Anyone tried the new Kowa BDII ?

[Newtosavage]

Birders are going pretty crazy over them. I was wondering if anyone here has laid hands on a pair?

 

[VernAK]

A few weeks ago,I called Doug and told him I needed a pair of moderately priced and moderately powered bimos for "truck binos" . I have some high end 10x42 European binos that are great for sheep and high country moose/caribou but I wanted some handy glass that would withstand abuse from riding on the dash or boat seat.

Doug suggested the new Kowa 6.5x BDII. I've used em for two weeks only but thus far I'm impressed. For predators, I'm often using them one handed for a quick look under some spruce or looking for birds on the skyline.

That's not much of an endurance test and I haven't compared them side by side with other binos but they are certainly meeting my needs at a price <$400.......

I am not a fan of high X optics for my hunting whether it be rifle scopes, binos or spotting scopes. I find moderate X in optics to be much more user friendly in most situations.

 

[Newtosavage]

Yea, the birders are going nuts for the 6.5x's. I'm an 8x42 user, so like you I'm not really into high x optics, but I'm also not sure about 6.5's either. The few reviews I've read were not as glowing over the 8's, but that could just be because some of those folks wanted the 6.5's so much and were thrilled to get them.

Optically, where would you put your 6.5's?

 

[binoman]

Birders are going pretty crazy over them. I was wondering if anyone here has laid hands on a pair?

Just bought a pair of 6.5s from camera land (thanks Doug)! The wide field is very noticeable when comparing to a Leupold bx4 8x32 and a vortex raptor 6.5x32 porro binocular. The sweet spot is very sharp and colours are very well represented , better than the vortex and Leupold. Due to the wide field some distortion and fuzzy edges are noticeable as you move to the edges. The Leupold was better in this area. CA was very slight but you really had to look hard for it.

I let my eight year old son look through it and his first response was “wow”!! It’s a very easy binocular to use. The depth of field is amazing and requires very little focusing when looking at objects at different distances. View is very bright.

The one thing I don’t like is at night, if you look at a bright light there are distinct flares around it which was more suppressed or non existent in other binoculars I have tested. During the day the image is great.

Focus wheel has a bit of slop but not bothersome and I can live with it.

I don’t think I will be mounting this on a tripod anytime so it will be used for quick hand held observing. When comparing it with an 8x32 I was able to resolve pretty much the same details from the same distance while hand held, likely due to less shakes from a slightly lower power. I’m almost thinking this may replace my 8x32 as my hand held bino due to its brighter view, better depth of field and ease of use.

There is a good review of them on albinos.com and their findings are essentially the same as what I have seen.

 

[Newtosavage]

Thanks for the review Binoman. I've read about focus wheel slop in three reviews now, and that is one thing I can't personally stand. I sure wish the chinese would get their act together. It seems so many chinese made bins have this focus wheel problem. It is literally the only thing that separates my wife's Bushnell Legend M's from binoculars that cost 5x as much. Doesn't bother my wife, so she's thrilled with them, but I can hardly use them.

 

[BigWoods]

Just bought a pair of 6.5s from camera land (thanks Doug)! The wide field is very noticeable when comparing to a Leupold bx4 8x32 and a vortex raptor 6.5x32 porro binocular. The sweet spot is very sharp and colours are very well represented , better than the vortex and Leupold. Due to the wide field some distortion and fuzzy edges are noticeable as you move to the edges. The Leupold was better in this area. CA was very slight but you really had to look hard for it.

I let my eight year old son look through it and his first response was “wow”!! It’s a very easy binocular to use. The depth of field is amazing and requires very little focusing when looking at objects at different distances. View is very bright.

The one thing I don’t like is at night, if you look at a bright light there are distinct flares around it which was more suppressed or non existent in other binoculars I have tested. During the day the image is great.

Focus wheel has a bit of slop but not bothersome and I can live with it.

I don’t think I will be mounting this on a tripod anytime so it will be used for quick hand held observing. When comparing it with an 8x32 I was able to resolve pretty much the same details from the same distance while hand held, likely due to less shakes from a slightly lower power. I’m almost thinking this may replace my 8x32 as my hand held bino due to its brighter view, better depth of field and ease of use.

There is a good review of them on albinos.com and their findings are essentially the same as what I have seen.

Well is sounds as though that significant depth of field might go a good way in making up for the focusing slop since one wouldn't be doing as much focusing. I find when scanning through binos while stand hunting in the woods that I tend to set the focus just past the edge of where I can clearly make out detail with my naked eye.

 

[Newtosavage]

Well is sounds as though that significant depth of field might go a good way in making up for the focusing slop since one wouldn't be doing as much focusing. I find when scanning through binos while stand hunting in the woods that I tend to set the focus just past the edge of where I can clearly make out detail with my naked eye.

I think you're right about that. And 6.5x would be useful in dark woods.

 

[binoman]

I think you're right about that. And 6.5x would be useful in dark woods.

I've had a chance to try these out some more. The sweet spot is definitely very sharp. Id say a tad sharper than my leupold bx-4 8x32. Its also brighter and the colours better represented. Did some tests looking at an object only 50ft away. Other objects maybe 10-15 ft past were still in focus. With my 8x32 that was not the case, it had to be refocused. So the depth of field is noticeably better.

Also, the wide field of view is becoming more apparent everytime I look through other binoculars. It almost seems like I'm looking through a narrow tunnel when I switch to the 8x32. Handheld, I'm not sure how much more detail you will be able to gather between the two, so I'd rather go for the Kowa with a bigger exit pupil, better depth of focus and wider field of view.