Nikon Action 12x50 Reviews

12x50 not as good as expected based on reviews
by Rick Taylor from Kentucky, 2009-06-01

Note updated March 2010: Amazon has now separated the reviews back into separate magnifications and is no longer combining the reviews as they did when I originally wrote this review!

Note: Amazon is combining reviews for Action Extreme models with 50mm objectives; 7x50, 10x50, 12x50, 16x50 etc.

We already had the Nikon Action 8x40 which I think was reasonable quality for $60, but I was somewhat disappointed by the Action Extreme 12x50 I bought when I wanted something waterproof and with more reach. Both the Action and Action Extreme have a lot of internal reflection that causes glare around the edges during daytime viewing and from bright objects at night like the moon. This is very noticeable and I wonder why so few these reviews mention it. The glare from a blue sky really intrudes into the lower half of your view while watching animals on the ground, indicating that Nikon has skimped on the quality of the lens and prism coatings.

I use these mostly for bird watching on our farm, and they are decent but nothing special. The extra dollars you pay to go from the Action to the Action Extreme line must all be for the waterproofing, as my admittedly casual observation is that the optics quality is very similar to the Action series. However, the Action Extreme is noticeably more solidly built and rugged in nature and more likely to survive being dropped. Both models have objective lens covers that are guaranteed to be lost if you rely on the slots that are supposed to be used to attach them to the straps. You can punch or drill a hole in the slotted tabs and then use a plastic clip or even string to keep them from falling off the strap.

Brightness was sufficient, as these are not fully multi-coated so I didn't expect them to be tremendously bright, especially at 12x, but improved coatings would also enhance the brightness. The twist-up adjustable eye cups work beautifully for a glasses wearer like me (and are far superior to the rubber cups that fold down on the Action model).

The Nikon brand reputation was the deciding factor for me, but if you have an opportunity to get another decent waterproof set for less, I suggest comparing them if you can. I wish that I had. If you can afford it, the NIKON 7296 Monarch III 12x42 Binocular series promises to be substantially better than these (the Monarchs are fully multi-coated, plus they offer roof prism if you prefer that to porro). Overall, I was just a little let down on the image quality from these as the reviews on Amazon were mostly glowing.

I would still recommend them to friends but I would definitely shop around for comparable quality for less money. I suspect some of the waterproof Bushnells I've seen priced significantly less aren't much different. Of course, the way everything is sealed in plastic these days the opportunity to compare is severely limited unless you have a friendly camera shop nearby, or maybe a birding group whose members can let you see through their equipment.

Excellent with some shortcomings
by Pankaj Gupta from New York, NY, 2008-05-12

Very nice binoculars. Works perfect.

Now for shortcomings - the removable caps could have a better and more reliable placeholders, and they could be designed in a way that it's easier to remove and attach them from somewhere instead of hanging them on the strap.

12x50 might be slightly too magnified. The magnification is great, it's a human inability to hold it very steady making the viewing less than pleasurable. In retrospect, I could have compromised on magnification and instead picked a 8x. Might have been a better choice. It's totally usable though and magnification has its own benefits. No regrets.

The build quality feels very solid. Excellent equipment.

Really like them!
by Laura Hughes from Champaign, IL, 2008-01-14

This is the first pair of really good binoculars we have every bought. I can't believe how clear everything is. They work easily and although a little heavy, not bad. I would recommend these to anyone.

Jumps into your hand like it lives there.
by John Robinson from Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan, 2006-02-27

This binocular simply fell into my hand as though it were made for me personally. Love at first feel? Yes!

I compared this binocular to several others in the same price range, here is what I found:

Fit and finish: Nikon is easily the equal of any Vixen or Pentax or Olympus (I didn't try Canon).

Feel: Nikon was by far the best.

Optics: Nikon did something clever here. First of all, they gave this one a wider field of view than, for example, the Pentax PCF. Looking through the Pentax (and, by the way, I have a high regard for Pentax and *love* their Papilio series, but that is another binocular for a different purpose) after using the Nikon, the view seemed dimmer and claustrophobic. With the Nikon, you have that wonderful feeling of actually being "out there" in the field or in the sky with your object. And everything is so bright and sharp! The Nikon really excels in sharpness at the center.

However, Nikon did another clever thing (and I checked a couple of pairs of these Nikon binos to see if this was true generally, and it was): at this price point you can't possibly have the whole field of view perfectly sharp. No binocular is perfectly sharp at the edges. Here is what Nikon did, best as I can tell: they put the sloppiest edges at the outside and top of the field of view. Wow! Think about it: if you had to compromise somewhere, you want to compromise AWAY from the center and bottom. Why? Because, the inside edge of the FOV of each barrel is where the object will be. And, most likely (especially for terrestrial viewing), the object or its environment will also be resting on or near the bottom (think of a bird in a tree or an animal on the ground) So, Nikon seems to have made sure that the bottoms and inside edge of the FOV was as sharp as possible, while allowing the far outside and top edges to be a little worse. Smart!

There is some chromatic abberation, but that, too, is unavoidable at this price. Even some very high priced camera lenses (with only one barrel to worry about) have this. The CA is not at all objectionable. A little rim of faint purple at the edges of the FOV in high contrast situations.

A very nice binocular. Not too heavy, not too big, very comfortable to use, excellent imagery, top-of-the-line sharpness-at-center, great construction. I expect to get a lifetime's enjoyment out of them.