One of the main features of the Viking Badger 10×42 Binoculars is their lightweight, compact and portable nature. They are perfect to have in your car as a spare travel binocular, or to have as your main binocular to take with you on your nature-watching adventures. The Badger’s excellent optical quality compared to their low cost make them ideal to give as a gift to someone wanting to get into nature and bird watching. Cons: Size. They are big. They are not lightweight by any means and while I don’t mind hiking with them, I could see how others might not like having a large set like these. When hiking I carry my Cannon with a 55-250 lens and these so it can get a tad cumbersome on longer hikes. What is also important to note that some 10x binoculars with really wide FOV’s may actually have a view that is wider than an average 8x binocular. The Viking Badger Binoculars have become one of most popular lines within the Viking Optical range and after getting our hands on a pair to try out it's easy to see why. These binoculars offer a cost-effective approach to achieving fantastic visual quality and perfectly suitable for beginners and more serious hobbyist birders alike.

This guide aims to take an in-depth look at the Viking Badger range to understand how well they perform. Reviewing each part of the build design is essential to providing you with the information that you need. That is why our team of experts have spent some time putting these binoculars for the test. Like all Viking binoculars, the Viking Badger 10x42 have high-clarity lenses that have been engineered to the highest standard. Featuring BAK 4 Prisms and multi-coated lenses that provide clear, sharp images. The lenses are nitrogen filled to ensure extra protection against moisture and prevent fogging – making them ideal for all types of weather. The Twilight factor is not a measure of brightness, but a rough guide to the amount of detail that can be resolved in low light. A larger twilight factor indicates that you may be able to see more detail in low light, or to put it another way, a larger twilight factor indicates a better resolution when viewing in the twilight or dim light. Finally, the last point worth mentioning is how efficient the twist-down eyecups are. As previously mentioned, adjusting these eyecups provides more comfort during long-term use. They also allow for those that wear glasses to take the full view of the binoculars in. The level of eye-relief that each model offers is the important value here. The Viking Badger 8x42 binoculars offer the most eye-relief to the user at 18.2mm. This provides fantastic comfort to the user when using these binoculars.This helps make the binoculars the perfect choice for all outdoor activities. The eye-cups are easy to use and the overall operation is smooth. Performance The reason it only indicates resolution at twilight is because the actual factor that has the greatest impact on resolution or image detail, is dependent upon the amount of light available during the time of observation. During daylight hours, when your eye pupil size will be only about 2 to 3mm, magnification will be the principal factor in image resolution. At night, with the eye pupil dilated to 6 to 8mm, aperture size is the controlling factor. In twilight conditions both of these factors control resolution effectiveness and thus the twilight factor is the term that compares binocular performance under these conditions.

Specification

The level of quality available through the optics is perhaps the most important point to consider. Viking have a history of providing the highest possible visual quality through their binoculars. The Viking Badger range is certainly no different. These binoculars provide a fantastic standard of image quality at all times. All other things being equal (glass and optical coatings quality etc), 8x42 binoculars will in theory be able to produce a brighter image than an 8x40 binocular, which in turn may seem brighter than a 10x42mm one in certain light conditions:

However for me personally the amount of difference in image stability between 8x and 10x binoculars is almost indiscernible. Once you start using 12x or higher magnifications then image stability really becomes an issue and so I would suggest that unless you have particularly unsteady or shaky hands this is not something to be too worried about when deciding between 8x42 and 10x42 binoculars. The Viking Badger 10x42 binoculars are perfect for budding nature enthusiasts and bird spotters on the go. These affordable Viking binoculars offer the freedom of observing in a variety of conditions, thanks to the multi-coated, high-quality optics and ergonomic, weatherproof construction. Viking Badger binoculars offer a closer look at the breath-taking wonders of nature. Crystal-clear view Below you will see just why 8x42 is the most popular choice for general bird watching binoculars, but then we will also discover that in some situations and for some people these advantages may not be as important as the particular strengths that a 10x42 instrument has. Field of View The Viking Badger binoculars are an affordable set of binoculars that are ideal for casual users or beginner birdwatchers. With multicoated lenses for a clearer image, as well as waterproof design, they can be used in all weathers, making them ideal for the volatile British climate. They also come with a rainguard, case, and carrying strap, meaning they are ready to go straight out of the box.Increasing the magnification also magnifies any movement or shaking, which can lead to it being quite difficult to keep the image still. Even tiny movements in the view can make it quite hard to then observe fine details, especially over long distances, which negates the advantage of a bigger magnification. Whilst working as a safari guide in South Africa, I used my 10x42 binoculars more than any other, and whilst it is true that I was mostly looking at (and for) much larger and sometimes much scarier animals than birds, I found that in my particular circumstances they also made excellent birding binoculars. So much so, that even if I went out specifically for birding, I would still very often take them with me. The main reason that most people suggest using a lower magnification for birding over something like a 10x binocular is that in general 7x and 8x binoculars will have wider fields of view (FOV). As I have already written an in-depth, but somewhat generalist article (with an included video) on the main advantages the 8x42 vs 10x42 configurations have over each other (see link above), I won’t go over it all again here, rather I will focus on my attention on how they compare against each specifically where bird watching is concerned. Obviously increasing the magnification further will most likely reduce your field of view, but as you say if you are in wide open areas and viewing over larger distances, this could still be ok.