German Precision Optics Passion HD 12.5x50HD Binocular

These are my first top quality binoculars. I' like walking many forest preserve place , I' like watching birds , and if you pay a little attention , you can see a lot of interesting things around you, if you have the right equipment. Some places have water complexes , but you can't get close to them ,or I' watch far away on the open fields, because I' watch a lot from a long distance , that's why I' decided to buy 12.5 x 50 . I ' also had a problem before with colors, and detalis from a long distance. I' just have to say , thse binoculars introduced me to a diffrent world now, full of wonderful colors and details ,filled with super clear light.These binoculars is gorgeous ,is really worth every penny you spent.

The 12.5 binoculars are crystal clear and used with my spotting scope make an awesome combination for spotting animals at a distant. I had the vortex kaibab HD and compared the two and these were much clearer. You also get a more crystal clear field of view then the 15x and 18xs. The binoculars are comparable to Leica, Zeiss, and better then the Vortex. Japan vs China.

Good glass for the money. Easily compared to vortex and zeiss and others. I use them for duck hunting and can't complain so far

I haven’t written much reviews but I think this one deserves one and it might be a 3 for 1. This is my second dive into finding a really good binocular without breaking the bank. My first was for a 8x42 search that I’m happy with. In that search I got and tested the Viper HD, Alpen Shasta, Monarch 7, Leupold bx4 Pro Guides. The Leupold won that battle with pure resolution, no CA, and focus depth of field. It’s so good for the money it’s what I judge everything else against now. The viper and the monarch are equal and actually a little better with a wider field of view. But the Leupold punches way above its weight class in resolution and CA. Brings me to the higher magnification search. I wanted something with a little more punch and began a search for 12 and 15 power binoculars. After buying the Bushnell Forge on sale great reviews (only by affiliates and sponsored people; lessons learned) and DiamondBack HD (I really want to own vortex for their warranty). And I’m never a return guy but I feel I was tricked into purchasing those Bushnell forges and returned them. The chromatic aberration (purple and green) was so bad even though they were sharp in one light condition, it didn’t look like it with every line outlined with purple purple fringing. I like Bushnell too, for the money, and I have other Bushnell products that are pretty good. As a matter of fact the Engage exo are better for the money and I’d be happy with them.The vortex was, well, it’s their lower end so what I got was fine for the money. A little better CA than the Forge in bright light and about the same in haze or cloudy. But not as sharp in the latter conditions but it’s way cheaper than the Forge. Then I saw these GPO HD’S on sale for less than a grand and considering I got their range finder and it’s the best clearest lens I’ve ever seen on a range finder. So I thought I’d give them a shot even though it was still a $150 over my budget. Not many reviews though. To try and shorten this, I’m keeping them. They are now the binocular I will judge others against. As far as image it falls right between the Vortex Razor HD and the Razor UHD. I didn’t own those but had my hands on them and the UHD only beats this at field of view being wider and CA on the outer very outer edge, but in the middle they are the same. And the GPO beats the HD version in resolution, build quality, and looks. I could not get either of those for the sale price I got this anyways, but I did like both and would have eventually saved up for the UHD model if I didn’t check these out first. You aren’t going to beat that UHD model without spending another grand over its price and you’re not going to beat this without spending enough to get that UHD model and you would need them side by side going back and forth and struggling for pure optic quality. But for build, that europian look, and better eyecups. It’s not worth a upgrade and price difference to me. If these had 30 more feet of FOV and that way outer edge CA fixed it would be a Swaro. But it doesn’t, so it falls right between the Vortex Razor HD and The Razor UHD for comparison. Also the Meopta meostar I had my hands on was very good but it was a 15x and although just as good optically, it needed a Triood. All the 12x I tested you could get away with handheld for short periods, so I went with this and a light weight monopod. it’s working out excellent and no need to drag a heavy tripod around scouting. The 15x are much heavier too.

There's a good amount of noticeable chromatic aberration under all conditions which appeared even worse than a Zeiss Conquest HD I previously bought though very similar in optical characteristics.I personally prefer my Skyrover Banner Cloud APO 12x50 at roughly half the price which have similar image quality and noticeably brighter with a massively wider FOV and with way less noticeable CA.I also received a $60 Adasian 15x56 UHD which in all actuality is realistically a 12.25x56 that exhibits way less noticeable CA as well. First one had a large spec of dust or debris inside the lenses which made me return it for a refund the and second one I just received is fine. I much prefer using this cheapie due to way less CA and much lighter weight and image quality is better than my $599 Athlon Cronus UHD Gen 2 15x56 which looks hazy milky foggy compared to this dirt cheap Adasian UHD believe it or not.