Barska x-trail 20x80 - Barska X-Trail 20x80mm Porro Prism Binoculars

This pair are FMC, rubber coated, sport a center reinforcing bar and 3.3 degree
field. They are housed in a hard leather case.T hey are remarkably lightweight and balance
easily by holding the objective
cells. Eye
relief was very comfortable using glasses. All optics do show the telltale blue-green tint
of FMC, so I was pleased with that feature.

First night out on stars revealed some miscollimation, but as I adjusted IPD from narrow
to wide, the collimation improved. More fiddling with focus improved this further. I did
determine that the housing contains prism adjustment screws but at the moment, it is not
really justified. I've spent three nights observing so far, mainly on the M42 region and
clusters in the general vicinity. In a word- optically good, mechanically good, wow
factor very good. The 20x magnification and decent eye relief create a "magnified
window on sky" effect which I find pleasing. Edge distortion is quite low. Color correction
is as good or better on bright objects than my Oberwerk 15x60s. Also, I was able to
show all the Orion belt stars (3 degrees) with maybe another 1/4 degree to spare.
Despite the fact that the prism housing seems sized roughly for a 60mm objective, I did
not notice strong vignetting (light dropoff at the edges). I looked for but did not find any
off-axis glare due to odd reflections inside the barrels. I will say that the optics do not
provide pinpoint sharpness which I have become accustomed to using my Fuji 10x70s.
One indication of this is how the milky way backgound is resolved, into a fuzzy haze or
into thousands of faint stars.The Barskas show a view in between, with partial resolution.
Still- a great result for 1/6 the price of Fujis.

My real surprise so far was a resolved view of M37, dense cluster in Auriga. While it
is bright and large, I have not seen a binocular view yet which resolved the mass of stars
it is composed of. In the Barskas this is accomplished nicely. Perhaps 15 stars are
resolved against a grainy background. It was this view that convinced me to keep the
binos and adapt to whatever quirks they offer. The
nights these tests were performed also included a bright 5-7 day moon. Turning to
the moon itself revealed good resolution along the terminator as well as a faint star
about to be occulted along the unlit edge.
Pros: Lightweight, good balance, wide field, great value
Cons: Less durable due to plastic constuction

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.