Nikon Aculon T11 8-24x25mm Zoom Binoculars, Black

I got these binoculars for my wife. We do a lot of hunting and go on a lot of out door adventures. She loves how light these are, and loves that she can zoom in to take a closer look at things. She has been very happy with these so far. I've even borrowed them a few times because my binoculars are only a 7 power. These are nice & clear, but of course you may need to steady yourself when zoomed in. They are light and great for hiking & hunting, they would also be good for bird watching, or just checking out what that lump is on the hill.

I bought these for hiking, bird watching and any place where I have to cary tbese into the woods. After about two years of gently using them about thirty times or so, both lens cups for the eyes don't stay out when they are pulled out. I realize these are a delicate peace of equipment. So, I have been carefull with them. With that said, I expected Nikon binoculars to be made better. I'm very disappointed with this model of Nikon binoculars!!! In my opinion, Nikon did not live up to there reputation. Nikon definitely needs to fix this issue! Also, with these zoom Nikon compact binoculars and other compact zoom binoculars that I have tried, they ALL have been blurry at a high magnification. With these and other compact zoom binoculars, I can only see clearly at low magnification. I have found out from a high end camera store, that sell this model of Nikon binoculars, that ALL compact zoom binoculars are blurry at a high magnification. The store told me that the issue has to do with that there is not enough distance between the front and back lenz on compact zoom binoculars, that technology has not yet found a way to correct this issue with compact zoom binoculars. Also according to the store, full size zoom binoculars have this issue but not as much. The store also told me that if the full size binoculars are not the really expensive top end models, then even the full size zoom binoculars at high magnification will still be blurry, but to a lesser degree. So, I would NOT recomend buying zoom binoculars until the technology of zoom binoculars improves sometime in the future. Because of these two issues, I waisted my money on these binoculars. I have a another pair of compact Nikon binoculars that don't zoom. They are fixed lenses. They are better because they are not blurry when looking through them.

Powerful, clear and bright. Very compact for the power, will fit into a large jacket pocket like on a field jacket, or cargo pants pocket.We went from those compact 10x25's you get everywhere and are so cheap they are disposable - which they have their place, in the glovebox for when you forget to bring something. They are better than nothing.Then I got my wife the Pentax 8-16 compact, which was SOOOO much better, brighter. Larger than what we had, but still compact. Made me jealous, so I got these Nikons. Same size as the Pentax, bit more power on the zoom. We love 'em both. The Pentax is cheaper and lower power but still quite good. If you can spring for the Nikons, do so. Either set you will not be disappointed.

The Past:I had a pair of Nikon "Travelite" compact zoom binoculars for about 15 years until they finally got misplaced, lost or stolen somewhere ... haven't yet figured out when or how. I didn't use them all that often (e.g., sporting events, concerts, hiking, etc.), but liked them fine when I did.The Present:This "Aculon" model is apparently Nikon's current version of the same nocs, and I was able to get the price under $100 by applying some "points" I had built up over the Christmas season, so I went ahead and ordered a replacement pair. I think I would have tried another, less expensive brand if I hadn't gotten the discount, but I also would not have gotten the spectrum of zoom offered by this product.Optics/Eyepieces:I think the optics are every bit as good as the originals. Very clear and sharp to my eye, even at the highest zoom magnification. My previous pair had flexible eyecups on the eyepieces. These ones have a screw-out fitting/extension on each eyepiece instead. Works fine for the purpose (screen light entering between your eye and the lens), and probably a bit more stable/strong than the eyecups were.The movement of the eyepiece barrels when adjusting for individual eye separation is smooth and tight, but the point where the barrels contact/stop at the glossier, fixed-position plastic housing in the top/center of the nocs is a recess that will pinch the tips of your fingers if you have them too high up on the barrels when you open them up all the way to put the nocs back in their case. Just a design quirk to be aware of/get used to, I guess.Zoom:As many (including me) have previously said, the field of view (FOV) for these compact binoculars is fairly small to start with (that's the tradeoff for their compact, lightweight size), and use of the zoom function progressively: 1) reduces both the FOV and the amount of light passing through the lenses to your eyes, and 2) makes it more difficult to control "jitter" in your image. Translation: you probably won't be able to use much zoom for moving targets at all, and will need some kind of support accessory (e.g., monopod or hiking pole) for best zoom viewing of stationary targets.The zoom on this pair works with a lever on the top of the case, instead of a rotating eyepiece knob like the old ones ... makes it easier to operate the zoom while you're looking through the nocs. The zoom lever is smooth and easy from lowest magnification to highest ... it doesn't "stick" at any fixed magnification points (as one might think from the appearance of the labeling on the lever) ... definitely an improvement over the older version.Summary:All in all, I'm happy with these. Only "negative" impressions I have are actually "two-sided." These nocs just look and feel a bit more "plasticky" than my old ones. The rubberized armor coating that used to cover the eyepiece barrels seems to have been replaced with some kind of flat-finish plastic. However, the "business" parts of the nocs all seem to work just as well as my old ones, and the design changes/lighter materials make the nocs a bit easier to carry than their predecessors, which is definitely a good thing in a set of compact binoculars ... same performance, lighter carrying weight. That's an acceptable trade-off for me. Four stars.

It is a super portable and versatile binocular. The damp of the knobs are perfect with proper rotating resistance. It is light weight, handy and able to be continuously adjusted from 8* to 24*, but never sacrifice its capability of magnification and clearness. I highly recommend it and would like to give it a 6-start rating if I can. It is the best binocular you can have at this price.

Very disappointing. I returned mine. Spherical aberration at the edge of the viewing field when looking at ducks on the water in bright overcast- something you expect in a child’s toy, but not in this price range. Zoom does not hold focus at higher settings no matter how precise the focus at low power. Very hard to get a single viewing field and they seem to want to act as parallel monoculars ( as other reviewers have also noted.) Many better choices at this price point right here on Amazon.