Nikon Action VII 10x40 Binoculars: Good Value?

This weeks question comes from someone that has a small budget looking for some advice on the Nikon Action VII 10x40 Binoculars and if they will work well for coastal views:

Question

I have recently relocated to a coastal resort where the scenery is constantly changing and we are lucky enough to have local marine life like our resident seal. I would love to purchase a pair of binoculars so that I may enjoy it more. I only have a small budget and have seen a pair of Nikon Action VII 10x40 Binoculars, that seem ideal for a novice like myself. Would you recommend these for a first time buyer who has absolutely no idea what features to look for?

Answer

I have just had a look at their stats and these are a few of the things I have noticed:

Things I like about the Nikon Action VII 10x40 Binoculars

• I like the fact that thy have aspherical eyepiece lenses that decrease distortion when compared to normal eyepieces.
• I like your choice of a powerful 10x magnification for wide open areas like places with coastal views.
• The price is pretty good

What I don’t like about the Nikon 10x40 Action VII Binoculars
I am a little concerned about how well they will perform in poor light conditions as they have slightly smaller than usual objective lens diameters – The Nikon Action VII 10x40 has 40mm’s whilst most full size binoculars usually have 42mm ones. What this means is that a 10x40 binocular has an Exit Pupil of 4.0 and a Twilight Factor of 20, for comparison a more standard 10x42 binocular is 4.2 and 20.5, which is only slightly different, but would mean that a 10x42 should perform slightly better in low light conditions. This is not an issue if you don’t really plan on using them when the light is very bad and it does have the advantage of making the binocular slightly smaller and lighter.

If you are worried, maybe consider the Nikon Action 10x50 Binoculars, which have a similar price tag, larger 50mm objective lenses, exit pupil of 5.0 and a twilight factor of 22.4 – making them pretty good in low light conditions. They also have a wider field of view and more eye relief – which is only really important if you wear glasses. On the down side, the 10x50’s will be bigger and heavier than to 10x40’s.

They have Multilayer-coated lenses, which is not bad, but could be better – I would have liked to seen them being fully multi-coated, rather than just multi coated which implies that most, but not all air to glass surfaces have been coated.

Conclusion
I would say that your choice of a porro prism binocular rather than a roof prism one at this price point is a good one – generally cheap porro prism binoculars are a little better as they are technically easier for the manufacturer to get right.

Overall, I would say that for their money about £76.69 in the UK / $63.39 in the USA they are a pretty sold binocular and should work well enough for you.

Possible Alternatives
I am not sure where you live, but if it is in the UK, you may wish to consider the Barr & Stroud 10x42 Sierra (not yet available in the US) that I recently tested, the cost a little more about £91 (on amazon.co.uk) but I think for the amount make really good value.

I also already mentioned the Nikon Action 10x50 (for sale in the UK / in the USA), which is a good idea if you want better performance in poorer light conditions, but are not too worried about size.