The Discovery WP series consists of two very small and physically light roof prism binoculars with the following parameters: 8x42 and 10x42. The tested binoculars was actually the smallest instrument here with the height amounting to just 126 mm.
This series’ instruments are waterproof, nitrogen-filled and they feature BaK-4 glass prisms. All air-to-glass surfaces were covered by antireflection multilayer coatings.
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Results of the review
Real front lens diameter
Left: 41.7+/-
0.05 mm
Right: 41.8+/-
0.05 mm
7 / 8.0 pkt
Real magnification
10.2+/-
0.2x
3/3.0
Transmission
66+/-
3%
4.5/25.0
Chromatic aberration
Slight.
6/10.0
Astigmatism
Medium.
5.6/10.0
Distortion
The distance of the first curved line from the filed centre compared to the field of vision radius: 60% +\- 8%
7/10.0
Coma
Distinct.
3.8/10.0
Blurring at the edge of the FOV
The blur occurs in the distance of 83% +\- 3% from the field of view centre.
6/10.0
Darkening at the edge the FOV
Very low.
4.4/5.0
Whiteness of the image
Light grey-pink.
4.1/5.0
Collimation
Perfect.
5/5.0
Internal reflections
Left:
Right:
Noticeable.
3.6/5.0
Housing
Very small. Stinking rubber on the casing. The eyecups twist up but are too short. A lot of grease. Solid, comfortable to hold.
6.3/8.0
Focusing
Central screw is convenient, the individual focusing on the right eyepiece – not so. Everything moves inside.
4.3/5.0
Tripod
The exit is not very comfortable.
2.5/3.0
Interpupilary distance
from 57.2 to 74.2mm
5/6.0
Closest focusing distance
1.15 m.
2/2.0
Eyepieces FOV
Apparent field of view of 48.8 deg (according to simple formula) and 46.2 deg (according to tangent formula).
3/20.0
Field of view
Measured by us amounted to 4.79 +\- 0.03 degrees and it was by 0.21 degree narrower than in specifications. A very narrow field of view for this equipment class.
4/8.0
Quality of the interior of the barrels
Dark but shiny. Scratched bottom. A lot of specks of dust.
3/5.0
Vignetting
Left:
Right:
OL: 0.0%, OP: 0.6%.
7.5/8.0
Prisms quality
Good quality BaK-4.
8/8.0
Antireflection coatings
Green-purple everywhere. Medium intensity.
4.5/5.0
Warranty [years]
5
3.5/6.0
Final result
59.8% 45th place in the overall ranking of the 10x42 binoculars’ test.
113.6 / 190 pkt
Econo result
34th place in the econo ranking of the 10x42 binoculars’ test.
-0.6pkt.
Summary
Pros:
solid and compact casing,
slight distortion,
chromatic aberration quite well corrected,
very low brightness loss at the edge of the field,
sharp image already from the distance of 1.15 metres!
good quality of prisms.
Wady:
very narrow field of view,
low transmission,
average blackening inside the barrels,
significant coma,
not very fragrant rubber on the casing.
Once again the price is not adequate to the possibilities. If only the Opticron Discovery cost 100-200 USD it would be able to compete successfully with such binoculars as the Vortex Crossfire, the Vortex Sidewinder or the Delta Optical Forest and it would be also one of our favorites in the lowest price segment. Seeing the price tag around 300 USD we might start to get interested in other instruments which fared much better and have a wider field of view ( like the Ecotone AD-7, the Vixen Apex Pro, the Eschenbach sektor D compact 10x42 B or the Swift Ultralite).