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More Information Price $349.95 List Price $499.95 Optical Type Roof Prism Field of view 7° Field of view 1000 yards 336' Exit Pupil 5.2mm Relative Brightness 26.8 Twilight Factor 19.3 Eye Relief 14mm Interpupillary Distance 57-77mm Close Focus 9' Weight 24 oz Height 5.75" Armored Yes Waterproof Yes Warranty 25 years

There is much to be said for the Audubon’s 8.5x magnification, compared to the more common 8x. The extra half-power gives you the extra reach you sometimes need to make a positive identification on a distant bird. It also gives you a slightly larger image of a close-in bird to add to your enjoyment. And it does both without adding so much extra magnification that the image becomes hard to hold still enough to see sharply (go much over 9x in a hand-held binocular and the image bounces around with every breath and muscle tremor). The Audubon’s 44mm aperture gives you 10% higher resolution and 21% greater light-gathering than a 40mm bino for images that are bright and high in contrast – even in the low light of early morning or twilight. The optics are quite good, although with a small loss in brightness compared with the same size Audubon porro prisms. Most observers feel that the lighter weight and more compact shape more than makes up for the slight light loss.

The Audubon roof is a fully-multicoated center focus H-body roof prism, with phase-coated BaK-4 prisms, 1.5" wide comfort woven neck strap, eyepiece rainguard, and a soft case to shed sudden showers. It is sealed and nitrogen-purged to be fully waterproof and fogproof in all climate extremes.

The body is clad in rubber armor that is firm enough for a secure grip, resilient enough for long-term comfort, and lightly textured so your fingers won’t slip. Strategically-placed thumb grooves on the underside of the binocular help position the hands in the optimum position to operate the focus knob. Focusing is a trifle slow, at two turns from near focus to the horizon, but the large knurled focus knob works very lightly and smoothly, so even rapid focus changes are not a chore. Eye relief is a good 19mm for virtually unvignetted eyeglass views. Pop-up rubber-rimmed eyecups allow quick changes between eyeglass and non-eyeglass use for those who share a binocular. A soft click-stop diopter adjustment on the right eyepiece lets you adjust the binocular for your individual eyesight.

A review of the Audubon roof in Better View Desired said, “They are compact, light weight, and well balanced. The focus is smooth: on the slow and precise side rather than the finicky side of the average for roofs. Physically, I can't imagine a more attractive or field worthy glass . . . Optically, the new glass holds its own . . . It does not equal either the brightness or resolving power of the 8.5x44 porro (or of the 8.5x42 Swarovski EL for that matter) but it comes very, very, close . . . Looked at from one side this performance means that you can get 8.5 power and the handling of a roof in the Audubon line without sacrificing noticeable optical performance. Looked at from the other it means that you can get an 8.5x binocular with almost the performance of the Swarovski EL (and perhaps a shade better handling, considering weight, size and focus) for considerably less money . . . the Audubons may just represent the current "best buy" in a roof prism binocular. They do for roofs what the porro Audubons did for porros: provide a real birdworthy glass at a price most of us can afford, and, being roofs, they do it in a much more elegant (and somewhat more fieldworthy) package. The 8.5x44 Audubon roofs are worthy of the Audubon (and the Swift) name: a joy to carry and use, and providing a view of the bird that will satisfy the most demanding birder."