Minolta Activa D WP XL binoculars

[jackfish]

Well, I have had some time now with the Minolta Activa D WP XL 8x42mm binoculars I bought for my wife. I am pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of these Chinese made optics. The image is clear and bright, and they appear to be well collimated, seemingly equally the view of mid-range roof prism binoculars like Wind River Olympics, Nikon Monarchs and the Pentax DCF HRII. They are not as good as my Eagle Optics Ranger Platinum Class. The focus is precise and the click stops on the diopter and eyecups are positive. They are very light and I do not know how rugged they are, but they have a polycarbonate and fiberglass construction as does the Pentax DCF HRII. Both I and my wife think they are comfortable to use. They come with a decent foam padded vinyl case, a padded strap, rain guard and objective lens caps. The case and rain guard should be very servicable; I replaced the strap with an Eagle Optics Bino System Harness and the lens caps with Eagle Optics tethered lens caps. I think these binoculars will be appreciated for the wildlife viewing my wife does after years of using Bushnell Trophy 8x32mm and Wind River 8x24mm binoculars. For $200, they are an example of the strides Chinese optics manufacturing is making. I guess we will just have to see how they hold up after years of use.

Minolta binocular website

Press Release

This binocular at Adorama