Athlon Optics Midas G2 Uhd Binoculars

Have just received these and been checking them out and already I can see it is safe to say that I will keep these to add to my ever increasing binocular collection which includes a Zeiss 8x25 Victory and Leica 8x20 Ultravid, nice fancy black leather version, so some high end pairs costing around £600 each compared with less than £200 for these Athlon. I have also bought and returned many compacts with problems or that I didn't like for one reason or another such as Leica 10x25 Ultravid, Swarovski 8x25 Pocket, Zeiss Terra, Leica Trinovid etc so I have tried a lot of the top compacts & I am immediately impressed with the quality of build with the Athlon (obviously well quality controlled) and the functionality is also pretty much perfect with smooth, accurate, no lumpiness or slack in the focus & good collimation of the optics. Hinges ok.I did get a chance to take a countryside afternoon walk with them for some birding and was well impressed. Nice rich warm colours with high sharpness and contrast. Not super bright (it was an overcast Dec UK day) but also absolutely no glare issues which can happen a lot with compacts. I hope they do as well on sunnier days but yesterday I was pleasantly surprised as the viewing circle field of view is not huge and so it was good to be able to use basically all of it with not to much edge distortion and the 10x power was really bringing things up closer than the 8x I normally use and still retaining good sharpness etc. No issue with any edge fringing either which is again excellent. If you had covered up the brand name on this Athlon binocular and told me I was looking through a Leica I would have had no reason to doubt, so this is indeed impressive.The Athlon actually shows richer colours and higher contrast and possibly sharpness than my old Nikon Monarch 7 10x30 though the Nikon has a much larger and brighter view. It's even better in ways (higher contrast and less edge fringing) than my Viking Peregrine 10x42!The Athlon come with an ok padded case and strap though both are a little bulkier than I would normally use for compacts but then these are a larger compact. At present I am using the case and lens covers from my old Hawke 10x25 which broke long ago so lucky I kept those. I'm also using a less bulky Viking neck strap so these Athlon could lose a star possible for the accessories but then I look at my Zeiss 8x25 Victory and it has no lens covers either and a big bulky case so it's really the binocular that needs to be right and this Athlon certainly seems to be so I have to be pleased with this result. The accessories you can always replace with whatever you favour though what comes with the Athlon will certainly get you started and will be perfectly fine for most.I want a good high standard binocular to be happy and I mentioned some of those high end pairs that fell short for me, so this Athlon has done very well to have impressed me as it has. Truly excellent value for effectively a high end optic. I could actually replace a lot of my compacts with this one Athlon it's that good.

I got these Athlon 10x25 because they are very compact and light, as a travel, hiking and everyday binocular, mostly for birding. If I was going out specifically for birding, I would carry my Athlon 8x42s, of which I am extremely fond. But these compacts are with me at most other times. For me, a compact binocular must be almost unnoticeably portable, and these are. They must of course have high image quality, and these do. What you mainly sacrifice is field of view (FOV) and image brightness with this type of binocular. For their size, these binoculars do pretty darned well on both these measures, especially the image brightness. In good light, the image is clear and sharp almost out to the extreme edges of view, and color rendering is very good too. The twist-out eyecups are a little shallow for my taste (I don't wear glasses) but they work well enough for me. The focus wheel is smooth and responsive. The focus sometimes needs some fine adjustment on a 10x25 --- you have to live with that, just a bit more work and you are there. I find I can often raise image quality dramatically when looking into the light by cupping my fingers around my eyes while still holding the binoculars, something that is quite easy on binoculars as tiny and light as these. In doing so I found I can experience more of the wonderful 'immersive' feel you get on larger, high-quality binoculars, and that is pretty special for me. Internal reflections are generally well-controlled. I think you have to learn how to use binoculars this small. It takes some practice, and you have to adapt to them as well as adjusting them to adapt to you. I have found them very useful and satisfactory in practice, far better than the Pentax 8x25s I had previously, and I enjoy the 10x magnification. So, for what they are and what they cost, 5 stars all-round. Well done, Athlon! And yes, I have tried Swarovski and Zeiss Victory 8x25s, and guess what? Those top end binoculars are better (surprise!), with really luxurious image quality, especially the Zeiss, which also has an impressive FOV. But they cost around $800. These Athlons cost about $170 and they are pretty amazing. I'm happy.I also want to add that Athlon has been rock solid in their guarantee to fix or replace binoculars -- I had an issue with a pair of binoculars, sent them in and quickly got a replacement pair. It makes a big difference to me if a company has your back when an expensive item needs repair, and Athlon is true to their word. Call me a fan: a company that makes this good a product and backs it up when they need to is just amazing.

Optics quality is great.The "AFMC Lens Coatings + Dielectric Prism Coatings + ED Glass" all add up to give great clarity.The "XPL coating" works well too while wiping the lens, making it easy to clean without scratches.It performs as well as a decent lower cost 10x42 (MC+BAK4) models in terms of light transmission, even though it is only a 10x25.It is a tad darker than I would like in lower light conditions, but considering the objective lens is just 25mm, nothing much to complain.The product is very light weight at 250g, which is a great advantage, but it also makes it more difficult to hold steady without too much tremor and shake, takes a bit of skill and grip technique to minimize that.I added OMAX AER232 Eyecups to it, they fit well and improve the viewing experience a good deal.Also note:1. The IPD must be adjusted properly each time the lens barrels are unfolded, to get the best view. It takes a little more effort to get this right compared to single hinged binoculars.2. The depth of field is quite high and therefore constant tiny fine adjustments to the focus wheel are needed to get the sharpest view for each time the binocular is moved.3. There is no tripod mount screw hole in this model. You would have to use a velcro/elastic strap universal tripod mount.4. You do not get any dust caps for the objective lenses or eyepieces in the package.

Great little pair of binoculars. Surprisingly bright in bad light condition. Became my most used bino.

A premium compact from one of the Alpha companies would cost a lot more than these. However they perform very well at a lower price, similar to models offered by Bushnell and Alpen (from the same factory maybe?) enough eye relief to use with glasses and they give sharp clear views. OK case and a nice neck strap with clever extensions that fit or remove so you can try different lengths to suite the owners needs. Dust caps would be nice but not included.

Bonjour, le contrôle qualité est médiocre. Les 2 corps ne sont pas à la même hauteur et de plus, il y a un problème de parallélisme.Merci