Produkttest KITE IBIS ED 10x42

En Kikare perfekt för fågelskådning, jakt och safari

(Läs originaltext, Image & Nature)

Översättning (text här)

FIELDTEST
We did not get the chance before to have KITE binoculars in our testpages. This is now history with
the IBIS ED, KITE’s new and rather high-end model equiped with ED glass.
KITE IBIS ED 10x42
Belgian excellence in optics
Founded in Belgium in 1984, The company KITE develops in the ‘lowlands’ its optical instruments and
has them manufactured in Japan. This manufacturing is very careful and precise, it allows KITE to
offer 30 year warranty periods on its roof prism binoculars, en enables the company to offer an aftersales service that is said to be among the best in the world.
The IBIS ED that we are testing makes no exception to the rule and shows a beautiful mechanical
quality, a finishing without any flaws and a very nice grained rubber armoring that enables maximum
grip. The open-bridge design also carries to this fact, allowing the fingers to completely grab around
the tubes. One could also think that this would make the instrument lighter, but this is not the case
as this KITE has a reasonable weight of 720g. On the other hand, we have a very high quality
instrument here.
Observation in dark conditions?
Being clearly designed for animal observation and bird identification, this 10x42 offers a 10x
magnification that allows you to bring a subject in a 100m distance to 10m. This with a rather large
field of view of 114m/1000m which brings more ease to the following of a bird in flight for example.
The 42mm diameter allows a 4.2mm exit pupil, perfect for daytime observations. But how does it
perform in low-light or just difficult conditions (in dense forest, bad weather)? The theoretical
calculation, which gives you a number inferior to the dilation capacity of most pupils (5mm with
elderly persons) could suggest it doesn’t do well. But this instrument’s excellent capacity of
transmitting light, bringing contrast and correcting chromatic aberrations proves the opposite
allowing you to enjoy the finest details even in low light conditions. We can even easily observe
butterflies and small objects nearby thanks to the minimum focus of mearly 1.45m. A real plus for
these KITES.
Very firm grip
From an ergonomical point of view, the KITE IBIS ED is very comfortable to use. The grip is very firm,
as we said before, and the handling is perfect. The focus wheel is large and ribbed, and is easy to
reach and operate even with gloves. The wheel runs very smoothly and rotates over 1.5 revolutions
to allow precise focusing. The ring for diopter adjustement is situated right underneath the right
eyepiece, but does not show exact degrees and is not lockable… which is a pity. But its turning
resistance is made hard, so it will never accidentely change position during use. The twist-up eyecups
with rubber finishing, can be set to 3 different levels. Spectacle wearers can leave the eyecups
twisted in.
The optical performance of the IBIS ED is remarquable. Its image is bright, well defined and well
contrasted and this all from the center to the outer borders of the image. The chromatic aberrations
are very well corrected, as is the distortion. We could not find any dominant colour and can only
conclude that the optical performance is very satisfying and that this is an overall very very good
instrument.
Image & Nature score: 5/5 Buy with confidence