Last August I had the opportunity to visit the British Birdfair in Rutland Waters (about 2 hours from London). It is a wonderful event with about 25,000 Brits on hand to see the latest in optics, birding equipment and places to watch birds around the world.
While I expected to see the latest and greatest in birding optics, one of the biggest surprises was what I found in the Celestron stand.
Celestron is well-known in the world of astronomy, not so much for top line binoculars well-suited for bird watching. I stopped by their booth anyway and asked what was new.
The Granite line of binoculars is new, I was told.
What a name, I said to myself. These will be another pair of binoculars that appeal to families looking for something to take to a football game, but not something for the more serious birder.
I still think the Granite name is a strange choice for appealing to birders and nature lovers, but boy have I changed my opinion on the binoculars themselves. I liked them so much that I requested a pair to review and have been enjoying them for a couple of weeks, including a nice try-out at the Midwest Birding Symposium. They have not disappointed.
I have been using the 8x42 model, but the Granites come in a 10X model also. I normally prefer a 10X but 8x seems to be more popular with most birders.
What did I like? Almost everything.
Ergonomics
The Granites have a black, rubber armored coating that has a nice visual appeal and is comfortable in the hand. While not a true compact binocular, they are relatively small and light weight. From a size perspective, they remind me somewhat of the Leica Trinivoid binoculars.
The eye cups twist smoothly up and down with two stopping points. I wear glasses and I saw no significant reduction in the field of view when using the binoculars with or without glasses.
Optics
The lenses provide a sharp image without any color aberrations on the edges. The image brightness is excellent, even in evening light.
They have a wide field of view of 8.1 deg. (426 ft. at 1000 yards) and a close focus distance of a little over 6 feet. Excellent numbers for birders.
The only negative from my perspective was the focus knob. It seemed a little loose to me and it takes a light touch to bring images to their sharpest focus point.
Little things
The rain covers for the objective lenses will probably be quickly lost.
The Granites come with a fairly nice neck strap and a harness strap-useful when birding for long periods.
Price
The retail price of the 8x42 Granites is $439.00.
For the price, these binoculars offer excellent value and continue a trend in recent years. The optics quality of mid-level priced binoculars ($400 to $1000) now compare quite favorably with well-known brands with prices that exceed $2000.
The Lifetime No-Fault warranty is applicable to all Celestron binoculars.
Detailed specifications from the Celestron web site are shown below.
I'll return my evaluation sample with great reluctance.
Sam Crowe - web site editor
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