This little guy delivers the goods - Sightron SII Blue Sky 8x32mm Roof Prism Binocular

I'm pretty picky about optics, having pursued astronomical observing avidly for about 15 years now. Recently I've taken up birding and find it a very engaging hobby, one that doesn't require a clear dark sky for its pursuit. I generally prefer a 10x binocular, since most of my birding is done at distance, but when walking down my lane I like to have something wider for looking up into the tree canopy, and I don't want it to weigh too much. So, while I'm contemplating spending a bundle on something special in a 10x42, I also wanted a serviceable 8x32 that wouldn't break the bank.

The Sightron SII Bluesky 8x32 has lived up to its reviews. I find it to be more or less free of chromatic aberration, to which I am fairly sensitive. For example, I see quite a bit of CA in my Eagle Optics 10x42 Rangers, enough to be off-putting. I don't see any CA on axis in the Sightron, and just a bit near the edge of the field. The sweet spot extends over roughly 80% of the diameter of the field; there is some astigmatism and a small amount of distortion in the last 10%. The field appears to be a true 7.5 degrees—plenty for following birds in flight—giving the eyepieces an apparent field of 60 degrees. Eye relief is excellent for eyeglass wearers, myself included. Close focus (with my glasses on) is about 8 feet. The focuser is smooth and relatively fast, taking about 1 full turn from infinity to close focus. The focuser rotates far enough past infinity that I can use the binocular without my glasses on—accommodating about 5 diopters of myopia in my left eye. (However, I generally use the binocular with glasses on.) The right diopter adjustment takes a bit of work, but once set holds its position well. The binocular weighs in at just 17 ounces on my postal scale, and just over 18 ounces including rainguard and neck strap.

Accessories are a bit cheap (strap, lens covers) but acceptable; the rainguard is a single piece of plastic that covers the eyepieces at any IPD; the objective covers are a one-piece bikini arrangement that snap into the objective ends of the binocular quite firmly—but I don't use them; the neck strap is a thin material, not quite 1 inch wide. Down the road I might pick up a better neck strap, but for now the binocular is light enough that I don't miss the comfy neoprene strap of my other binocular.

However, where it counts, the binocular delivers: it offers very crisp views with good depth of field and natural colors. In short, it does the job well, offering nothing objectionable, and I feel no lack of quality urging me on to something better in this class.