Bfull 12x50 binoculars: a quick review

[Barnacle]

Bfull 12x 50mm binoculars (Made in China)
Bought an unused unit of this binoculars second hand. The objective lens and eyepieces both have a green coating.

https://www.amazon.com/BFULL-Binoculars ... B073ZZMTLB

The seller originally purchased this pair for having a closer look at wildlife on her cruise trip to Antarctica, supposed to set off two days after the ill fated Greg Mortimer bound for Antarctica with its share of infected COVID-19 passengers.

They were eventually allowed to port in the only South American country that was willing to let them disembark on its shore: Uruguay, and were transported back to Australia back on an Uruguayan plane(kudos to Uruguayans). As her trip got canned, she offloaded the binocs to me.

As for me It is ideal for looking up at the night sky, especially now that we are house bound.

Ran some tests on this Bfull unit.

The torch light test says its aperture is 45mm and not 50mm.

This is due to the inner ring of plastic inside the lens barrel constricting its light path from the 50mm objectives.

Another observation is that it is not Bak-4 prism but Bak-7 instead, as the diamond shadow is clearly evident.

It is also not 12x, but 9x instead.

It is definitely not 8.2 degrees but 5.4 degrees. If it is really 8.2 degrees, it will be 6x instead.

I compared with my 12 x 60mm Optix binoculars (5 degrees, aperture stopped insider objeftive barrel to 12 x50mm instead) and my labelled 7x50 (really 5x20mm due to aperture stop inside objective lens barrel) K mart Kids Science binoculars (3.75 degrees with ruby non-achromatic objective lens and Huygens eyepieces to boot!), looking at the top of distant apartment building.

It is also not fog proof, ie, not nitrogen filled based on its construction. It is more water resistant as opposed to water proof.

It is OK when I watched the night sky and Milky Way with it.

Don't over pay, if you can pick up for $15 or less for a used unit to keep in the glove box of your car, then may be worth it.

Take care and keep safe,

Bill

[Barnacle]

Omitted torch light test image, 45mm instead of 50mm, ie, aperture stopper ring within objective lens barrel now included.

Thanks.

[The Happy Parrot]

Interesting review Barnacle.

That's quite the description they post on the Amazon link. I wonder what they mean by "weak light night vision"?

[drock]

Thanks for the info!

[Barnacle]

Happy Parrot,

Weak light night vision probably means "low night night vision" mate.
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/2937 ... equipment/

Whatever it is, it is not this pair of Bfull binocs is equipped with, when compared with the real McCoy below.

http://nightvisionastronomy.com/gallery/

It is nothing more than gimmicks, misleading advertising and falsely labelled optical products which is cheap and common these days.

In the end, it is not the worst binocs I have seen, at least the Bfull objectives are non-ruby achromats, the eyepieces are not Huygenians.

It is a mediocre product, worth $15 or less if chance upon it.

I am planning to scrape off the aperture ring with a stanley knife to increase the aperture back to 50mm when I have time later.

The eyepieces of the unit will be swapped with another pair which has larger objectives but currently have sub-par (cheap) zoom eyepieces.

Keep safe,

Bill

[DeanD]

Hi Bill,

If you are going to dismantle them to remove the aperture ring etc, why not make them into 2 correct view finders? I did this with a used Pentax pair many years back: they were terrific as finders.

BTW, I see that the "BIPH" night vision eyepiece is a proscribed export from the US: can't get them here in Oz without jumping through all sorts of hoops because we might steal the Gen 3 military technology... and I thought we were "best buds" with the US?

[Barnacle]

Hi Dean,

Thanks for your reply, I struggle with using right angle finders to aim my scopes, I don't know how to use them well.

I read Glenn LeDrew's DIY rignt angle binoculars in Sky & Telsescope 1990s edition, interesting but I am not too mechanically minded to achieve what he accomplished, ie, able to collimate his right angle binocs too.

As for the night vision googles, yes, Generation 3 is not yet an astro item here in our land of Oz.

https://www.ozscopes.com.au/night-vision

I am keen to use the eyepieces to swap with the crappy zoom eyepieces on the 80mm binocs, as zoom eyepieces are useless and with narrow field of view.

As for the 50mm objectives once scrapped the aperture restrictor ring off, I will put it back in the Bfull and have it coupled with that K-mart binocs which has Huygenian eyepieces.

Ultimately, the K mart binocs will end up with the crappy zoom eyepieces that came off the 80mm. Given it has ruby non-achromat objectives, coupled it with narrow field crappy eyepiece won't hurt it much. Nice experiment once they are all completed.

Thanks and keep safe.

Bill