Reviews & Ratings for Nikon ProStaff 5 12x50mm Roof Prism Binocular — 6 reviews — Page 1

I have in the past written some partially damning reviews of the Nikon Prostaff 5 12x50 roof prism bins, how they don't adapt to a tripod and such, venting my annoyance at having to get a universal tripod mount rather than a simple L-adapter, etc.
At this time, though, in light of my first experience with them, this time astronomically, I feel compelled to express how satisfied I am with their performance. Last night - well, actually early this morning - with one of the best skies I've had in some time and late enough for Canis Major to give way to the rather comparatively bleak array of stars in Puppis, rife as it is with open clusters of many descriptions, I began at M41 (CMa) South of Sirius, an easy find, widely scattered starburst as it is, first notably written about by Aristotle in 325 B.C.; then naturally going East to the smaller diffuse glow around NGC 2360 (still in the big dog's yard), more difficult but conspicuous with averted vision; now Puppis: here where the treat of three Messier objects beckons - first one scopes out M 93, a fine triangular glow in the 12xs; I found quickly M's 46 & 47, only around a degree apart. 46 is a haze of about 100 members, mag. 9-13, so not resolvable at 12x; I read that there's a tiny planetary, NCC 2438, 11 Mag. and but 65" wide invisibly lurking there; now continuing on M 47 is a glittering 4.5 mag. jewelbox outshining the other 2 handily. I could go on, but I spent much more of the rather frigid night peering at all 5 clusters...
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I truly like everything concerning these, with the glaring exception that Nikon fails to state that they are not tripod adaptable in the normal sense of the phrase. One usually does it simply by unscrewing the axis point covering cap to reveal a 14"-20 female thread, which is the norm. The exposed thread, if and when you can get off the cap, fits none of the three threaded adapters I own. Nikon is remiss in undisclosing this oddity. When the cap is off, the central hinge becomes quite loose and therefore requires replacing the cap very tightly,the optional purchase of a "universal binocular mount", two straps on either side of a plate that attaches to a tripod. This -$20 extra really ought to be mentioned in the descriptive section!

I mangled the cap removing it, Nikon promised a replacent, but that was nearly half a year ago. C'mon!

In many ways there are nice things. Feels really good in your hands. They give a sharp image and center wheel turns smoothly.
What I dislike is the right ocular is so darn stiff. Compared to my other binoculars there is not a lot of light coming in.

Bought this item to replace a pair of Nikon 10x42mm ProStaff binoculars that I gave to my son to use hunting. I really liked the 10x42 set so I decided to step up the magnification to 12x. Made a real difference when looking side by side with the 10x set.
These binoculars have rubber coated outer and are very clear. They also gather light well. Great set of binoculars for the cost.