Adasion 12x42 High Definition Binoculars for Adults with Phone Adapter and Foldable Tripod, Super Bright High Power Binoculars with Large View, Lightweight Binoculars for Bird Watching Hunting Sports
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The birds, fish, frogs, and turtles in my neighborhood have become my new friends since social distancing began, and these binoculars have been spectacl-ar in helping me identify them. I’d never used binoculars before this new hobby, so here are some things I’ve learned that might be helpful to first-time users:\n\nBinoculars always have two numbers in the spec, AxB. A represents the magnification – the bigger the number, the more zoomed-in the image looks. B represents the size of the objective lens, which is the piece of glass at the far end of the binoculars. The bigger the number, the brighter and clearer the image looks.\n\nThey also have a focus wheel that sits between the two halves, which you’ll have to rotate depending on whether you want to focus on something close or super far away. There’s also usually an additional fine tuner on the right eyepiece that will allow you to adjust for differences between your two eyes. So when using a pair of binoculars for the first time, you should close your right eye and use the focus wheel for just your left eye, and then close your left eye and use the fine tuner for your right eye. After that you can just directly use the focus wheel.\n\nI had an old pair of Bushnell 12x25 binoculars at home before I got this Adasion 12x42 set. Here’s a comparison, with things I learned from experience:\n\n1/ Size: The Adasion is bigger because of the larger objective lens. You can see the size difference in my first picture.\n\n2/ Eyepiece: The Adasion has eye cups that rotate in and out, which give your eyes some breathing distance from the eyepiece lenses. You can see in the second picture the right eye cup has been extended while the left one has not. The Bushnell didn’t have this feature, so my eyelashes were always brushing against the glass, and the glass itself would frequently fog up.\n\n3/ Straps: This seems like a trivial one, but it bothered me more than I expected. Bushnell’s straps attach at the center, while Adasion’s straps attach on each side. This results in the Bushnell hanging somewhat perpendicular to my torso, which makes it really annoying as it bounces along while I walk. The Adasion just lies comfortably flush against my torso.\n\n4/ Protective covers: You can see these in the first picture. Each objective lens has an individual rubber cover that hangs off the end. If you don’t like them, you can remove them – they’re attached by a rubber ring that slides off easily. But I think they’re great and protect the glass from smudges. The eyepiece lenses have a joint cover that you take off completely; I only put it back on when I’m done for the day.\n\n5/ Picture quality: The most important difference. You can see four pictures I took through both binoculars. Interestingly, I found that the Bushnell binoculars were very slightly more magnified than the Adasion. I actually prefer the wider field of view of the Adasion, which is more forgiving of unsteady hands. The Bushnell also starts to get blurry on the edges (see the fence and bench or the floating grass in the fish photo), while the Adasion is much clearer throughout. In addition, colors are a lot brighter through the Adasion, while the Bushnell is a bit faded.\n\nThis brings me to my last piece of advice: the smartphone adapter is pretty cool. I had no idea what a phone adapter was in the beginning – I assumed it was some kind of USB cable that digitally connected the binoculars to your phone, and you’d have to download an app or something to take pictures. Nope. So apparently, you can just hold up your phone camera to the eyepiece of any binoculars, have your phone “look” through the binoculars (monocular?), and you simply use the camera app to snap whatever your phone sees. It works surprisingly well as an amateur telephoto lens. That’s all I did to take the pictures from the Bushnell.\n\nTurns out though, it’s kind of hard to hold the binoculars in one hand, your phone in the other, and both steady enough while maneuvering your thumb to snap the photo. It’s flat out impossible to take video. So the purpose of this phone adapter is to make it easier by holding your phone in place. It’s a very simple piece of hardware with a spring-loaded clamp around your phone (both an iPhone 6s and iPhone 11 fit just fine) and a round cap that attaches to either of the binoculars’ eye cups. For best results, attach your phone without the eye cups extended. Righty tighty all the way. I find that provides the optimal phone-to-eyepiece distance for the best view from the camera.\n\nI also did some extra research on phone adapters and tried to buy one for my Bushnell. The universal circular ones have a screw cap where the attachment can be expanded or contracted in order to fit any eye cup. But I actually found that the screw mechanism made the attachment so thick that my phone camera was too far away from the eyepiece to see much through it – all I got was a small hole. In contrast, the adapter that comes with the Adasion was built to fit the Adasion eye cups perfectly. It’s a nice snug fit so your phone (even a heavy iPhone 11) will stay in place at just the right distance from the lens and without needing any hand support.\n\nThe last thing I’ll say about the phone adapter is not to be surprised that your picture is a circle in a black vignette. That makes sense, since that’s what you see when your eyes look through the binoculars too. The rectangular photos from other reviews can be produced by either zooming using the camera’s zoom function or just cropping after the fact.