10×42 SE
$309.95
10×42 SE
$309.95
In stock.
The Oberwerk SE (Special Edition) Series are based on the discontinued SE models from a well-known Japanese brand. Our SE’s have the same ergonomic and lightweight design, but we improved the optical quality by using FK-61 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass objectives, which eliminate chromatic aberration (false-color fringing). The 10×42’s wide 6.5° FOV (Field of View) is also wider than the discontinued 10×42 SE. The 10×42 SE is the mid-size of the SE family, with rugged construction and precise center focuser, which can focus as close as 15 feet away. Of course they are fully broadband multi-coated, waterproof, and nitrogen charged. Includes a rugged padded soft case, caps, and a neck strap.
Recommended mounts-
Oberwerk 2000 Monopod
Oberwerk 3000 Tripod
Read the 10×42 SE review by renowned astronomy author Neil English.
Additional information
| Weight | 4 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 13 × 11 × 7 in |
| Exit Pupil | 4.2mm |
| IPD Range | 56mm – 76mm |
| Minimum Focus | 4m |
| Product Weight | 2.0 lbs. |
| Product Dimensions | L=6", W=6.5", H=2.5" |
Hans van Nigtevecht (verified owner) –
I have a great interest in binoculars and telescopes. So when I read the review of Neil English on the Oberwerk 10×42 SE this attracted my attention and I bought this binocular from Oberwerk.com.
This weekend I compared the optical properties of the Oberwerk 10×42 SE with my Zeiss SF 10×32.
I know this is really not a fair comparison. But that is what I did. And the results are really surprising.
I have done the tests with a tripod and without glasses. My 22 year old son with very good vision confirmed what I saw. It is not just my eyes seeing this.
These are the tests I have done:
In the morning, it was sunny
– I have a test chart with text with different font sizes. I placed it at about 12 meters distance. I can just read the smallest font with the Zeiss SF.
I have tried many roof prism binoculars in the price range of about 500 – 800 $ and with none of these I could read the smallest font at this distance.
I compared the Oberwerk 10×42 ES and the Zeiss SF and to be honest the difference is very small. I cannot tell which one is sharper (in the center and edge).
· Spider web at about 15 meters aways. Again the difference is extremely small.
· I looked at branches of a tree against the sky to look for chromatic aberration (CA). In the centre both show no CA. On the edge the Zeiss SF is slightly better but still hard to tell the difference.
In the evening with light from a bright street light about 20 meters away.
· Look straight at the very bright street light. Both binoculars show a perfect view. No false colors or other aberrations. You can easily see all the bugs on the lamp.
· Licence plate of a car parked at about 30 meters. The Oberwerk shows a slightly brighter view due to the larger lens, furthermore no clear difference in sharpness.
A few days later I got a chance to look at a full Moon and Jupiter with its moons. The views were perfect. I did not see any false colours or other aberrations.
This is an exceptional binocular with amazing optical performance very comparable to a 6x more expensive roof prism binocular.
Eddie (verified owner) –
I have now had these binoculars for 6 months and have used them specifically for hunting. As of now, the only complaint I have is that I wish the eye cups had a little more tension to them so that they don’t retract on me so easily. Optics are amazing for the price. Resolution, color, and clarity are every bit as good as some of the other higher end optics that I have. I’ve even used these binoculars to spot deer at night and the light gathering ability is impressive to pay the least.
Paul Larkin –
Firstly I should say I prefer porro prisms to roof prism binoculars, you get better optical quality for your money with porros and the one time advantage of roofs, being waterproof, is now not an issue.
I’d always wanted Nikon SEs but never managed to get a pair so I was intrigued by the Oberwerk 10×42 SEs.
Having ordered them from the ‘States via Amazon UK, on receiving them I did a rough check to see if the alignment had suffered on the journey. I did this by defocusing the diopter whilst looking at a 2nd magnitude star and checking focused image was central to the out of focus image. This seemed OK.
I wear spectacles and the eye relief was very good (but see comment later).
I use Swift Audubon 8.5×42 ED for birding and Nikon 10×42 Monarch HG for insects, mainly because of their close focus. I compared the Oberwerk to the Nikons and found the edge to edge sharpness of the Oberwerk was better, in fact I could detect no drop off, as was the image brightness, and that they had no visible chromatic aberration when viewing against the light. When assessing the latter I did not wear my spectacles as I’ve found before that these can cause CA. There was no flaring when viewing stars at the edge of the field so very little distortion. Overall the optical quality was better in the Oberwerk. The close focus was nowhere near as good but was better than my Swifts and more than adequate for birding. The close focus seemed not as good as the specification but I’m a spectacle wearer and I’ve found this is the case with most binoculars. Without my spectacles it was within spec. I was going to carry out some resolution tests but I decided this was pointless because the theoretical resolution should be around 3 arc/secs, average eyesight is about 1 min/arc so at 10x you’re looking at 6 arc/secs so, as I’ve often said, my worst optical equipment is my eyes!
I think these are exceptional glasses. Better than my Nikons at a third of the cost. In some fora discussions about these glasses I’ve seen comments to the effect that you cannot expect a £300 pair of glasses to be as good as a £2000 pair. Well these are better than my £1000 Nikon pair (apart from the close focus) and, to my eye, I suspect they ARE as good as a £2000 pair.
Now the down side. The rain guards are too tight and would be better if they were of the type that loosely fits over both eyepieces. The eye relief adjustment is too loose and with no positive click stops. With my spectacles I need them raised about 1/8 inch, so between click stops, and being so loose they would not stay in this position and, given the tight rain guard, they moved even more when I removed this thus resulting in continuous readjustment. The former was easily solved by placing suitable sized elastic bands under the eye relief adjusters. However this does not solve the rain guard problem.
The case is nicely padded and robust and I prefer this soft type but the strap attachments need to be higher on the case. They are in the middle and so if you pick the case up by the strap it can tilt forward and, if the lid is not closed, overturn and tip the binoculars out. Not a good thing! The flap lock is attached to the inside the flap. Whilst this may be ascetically more pleasing when closed it makes it difficult to use, this should be moved to the outside.
To sum up the Oberwerk 10×42 SE is optically superb and one of the best porro prism birding binoculars I’ve used and is optically on a par with top of the range roof prisms but it is let down slightly by some of the peripherals. With some design tweaks these could be rectified. For value for money I doubt if they can be bettered.