£135
Reviewed by Matt Merritt
In recent years I’ve come to appreciate the virtues of a smaller, lighter binocular for certain occasions – when walking the dogs, for example, or to tuck away in a coat pocket when travelling, or to take along on a long mountain hike.
In part, it’s also been about the fact that binoculars smaller than the ‘standard’ 8x42 have been getting better and better (like all optics), thanks to much better glass and various other new technologies.
So, I tried out the cheapest of Hawke’s 8x32s – at just £135 they look like an ideal candidate for a spare or second pair of bins.
First thing to say is that they’re light – really light – at just 418g, and to be honest they don’t even really feel that, which is testament to a well-balanced design.
That’s not to say they feel flimsy, though. All Hawke’s bins in recent years have felt robust and well put-together, and there’s nothing here that makes me think these would struggle to cope with a lot of everyday use. There’s good solid rubber armour, and they’re easy to grip with or without gloves.
They’re compact in size, too, fitting one hand well, which makes them perfect for taking along when doing some other activity along the lines of those mentioned earlier.
What about the image they produce? Well, the colour looked very natural, and the view was bright, although you did start to notice a fall-off in really low light, as you’d expect.
Contrast and sharpness are both very good and the field of view 131m@1000m.
There is a bit of a fall-off in sharpness towards the edge of the image, but it wasn’t something that caused me any problems or was even particularly noticeable in normal use – sometimes when reviewing optics you can forget that the average user isn’t actively looking for faults, and just wants to watch birds!
There was some colour-fringing against very strong light, although nothing too distracting, and by getting your eye position right you can eliminate much of it. Check it for yourself, though – some users find almost any chromatic aberration a problem.
Close focus is 2m, which seems fairly standard these days but is really pretty good – it makes these a good option for the bug-watchers among you.
The focus wheel is just over a finger wide and has a well-ridged surface for extra grip. It took 1.75 anti-clockwise turns from close focus to infinity, and moved smoothly and relatively stiffly.
The dioptre adjustment is situated on the right barrel, and although it is not calibrated it was easy to find the right position. It stayed in place well in extended use, too.
The eyecups are covered with smooth rubber, and twist up and down to four positions – these lock in place well and didn’t move at all during use in the field.
The accessories are pretty good, too – a comfortable, padded neck strap, objective lens covers, a well-designed and easy to fit and remove rainguard, and a soft carrying case. Such things are never going to be deal-breakers, but in my experience Hawke take plenty of care in including rainguards that are easy and quick to use, something that’s not always true elsewhere in the market.
Length: 123 x 118 mm
Weight: 418g
Field of view: 131m@1000m
Close focus: 2m
Eye relief: 16mm
Website: hawkeoptics.com
Verdict
For the price, these are really pretty outstanding, delivering good all-round performance in a fuss-free design that is extremely light and compact. For the typical ‘casual birder’, they do everything you’d want, but they’re also ideal for those of us who want a second (or third) pair to keep as spare, take along on other activities, or to use for all-round nature-watching. Try them yourself – I think you’ll be impressed.