Tasco Essentials 168BCR (10x25) Binocular
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- Binoculars Type: Binocular
- Max Magnification: 10x
- Lens Coating: Fully Coated
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Tasco 168BCR - Decent Binoculars
Pros
compact and lightweight
Cons
lack of any real stereoscopic vision
Recommended it?
Yes
The Tasco 168BCR binoculars are a compact viewing device with a field of vision of 288 feet at 1000 yards. It also has a few adjustable features including the distance between the eyepieces, focal length, glass or no glasses viewing, and a neck string.
My Many Years of Testing
I have owned my 168BCR?s for at least four years. I took them to college, to Broadway Musicals, other less famous plays, numerous national parks, and a host of other destinations. The best thing I like about these binoculars are the small size. At a mere 4 ?? x 2 ?? x 1 5/8? they can fit almost an anywhere. And at less than 12 ounces, I barely feel them in my backpack.
Since these binoculars consist of two single ?tubes? with an adjustable front lens for focusing and a stationary rear lens for viewing, I believe these binoculars function similar to a terrestrial telescope. (please e-mail me if I?m wrong) Now given that ?normal? binoculars use two prisms (per eye) to give a more enhanced stereoscopic vision, one can easily see that these are not ?normal? binoculars.
Cardboard Cutouts?
What the 168BCRs gain in compact size from not having prisms, they lose in the stereoscopic vision. In English, this means that the lenses are close together and thus, everything looks a little less 3-dimentional. From my experience, the lenses are so close together that everything looks as though they are made of cardboard cutouts. (my cousin also noticed this)
The Neck Cord
The neck cord is a cheap, ? inch, black string that is firmly attached to the binoculars near the eyepieces. I have noticed that when the cord is not around my neck, it dangles down and irritates my nose when I use the binoculars. Additionally the total length of the cord is about 33 inches so I have never had a problem with it dangling too low when it is around my neck nor had problems removing it from my body.
Glasses or Contact Lenses
Like many binoculars, the rubber around the eyepieces are not extremely durable. This rubber is meant to be ?folded? back and forth to accommodate people who wear glasses and those who do not. Due to frequent ?folding,? the rubber had begun to crack and I fear that two or three more folds will break the rubber off. Fortunately, since I do not wear glasses I have managed to keep the rubber constantly ?folded? up which has prolonged its life. (note: The binoculars will still function without these rubber pieces)
Left Eye Strong or Right Eye Strong?
The right eyepiece is adjustable so that a user with a right or left eye stronger than the other can alter the lenses to compensate for their visual shortcomings. Both of my eyes are equally terrible so I like to keep this feature at the standard zero. Of frustration, is that I often use my binoculars in the dark and thus I have an extremely difficult time verifying that this is set to zero because of the minute labeling.
Center Focus
Center focus is a nice feature. Located in the middle, it is at the exact position when I normally put my fingers when I am looking through the binoculars. This makes it easy to focus while looking through the lens. Something strange about the center focus is that it is quite noisy for a simple gear. It sounds like Tasco put a ton of lubricant in this knob and the grease is crickling (is that a word?) as the knob is turned. It makes me wonder what will happen when all the lubricant is used up. (if that?s even possible)
Conclusion
I realize that my complaints of the Tasco 168BCr are long and my complements are short, but in all I would like to say that I really like these binoculars. The ?picture? is clear and sharp, the focusing works perfectly, and it is extremely easy to use. It also has a manly, rubber, camouflage exterior that has cushioned it from many accidental drops.
--SirMontego, look for me on battle.net
My Many Years of Testing
I have owned my 168BCR?s for at least four years. I took them to college, to Broadway Musicals, other less famous plays, numerous national parks, and a host of other destinations. The best thing I like about these binoculars are the small size. At a mere 4 ?? x 2 ?? x 1 5/8? they can fit almost an anywhere. And at less than 12 ounces, I barely feel them in my backpack.
Since these binoculars consist of two single ?tubes? with an adjustable front lens for focusing and a stationary rear lens for viewing, I believe these binoculars function similar to a terrestrial telescope. (please e-mail me if I?m wrong) Now given that ?normal? binoculars use two prisms (per eye) to give a more enhanced stereoscopic vision, one can easily see that these are not ?normal? binoculars.
Cardboard Cutouts?
What the 168BCRs gain in compact size from not having prisms, they lose in the stereoscopic vision. In English, this means that the lenses are close together and thus, everything looks a little less 3-dimentional. From my experience, the lenses are so close together that everything looks as though they are made of cardboard cutouts. (my cousin also noticed this)
The Neck Cord
The neck cord is a cheap, ? inch, black string that is firmly attached to the binoculars near the eyepieces. I have noticed that when the cord is not around my neck, it dangles down and irritates my nose when I use the binoculars. Additionally the total length of the cord is about 33 inches so I have never had a problem with it dangling too low when it is around my neck nor had problems removing it from my body.
Glasses or Contact Lenses
Like many binoculars, the rubber around the eyepieces are not extremely durable. This rubber is meant to be ?folded? back and forth to accommodate people who wear glasses and those who do not. Due to frequent ?folding,? the rubber had begun to crack and I fear that two or three more folds will break the rubber off. Fortunately, since I do not wear glasses I have managed to keep the rubber constantly ?folded? up which has prolonged its life. (note: The binoculars will still function without these rubber pieces)
Left Eye Strong or Right Eye Strong?
The right eyepiece is adjustable so that a user with a right or left eye stronger than the other can alter the lenses to compensate for their visual shortcomings. Both of my eyes are equally terrible so I like to keep this feature at the standard zero. Of frustration, is that I often use my binoculars in the dark and thus I have an extremely difficult time verifying that this is set to zero because of the minute labeling.
Center Focus
Center focus is a nice feature. Located in the middle, it is at the exact position when I normally put my fingers when I am looking through the binoculars. This makes it easy to focus while looking through the lens. Something strange about the center focus is that it is quite noisy for a simple gear. It sounds like Tasco put a ton of lubricant in this knob and the grease is crickling (is that a word?) as the knob is turned. It makes me wonder what will happen when all the lubricant is used up. (if that?s even possible)
Conclusion
I realize that my complaints of the Tasco 168BCr are long and my complements are short, but in all I would like to say that I really like these binoculars. The ?picture? is clear and sharp, the focusing works perfectly, and it is extremely easy to use. It also has a manly, rubber, camouflage exterior that has cushioned it from many accidental drops.
--SirMontego, look for me on battle.net
