Bushnell Engage 8x42

Have you rated your binoculars yet?

1 December 2019

Optyczne.pl

In 2018 Bushnell company remade completely their line-up of binculars and the Engage series was one of the novelties, presented at that time. It comprised of four roof prism models with the following parameters: 8x42, 10x42, 10x50 and 12x50.

The construction of the tested pair of binoculars is based on Schmidt-Pechan roof prisms which are PC-3 phase coated. The reflective surfaces are covered by DPC (Dielectric Prism Coating) layers and all air-to-glass surfaces are coated by FMC layers (Fully Multi-Coated). In the optical path you find low dispersion ED Prime Glass.

The binoculars are compliant with IPX7 (can be immersed into water in the depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes) and are nitrogen purged. The outer elements are covered by hydrophobic EXO protection layers.

Buyers get a joined cap for eyepieces, two objective caps with special fixing, a strap, a soft pouch, a hard case, a cleaning cloth and an additional harness. The binoculars come with l15-year warranty of the producer.

Pictures

Manufacturer data

Manufacturer:

Bushnell
web site

Distribution / Sales:

Militaria
web site

Magnification	Lens diameter	Angular field of view	Prisms	Eye relief	Weight	Price
8	42	142/1000(8.1^o)	BaK-4/roof	19 mm	666 g	1499 PLN
Owners opinions: 0 Specifications

Results of the review

Real front lens diameter

Left: 41.95+/- 0.05 mm
Right: 41.96+/- 0.05 mm

7 / 8.0 pkt

Real magnification

7.91+/- 0.05x

3/3.0

Transmission

85.1+/- 1%

13/25.0

Chromatic aberration

Slight in the centre, high on the edge.

5.6/10.0

Astigmatism

Moderate.

6.8/10.0

Distortion

Distance of the first curved line from the field of view centre compared to the field of view radius: 70% ± 3%

8/10.0

Coma

Appears in a distance of 55-60% from the field of view centre and is high on the edge of the field.

3.3/10.0

Blurring at the edge of the FOV

Blur occurs in a distance of 70% ± 4% from the field of view centre.

3/10.0

Darkening at the edge the FOV

Noticeable

3.2/5.0

Whiteness of the image

Slightly greenish hue.

4/5.0

Collimation

Perfect.

5/5.0

Internal reflections

Left:	Right:

Moderate. A lot of bright areas near exit pupils.

2.6/5.0

Housing

Shapely and handy for the 42 mm class. Padded with black, rubber armour which sticks to your hands quite well so is comfortable to handle. The armour sticks out near objectives a bit. Rubberized eyecups with 4 detention stops but their working range is rather slight. What's more, after extending one eyecup seems to be positioned higher than the second one. Produced in China.

6/8.0

Focusing

Huge, ribbed central wheel which moves smoothly and is well damped. The focus throw amounts to an angle of 570 degrees. A shiftable dioptre correction ring on the right eyepiece. It is difficult to operate and it moves the outer element.

4.3/5.0

Tripod

Available but a bit diffcult to access.

2.5/3.0

Interpupilary distance

from 55.7 to 73.2mm

4/6.0

Closest focusing distance

1.60 meters.

2/2.0

Eyepieces FOV

Apparent field of view of 61.9 deg (according to simple formula) and 56.9 deg (according to tangent formula).

11.5/20.0

Field of view

Measured by us amounted to 7.83 +/- 0.05 degrees and was by 0.27 of a degree narrower than stated in specifications. A very sensible field for this class of equipment.

5.5/8.0

Quality of the interior of the barrels

Interior of the tubes is dark and nicely matted, the bottom too. You can notice some slight specks of dust. On one of the prisms or on one element before it, there are slight water stains.

3.5/5.0

Vignetting

Left:	Right:

OL: 1.52%, OR: 2.53%

5.5/8.0

Prisms quality

Good quality BaK-4.

8/8.0

Antireflection coatings

Pink on objectives, pink-green-yellow on eyepieces, greenish on prisms. Medium intensity.

4.5/5.0

Warranty [years]

5/6.0

Final result

66.7%

126.8 / 190 pkt

Econo result

0pkt.

Summary

Pros:

shapely and handy barrel,
moderate astigmatism,
very good distortion correction,
sensible colour rendition,
sharp images already from 1.6 metres,
proper blackening of inner tubes,
good quality prisms made of BaK-4 glass.

Cons:

high coma level,
significant chromatic aberration on the edge of the field,
wide out-of-focus area on the edge of the field of view,
a lot of bright patches near exit pupils,
truncated exit pupils.

Bushnell Forge 8x42, Olympus PRO 8x42 and Bushnell Engage 8x42.

I admit it, the tested lens didn't impress me much. A result of less than 120 points at this price point is nothing to boast of. What's important, average results don't concern only the 8x42 model but also the rest of the series - I had an opportunity to look through the Engage 10x50 and my impressions were similar to the ones I got when handling and testing the 8x42 binoculars.

If you have about 300 USD to spend I suppose you can use it better than buying the Bushnell Engage 8x42. After all the same company, Bushnell, offer two other series which are, in our view, far more interesting even if similarly priced – we think here about the Nitro and Forge lines.

What's curious, it seems that even people at Bushnell company are aware of weaknesses of the Engage line. Lately on their webside you could find an announcement about the new Engage DX series which appearance and parameters are just like those of the Engage series but their price is lower. Is it a way to degrade an unsuccessful series of binoculars to a lower price point?