AllBinos.com

Cons: - Out of the box the diopter ring had to be turned halfway between the neutral position and the stop to get the tubes focus identically. - Device is so similar to the Celestron Trailseeker 8x42 that I suspect there is the same construction fault - PLEASE NOTE that this assumption is not necessarily correct! See summary for details. - Optical quality is so similar to the Trailseeker 8x42 that the price difference isn´t justified, unless the Granite ED should prove more reliable (499 Euros vs. 240 Euros). - Objective caps are the most silly construction one can imagine: hard to put on, even harder to take off - and when you lift your gaze some way over the horizon the caps just flip in their closed position - and you see nothing anymore!

Pros: - Good specifications, optical and outward - Good optics - Overall feel is good, only the focus wheel has a little slack - The bino is not as ugly as it appears on most photos (though I didn´t find it too appealing either).

Summary: If you want to fully understand my doubts about this device, please have a look at my opinion on the Celestron Trailseeker 8x42 first, where I had 6 warranty cases in 3 years (mostly focus issues). Now, apart from the double hinge design and the ED glass, the Granite ED seems to be exactly the same bino. Dimensions and weight are very similar, optical specifications are perfectly identical. - Since I liked the optics and dimensions of the Trailseeker a lot (as long as it worked), I thought the Granite ED might be the better version and ordered it. I was disappointed, however: The image was just slightly better, having a tiny bit less CA. And when I had to turn the diopter ring far off the neutral position to get the tubes focus identically, I somehow felt that the Trailseeker´s endless history of focus issues would continue in this device. I may be wrong, but I didn´t feel like trying it out. - If this bino should actually prove more reliable than its cheaper brother, I could seriously recommend it.