Pentax Jupiter III 8x21 Binoculars

I'll start off by saying that I don't know anything about binoculars. I picked these up to have a basic pair of binoculars for viewing out of a downtown office window and an upcoming trip to Italy. Who knows, I may even take them on a hike or something. Anyway, I must say that these are nice little binos.pros:1) Solid construction. All adjustments have a firm resistance and even though it has a plastic body it seems like it could handle a few drops. 2) Really lightweight and small. That's where the plastic body pays off I guess. 3) Excellent image quality. Most surprising to me was how sharp the detail is through the lenses. I guess I am focusing more precisely on top of my prescription contacts for perfect vision which is pretty nifty. 4) Comes with a fancy little case so you can throw it in your bag without worrying about scratches etc.cons:1) None at the moment. All I can say is that body of the binoculars is more of a champagne color than silver as indicated in the picture.

portable and light

I purchased these to replace a set of Jupiter's I had for several years, which were stolen from our vehicle. This Jupiter III is a much cheapened version of the original and a disappointment. The focus adjustment was hard to work and the outside shell is low quality. Worth noting the clarity of the view is good considering the cost, otherwise I would have rated them one star. They are also very compact. I returned these and purchased different set of binoculars from a different company.

Very disappointed. Purchased the Jupiter III 8x21 and 8x22. Both had the same problem. You can focus each eye. You can set the diopter to whatever you like. You can't focus both eyes! No matter how much you play with the diopter. I have a pair of Nikons and Tascos. No problem. I suspect based on reviews these is a quality control issue so basically you are rolling the dice. Pity because through each eye the vision seems to be quite good.

Lightweigh and tiny. For the price, this product has excellent optics. The only problem is that with only 10 mm of eye relief, one must remove eye glasses to get full field of view. Perfect to carry around in pants pockets for casual use.

These are great binoculars. The size is perfect to carry with you.

We bought these on a trip to Africa. We should have done something before we left, but these were OK in a pinch. We have since purchased a pair of Pentax UP binoculars. Our daughter like the Jupiter binoculars, particularly because they were light weight. For her birthday, we let her choose between the Jupiter and UP bincoulars. She had been sure that she would choose the lighter weight binoculars but after comparing the two, she decided quickly to let us keep the Jupiter III. The contrast and color through the UP binoculars is clearly superior. Unless saving a few ounces is vitally important to you, get the better Pentax, or a better pair of Olympus or Nikon binoculars.

The main reason for buying binoculars is to clearly see objects at a distance. The optics on these are a bit off, with moderate distortion. I still like them because they are powerful for their compact size and won't be returning them. I use them at sporting events and carry them in my laptop bag for impromptu usage. My conclusion is had I evaluated these at a store, I probably wouldn't have bought them, as I love good optics (I'm a film director).