In recent years, smaller Porro-style binoculars have somewhat fallen out of favor over the more-compact roof prism style. In fact, a well-known Japanese brand discontinued their highly-regarded SE line of Porro-prism models in favor of their roof-prism models. But many binocular aficionados prefer the Porro style not only for greater performance for the dollar, but also a greater feeling of 3D from the wider separation of the objective lenses- so fans of the SE’s were disappointed with the decision to discontinue them. Oberwerk’s new SE Series have a similar ergonomic design of the original SE’s, but have improved optical performance by using FK-61 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass objectives, which eliminate chromatic aberration (false-color fringing). The Oberwerk SE’s have a significantly-wider FOV than the originals, yet are surprisingly-sharp to the edge. Unlike the original SE’s the Oberwerk models are waterproof and nitrogen-filled. Available in 8×32, 10×42, and 12×50.
