Pentax VD 4x20 WP versatile 3 in 1 binoculars, monoculars and telescope Bright, clear, high contrast, excellent optical performance, high waterproof performance Minimum focussing distance of 50cm

Wasn't sure what exactly I would be getting in terms of view though I have a 4x12 monocular but the first look through these Pentax 4x20 immediately confirmed with some relief that I like these a lot.They do of course split into separate monoculars and a telescope but my main use is as a binocular so I'm not going to get into the other modes except to say I have tried both and they do work though the telescope is a bit for emergency use only. The monoculars alone are good and together as a binocular even better.They are so clear that they make all my other not bad bins look less clear by comparison, for one example my Pentax 6.5x21 Papillio and that's not a dull compact by any means. The colour renditions are similar & very good to excellently neutral.They are awkward for changing focus if you need to do that and I try and avoid it but it's worth the trouble occasionally and the depth of field is very good with a nice strong porro like 3D impression so it shouldn't be necessary that often. About 7-8m and beyond is all in focus when set to infinity. If I want to quickly look at something macro then I can just focus one side down as near as 0.5m. Another thing I noticed is that the edge of the view is focused closer than the middle so you can actually see things about 4-6m away if you look through the edge e.g. bottom of the view which is actually very useful on occasion.Also very worthy of mention is their superb lack of any sun glare basically ever and although not the largest view it is all useable with again practically nothing of anything negative like distortion or blurred edges or stray light.I think the price is not cheap but you can definitely see and feel the high quality with totally clear optics internally so if you can put up with the focusing & low magnification then you should very much like these. Initially I had the habit of trying to focus them centrally as with my other bins but quickly adjusted.The view isn't cramped as I expected with the low 40deg AFOV and the very high clarity makes these still somewhat useful over distance but you definitely will not get details as with a 7 or 8x bin. They are wonderful for scenery or scanning a landscape and also good in forest areas if you set a mid focus & especially with the large exit pupil for darker areas to pick birds out in bushes for example. I'm sure they will be great for many uses such as sport events etc. I like them also for just having on the desk to quickly grab for a look out of the window.My 8x20 RSPB HD are more compact and fold smaller but this Pentax is much nicer to hold and much easier and clearer to view with. Your brain does adjust to the low magnification and in a way they remind me of my 8x42 just a smaller version with less magnification and that's maybe as they both have this 5mm exit pupil and similar clarity. The Pentax of course has a nice 10deg fov.I'm mostly a birder, scenery, bug, plant general nature watcher & I took them to my favorite bog area and it was the first time in my life that I had walked around never focusing once. It was easier to find birds with the 10deg wide angle (that I might otherwise have missed altogether) but for sure not as much distant detail viewing as with a 7/8/10x and I found myself walking away from closer objects to get in focus rather than fiddling with the two barrel focusers & yet I didn't mind about any limitations of this binocular as the viewing is so nice and the low magnification can actually make a nice change especially when it is as clear as with this binocular.Would be great too if they just made a version of these (maybe they will?) with a central focus and without all the splitting apart and telescope etc and maybe even upped the magnification to 6 or 7 times. I'd still keep these but I'd likely buy the other version also.I have other 7x20 reverse porro compacts (Carson Falconer) and while not the optical quality of these Pentax they are good over distance & close in and do have a central focuser so I'm more likely to bring those outdoors as a light carry for more flexibility when nature viewing & remarkably the 7x20 also have a view that you would only normally get with a larger binocular but the eye relief is not as good as these Pentax and they are not just as easy and comfortable to use, so it's swings and roundabouts as they say. With binoculars in general, gain something, lose something else.The view on a sunny day with this Pentax 4x20 compact is stunning and pretty good on all occasions and that makes them a bit special and worth it alone to me. They probably are now my favorite compact binocular which is probably just as well as I bought another to have as a backup because as I'm sure we all know, you can just never have enough binoculars, especially if they are good and these I would say most definitely are.It would have been nice to have a rain guard included but you don't get much accessory wise & the neck-strap is pretty poor though it does split to make two wrist straps for the monocular setup. The case is pretty good, not to large, good quality with enough padding and a small front pocket for a cloth but there really should be a rain-guard to protect the eyepiece lenses while in the case. I use one from another binocular but this is very poor from Pentax to omit such a simple important thing. The objectives are well recessed so need no covers.In the end these have a brilliant little view & I guess that's what it's all about.

I endorse other commetns on here about convenience, portability and flexibility . However the glasses gather so much light and have a wide field of view there are no hand shake effects or tunnel vision. So its like looking at a magnified field with no black bits round the edges and easily hand held steady . This and the clarity of the optics compensate for the apparent lack of magnification . I went birding with a friend who had 12x medium quality bins and there was no comparison between the ease of use and the actual view we were able to see clearly. The other point is that these have a comparatively very wide angle og view for the size easily enabling the tracking of flying birds. The best pair of bins is the pair you have with you and I can gaurantee these will go verywhere with you .

I absolutely love these, which were a Christmas present. Clever and incredibly light, they simple slip into a pocket, yet are clear and surprisingly bright. They're with me whenever walking the countryside, in lieu of a larger and more cumbersome pair that hardly got used. They will accompany me on our next holiday (when we are free of Covid quarantine). The only slight issue is that my wife keeps commandeering them... ! I'm delighted with the product, which has exceeded my expectations.