The Celestron 8x42mm Nature DX roof prism has the features and performance you deserve, at a price you can afford. Good binocular, good price. 'Nuf said.
This Celestron 8x42mm Nature DX is a very affordable full-size roof prism binocular. It has premium features that once cost many times its modest price - full multicoatings, phase-corrected BaK-4 prisms, and more. It is great for birding, astronomy, watching sports, taking on a vacation trip, or camping. The Celestron 8x42mm Nature DX is usable anywhere and anytime a good binocular is needed, and an affordable price is mandatory. Armored and waterproof/fogproof, it takes unexpected bumps, thumps, and showers in stride.
Image quality is quite good, with minor field curvature and very little geometric distortion (pincushioning). Chromatic aberration is quite low and essentially invisible over the central 90-95% of the field. Colors are natural and true to life. By any standard you might care to choose - visual performance, features, build quality, feel in the hand and ease of carrying, value for money - this Celestron 8x42mm Nature DX roof prism is a good choice for anyone who is looking for a good quality medium power roof prism binocular at a budget price.
Features of this binocular . . .
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Roof prism optics. Compact H-body roof prism using quality BaK-4 prisms. Internal center focus.
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Fully multicoated optics. The optics are treated with multiple-layer antireflection coatings on all air-to-glass surfaces for good light transmission and high contrast.
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Phase-coated prisms. The image-erecting roof prisms are made of high quality BaK-4 glass, multicoated to provide the brightest possible images. The prism faces have special phase-correcting coatings for peak contrast, color fidelity, and resolution. The resulting improvement is easily seen when looking for color and detail in the shadowed areas of a silhouetted or backlit bird.
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Waterproof and fogproof. O-ring sealed and nitrogen-purged to be fully waterproof and fogproof in summer showers and monsoon rains alike.
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Armor. Forest green rubber armor on the rugged and lightweight polycarbonate body absorbs noise and shock and provides a good grip when wet.
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Twist-up eyecups. The rubber-rimmed eyecups twist up for use without glasses and twist back down for eyeglass or sunglass use.
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Long eye relief. Eye relief is specified at a good 17.5mm, although will typically measure a mm or two less due to the eyepieces being recessed to keep them from getting scratched in use. Any vignetting should be minor for eyeglass wearers.
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Wide field. The field of view is 7.4° across (388' at 1000 yards), making this Celestron 8x42mm Nature DX roof prism good for sweeping wide open expanses of fields, marshes, shore lines, and the sky, while still being wide enough for close-in woodland birding.
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Close focus. Focuses down to 6.5'. Combined with its 7.4° field, this close focus makes it very suitable for close-in birding and butterfly watching.
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Focusing. Not a particularly fast focuser, as two turns of the ribbed focus knob are needed to move from the 6.5' close focus out to the horizon and beyond. Most of the focus knob travel occurs close-in, however, providing very precise focusing on nearby subjects. Once past 75' or so, only a touch of the focus knob is needed to move from subject to subject.
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Rotary diopter correction. A variable diopter ring on the right eyepiece allows you to match the binocular optics precisely to your individual eyesight for a sharp image.
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Tripod adaptable. For extended no-hands observing, a protective cover on the front bridge unscrews, revealing a 1/4"-20 thread hole for mounting the 22.2 ounce binocular on a photo tripod using an optional tripod adapter.
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Standard accessories. An eyepiece rainguard, tethered (but removable) flip-down objective lens covers, a medium width (15/16" wide) cloth neckstrap, and a soft padded nylon carrying case with shoulder strap are standard equipment.
