Superb 7x32 binocular at a great price! - Pentax AD 7x32mm ED Roof Prism Binoculars

I wanted to try the Pentax 7x32 ED because I think their Papilio is a great binocular for $100, so I ordered one from Amazon.com and got it a few days ago, so I have had time to field test it. It is an impressive binocular at the $300 price point. The FOV is 7.8 degrees, so it is right up there with most of the 7x binoculars, outside of the Zeiss 7x42 FL. It has ED glass, and it is very effective because I saw no CA in the center or on the edge of the FOV. These rank up there with the Zeiss FL for CA control, which are one of the best.
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What surprised me is the FOV is sharp right to the edge, almost like a Swarovski EL. I didn't expect that! The Pentax is very sharp on-axis, and it is very bright for its aperture. These handle glare very well for their smaller aperture, compared to a 42 mm. They are very compact and light at about 20 oz. so they are easy to carry while hiking. The focuser is very smooth and easy and doesn't have any excessive play or stiction. The diopter setting is on the right eye cup and stays pretty much where you set it. The IPD hinge moves smoothly and has perfect tension to keep it from moving.

These are well armored and the armor appears durable and looks like it will last. The eye cups are comfortable and are big enough, so they don't go too far into your eye sockets and have two click stops and on the 2nd click stop I never had any black-outs at all and the eye placement was very comfortable with the large EP.

They come with a nice case and well padded strap with tethered objective covers and a one piece rain guard that attaches to the strap, so you don't need to go out and buy any accessories. Unlike the Leica Retrovid 7x35, these are totally waterproof and fog proof, being nitrogen filled. If you want a compact 7x, and you don't like the small 6.5 degrees FOV of the Maven C2 7x28, and you don't want to spend $1400 for the Leica Retrovid 7x35, these might fill the bill. I like them a lot.

There is a similar version made by Hawk called the Marine, but it is targeted towards the boating crowd, being blue. The Pentax are also available in a 10x32 ED or 7x42 ED and 10x42 ED if you want a little more light and easier eye placement with a bigger EP. The bigger models are still compact and only weigh 25 oz. which is pretty light for a 42 mm, and they retail for about $380.

FOV of Various 7x Binoculars
1) Zeiss FL 7x42 8.6 degree
2) Leica UVHD+ 7x42 8.0 degree
3) Leica Retrovid 7x42 8.0 degree
4) Pentax UD 7x32 HD 7.8 degree
5) Curio 7x21 7.7 degree
6) Maven C2 7x28 6.5 degree
7) Habicht 7x42 6.4 degree