The advancement of binoculars in recent times has been exponential.
Gone are the days of peering through cloudy glass for a blurred image at a low magnification. Today, binoculars truly enhance anything to do with nature, be it hunting, hiking or even looking to the stars.
They bring you closer to the action than ever before and with a clarity that could only be dreamt of years ago.
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One pair of binoculars looking to do this at an affordable price point, are the Bushnell PowerView Super-High Powered Surveillance Binoculars.
Bushnell PowerView Video Review – Watch Below
As a very respectable brand, Bushnell bring their own unique patented technologies to the palm of your hand. There incredibly functional Insta Focus technology brings a clarity level previously unheard of in such a cheap pair of binoculars.
But where they may be cheap, are they actually worth the money? How do they shape up compared to others in their price range?
All this and more will be discussed in our review below.
You can also see our list of Top Bushell Binoculars or the best hunting binoculars and our list of the best birdwatching binoculars.
Bushnell PowerView Binoculars Specifications
| Bushnell PowerView 10x50 | Bushnell PowerView 12x50 | Bushnell PowerView 20x50 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Size | 10x50 | 12x50 | 20x50 |
Lens Coating | Multi Coated | Multi Coated | Multi Coated |
Field of View | 341 ft. | 267 ft. | 170 ft. |
Close Focus | 20 | 40 | 45 |
Eye Relief | 10 | 7 | 9 |
Weight | 25 | 29.8 | 30 |
Dimensions | 8.5 x 8.2 x 3.5 | 8 x 3.5 x 8 | 8.4 x 8 x 3.6 |
| READ REVIEWS | READ REVIEWS | READ REVIEWS |
Main Use For The Bushnell PowerView Binoculars
With these Bushnell Binoculars coming in a variety of magnification strengths, their uses can vary.
However, as a general rule of thumb, there magnification levels combined with their objective lens size makes them well suited to any form of hunting, fishing, birding, and stargazing.
Where the magnification takes you up close and personal with your subject, it’s the precision aligned optics which deliver the high-quality image.
With fully multicoated Porro prisms, Bushnell guarantees a superior light transmission delivering a bright and high contrast picture, these binoculars are ideal for identifying species from afar.
These high powered binoculars are also touted for their surveillance potential. This isn’t surveillance in a security sense, but rather the fact that you are able to survey a wide area while remaining in focus, rather than having to zoom in on one particular point of interest.
It’s the wide objective lens and long focus distance that help achieve this, working together to achieve a 170 feet wide field of view at from a distance of 1000 yards.
This enables you to bring mountain ranges closer, without having to cut off the edges.
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Glass/Lens
Bushnell employs Bk7 glass lenses with fully multicoated Porro prisms in the PowerView binoculars.
These fully multi-coated optics guarantee a superior level of light transmission and brightness, delivering a crisp clear image, with high contrast and minimal color aberrations.
The large aperture of the lens also captures more light, giving these binoculars above average low light performance.
Magnification
The PowerView binoculars come in a range of magnification intensities. Beginning at 10x50mm, with an intermediary model at 12x50mm, and the highest level of 20x50mm.
Each of these magnifications brings you closer to the action, and bring your target into a high degree of detail.
Depending on your intended usage, one magnification may better suit your needs, for example, broader observations are possible with the 10x model, whereas more detail can be achieved with the 20x50mm model.
Image Quality
Bushnell has awarded themselves the title of ‘industry leader’ in high-performance sports optics for the last 50 years.
That is a very bold statement, but from using these binoculars is one that I am inclined to agree with. The large aperture and precision designed optics to gain superior light transmission mean that the images delivered are of the highest quality, contrast and detail.
The Insta Focus system makes watching targets that may be flitting in and out of view incredibly easy. Just a tap of the focus slider and your target is back in crystal clear clarity.
With ample magnification to get a good standard of detail, it’s hard to see where these binoculars come apart.
Some users have however reported issues with double vision with this set, but whether than is specific to the individual binocular rather than an entire line of products remains to be seen.
Eye Relief
The eye relief offered by Bushnell here is a little lacking compared to competitor models such as any pair of Nikon binoculars.
With 10mm, 7mm and 9mm respectively for the 10x, 12x and 20x magnification models, it may not be suited to every glasses wearer.
However, the fold-down eyecups do go some way to ensuring a comfortable viewing experience. Because of the relatively short eye relief, its more than worth trying a pair of these before purchasing.
Pros
The advantage of buying a pair of Bushnell binoculars is that you know you are buying into an established brand that you can trust. With lifetime warranties offered on their products, Bushnell takes customer satisfaction very seriously.
Furthermore, focusing on these binocs is effortless, with just a slide of a dial with your finger, the Insta Focus system keeps your subject in plain view.
Cons
An area where these binoculars do fall short is weatherproofing.
Throughout my time writing reviews about binoculars, I have only come across one other pair that have no built-in weatherproofing.
This opens the binoculars up to damage in less than pristine weather conditions, which in some countries, occur more often than not.
Conclusions
This is an excellent offering from Bushnell. They are a respected brand and it’s clear to see why when you take into the account the build quality and image delivery of this pair of binoculars.
Pricing is very reasonable, with the 10x50mm model currently available for under $80. This makes these binoculars ideal for the beginner and even the intermediate binocular user.
With excellent light transmission in a fashionable and durable enclosure, these binoculars are quite the bargain. However, from user reports, it’s clear to see that there are some production issues.
With complaints about double vision and a lack of weatherproofing, these binoculars are a bit of a gamble, although a relatively safe one due to Bushnell’s lifetime warranty and simple returns process.
