Have you ever decided to leave your binoculars behind, and then wished you hadn’t because you spotted something that really deserved a closer look?
That’s why James Marchington likes to slip a small pair of binos in his pocket at all times. “They weight very little and don’t take up much space, so you forget they’re there until you need them,” he says.
James really likes these Lightning Mini 10×25 binos from Eyeskey. “They’re relatively cheap at around £70, so I don’t worry about them getting bumped or scratched like I would an expensive pair. The optical quality is remarkable though.”
The 10×25 specification is a good compromise for pocket binoculars. They provide useful 10x magnification and the 25mm objective lenses allow a good, bright image in daylight. They’re not ideally suited to dawn and dusk, of course – that’s when you’d choose something with a larger objective lens, such as 8×42, which is inevitably heavier and bulkier to carry.
James is impressed with the optics of the Lightning Mini, commenting that “it’s a lovely sharp image with natural colours and plenty of contrast, and no sign of chromatic aberration.”
The lenses have anti-reflective multicoating to maximise light transmission, and the binoculars are nitrogen filled and O-ring sealed to make them fogproof and waterproof.
There’s a dual-hinge bridge with an inset low-profile focusing ring, twist-up rubber eyecups for use with or without glasses, and the rubber covering gives a firm grip and protects against knocks and scratches.
“All in all it’s a great little pair of binoculars at a bargain price of around £70,” says James.
Find out more or purchase at eyeskeyoptics.com
