't want to spend lots but wanted a set to support my closet plane spotting habit but also to allow my son to get a better look at the wildlife in the garden. They work very well for both, and even with the zoom at the maximum setting I can track aircraft in the Biggin Hill stack above our house without the aircraft just being lost in a blurred whiz. The image is bright and clear and focusing quick and easy, so much so that I've also been using these for a bit of star gazing and moon watching. My little boy also enjoys watching the squirrels in the garden and at just 2 years old he can hold the binoculars and just about find what he's trying to look at with a bit of help. They're small enough to fit in a large jacket pocket, but they're not so light that you wouldn't notice them - then again a lighter set I had a few years ago also were of no practical use, so these seem a decent compromise in form and usability. As others have pointed out it would have been better if the lens caps were attached to the body, but after a fair bit of use I haven't misplaced any of them. A perfect starter set that live on top of a cupboard rather than in it gathering dust as they're so easy to use.

I have owned quite a few different makes of binoculars from various eras including Leica, Nikon,Canon and Zeiss, and all have their pluses and minuses.Leica for instance have a clean, clear view, with a renowned build quality, but carry a hefty price tag and usually a weight to match. It makes them more difficult to wear all day which, for me, eventually overcomes the the benefits of a brilliant vision. The Canon IS binoculars are technically great and do steady a wobbling image resolving into a quite neutral colour balanced image, but they do look a bit odd and feel a little plasticy. The earlier Zeiss models were well constructed and the roof prism versions were compact but the view was more "analogue" rather than "digital" to put it in currently accepted audio terms. In other words there seemed to be an added warmth to the image. As the hundreds of other reviewers say, this Olympus version embodies a lot of the pluses with few of the minuses. They provide a wide, clear image with minimal chromatic aberration. The build quality feels good which belies the extremely reasonable price. The original design must have got a lot right to enable Olympus to consistently produce a model at this price point that works so well. Put them in a better case and they could easily charge considerably more.