I decided on the 10x56 as I wanted to be able to bring the deer that little bit closer than my usual 8x pair. As a professional deer stalker this has proven invaluable over the last few weeks during the Roe Rut when it is crucial to be able to size up an animal prior to making a decision as to its cull worthiness.
Recently I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to trial a pair of Eden Binoculars.
Eden are a web shop called EdenWebshops.co.uk and concentrate on binoculars, pocket knives, sharpening stones and torches. A visit to their site reveals that they sell a number of well known brands including Swarovski, Bushnell and Leica.
In addition to selling these brands Eden produce two series of their own binoculars the HD and XP with a range of specifications from 8x32 to 10x56. The pair that I chose to trial are from Eden's own 'in house' brand called 'Eden Quality' and are a pair of the XP 10x56.
I decided on the 10x56 as I wanted to be able to bring the deer that little bit closer than my usual 8x pair. As a professional deer stalker this has proven invaluable over the last few weeks during the Roe Rut when it is crucial to be able to size up an animal prior to making a decision as to its cull worthiness.
The price of Eden's 10x56 XP binocular at £325-00 is clearly aimed at those of us on a budget so I was intrigued to see how they would perform in the field.
Today most binoculars are of the 'Roof Prism' variety, this basically means that the ocular lens (the lens through which you look) is in line with the front objective lens. Eden's 10x56 XP are of this variety.
'Roof prism' binoculars are genuinely accepted as the best type of construction these days as they tend to be more compact and are air tight, this means that the volume of the binoculars does not alter as you change focus. This type of design is now typical of other binoculars like those produced by quality brands such as Swarovski.
The binoculars themselves are matt black in appearance with a robust rubber coating. The design is attractive and the focus wheel and dioptric ring are easy to use. I was impressed by the 'out of the box' ease with which the focus wheel moved as sometimes these can be sticky. The other thing that surprised me was the range of focus that the binoculars provided, being able to focus in to just a few feet with real clarity. Added to this they are air tight and nitrogen filled and as a result can be used at cold temperatures down to -20 degrees without fogging.
On the down side they are a little heavy, I weighed mine at 1,214 grams, however having chosen the 10x56 pair one would expect them to be significantly heavier than say the 8x42. I was also initially concerned about the eye relief cups which when extended might attract a build up of dirt in the winding mechanism however this is easily solved by using the accompanying lens caps or simply by having them set tight against the case when not in use. Of course the upside of these eye cups is that they offer those users who wear glasses the ability to adjust the eye relief to suit their needs and this is clearly important.
Eden have clearly put some love into these binoculars and to be frank they are of a quality that could be found in binoculars that are very much more expensive. For deer stalking perhaps the most important factor is that the light gathering is effective and this I am pleased to report does not disappoint. The lenses are excellent and sharp to the edges of the field of vision and I am delighted to say that I have been able to use them right up to last light with great results.
All in all, in my opinion for those that don't want to spend a fortune on optics Eden have produced a quality binocular that represents great value for money.
http://www.edenwebshops.co.uk/en/ct/eden-quality-binoculars.htm