\n\nOkay that’s as much as I’ve learned so far through my amateur explorations, hope you’ve found it helpful. :)'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I absolutely love these binoculars. Very light weight and excellent quality. The phone adapter takes a little longer to get used to but once you do you really get some great quality pictures. I'm obsessed with birds and attached a few of my pictures. 2 of my neighbors saw me outside taking pictures and after trying them they also bought them. Very happy with this purchase"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': ' Love these 12x42 binoculars! They are crystal clear, solid build with sharp optics! They fit very well into my hands, the focus is buttery smooth, and they have perfect size to take along in a bag or on a belt.\nI have other pairs of binoculars. Now this one is my favorite! They came with a nice carrying case, a nicer neck strap than most binoculars, lens covers for both ends and a cool smartphone attachment.\nI love the good idea of the smartphone attachment. It fits my Samsung smartphone nicely. There is a screw threads built in to attach to a tripod with an adapter. So you attach them to a tripod for better images. Very happy with this purchase!\nHowever I can see clearly little scratch on the outside. Anyway, nice binoculars, would recommend.\n\n11/26/2019 UPDATE... I sent a message about the issue to the seller, guessing it may be caused in the packaging or shipment. I told them the binos worked fine, and I can still keep them. But they apologized for that and insisted to offer a new pair even the scratch may be caused by Amazon not their fault at all!!! Finally I accepted, and came to know that this is the hassle-free lifetime warranty from Adasion Optics. Great Service and quick response!\nGreat Seller! Thank You!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I absolutely love these! I have always wanted binoculars as a kid and my mom bought me a pair for my birthday!! They are so easy to use and they allow you to see constallations that are small!! The binoculars came with a phone adapter thing that allows you to take pictures and with a couple tries I know can take BEAUTIFUL images of the moon!!!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': ' My family was leaving on a trip to Yellowstone and was looking at a wide range of binoculars from $30.00 to $200.00. I am no binocular expert, but I did my research thoroughly and carefully before buying these and even looked at several different sets at the local sports stores before I made my purchase!\nI bought two compact binoculars (10x25/12x25) for my two kids, big 10x50 porro prism ones for my husband, and I chose these 12x42 ones. However mine was most popular, and the other 3 pairs were never used. LOL..\nThe compact ones have bad optics like a toy. The 10x50 porro prism ones are too heavy almost 2lbs. My husband is 6.2 ft/220lbs, but cannot hold them for even one hour; and if you put them on your neck, that’s a disaster and it really hurts. Plus, neither of them comes with a smartphone adapter; that’s the worst.\nMine has absolutely the right size, acceptable weight, and excellent optics. From our moving cruise ship or from a stable standing position, they allowed me to view anything I wanted: birds, bears, eagles.... you name it. With Adasion binoculars, I had perfect light, perfect magnification, absolute stability and clarity. For the money, I cannot imagine being more pleased with a product!\n\nFYI, they also offer free tripod as gift. I had got mine last week.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'My wife and I loved everything about these binoculars EXCEPT we could not get the image in the left and right eyes to coincide clearly. No matter how much pupillary adjustment we did, the image never completely converged. I then searched the Internet and found what the problem was and how to determine if the binoculars have been manufactured correctly.\n\nIf you look at a horizontal wire through the binoculars you should be able to pull the binoculars away from your eyes about 3" and still see the straight horizontal wire - Image A.\n\nHowever, if when you pull them away 3" and the wire breaks into two pieces - Image B, then the two tubes of the binocular are not correctly aligned with each other and there is no way to correct this manufacturing defect.\n\nThe binoculars we received were exactly like image B, the wire we focused on a few hundred feet away showed a significant high/low split as we pulled the binoculars away from our eyes. That\'s why we couldn\'t get comfortable using them, they were not properly aligned at the factory.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': ' I LOVE this binoculars!! They are a great weight to carry around your neck or throw in your backpack. The picture image is amazing. On top of that, after registering for the lifetime warranty I found out I won a free tripod too. Now I have it set up on my coffee table, when not traveling with them, for great backyard birding. I highly recommend the product and their great customer service.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': ' These binoculars are excellent. The pics attached were taken with my iPhone attached. I took them from my dining room window. The deer were about 300 or so feet away.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': ' Very good binoculars. Clear image quality, very easy to hold, and light weight. They seem sturdy holding them in your hand. It is very easy to calibrate the lens to your eyes by following the given instructions.\n\nPros: good quality image, sturdy- well made, easy to adjust, good viewing range, and phone adapter works well if you have a steady hand, if not get the tripod!\n\nCons: can’t say there really are any.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': ' Very clear viewing and lightweight. Customer service prompt and attentive. I needed to upgrade to a sturdier phone adapter, though, which Adasion sent out. I won a free tripod from Adasion, so very happy about that! I am very happy with the service I received from Adasion!'}]