Pentax 8.5x21 U-Series Papilio II Binocular suitable for watching objects both close-up and far away

Got these as an early birthday gift for my wife, who would be traveling with friends to a tennis tournament. The lower magnification was better for the nosebleed seats they'd gotten. (Though honestly, 4X might've been better still.) Very sharp optics, close focusing nice for watching hummingbirds and finches in the backyard, the small size makes them very easy to take along, and they were quite affordable. Just a well executed, nicely thought out package in every way.

These binoculars have made my walks take way longer. I got them because I was interested in looking at bugs and plants and other small things with the extremely close focusing distance. What I didn't expect was for it to not only do that extremely well (like seriously I have never seen tiny things in so much detail it's amazing) but to also kind of replace my regular birding nocs.Now let me be clear, these aren't going to do much for anything further than 50 yards maybe, but how light they are and easy to use with the single smooth focusing wheel, you can easily use these entirely single handed!(It's surprisingly good for casual backyard birding with a beer in hand, you can easily focus on a bird in a tree and effortlessly change focus to a bird that just landed on a feeder 4 feet away from you)For viewing small things I don't think it gets better than these. They make everything so interesting, every bug and flower and tiny thing just looks so amazing. The textures everything has is incredible to see, even looking into someone's eye blew me away.Now for cons if I have to give some, there isn't really any protection nor a cover for the front end sight piece, though it does come with covers for where you look through.Other than that though I guess it could have also come with a microfiber cloth for the lenses and the included strap is not the best.Overall I'd say these are excellent for the price and I would highly recommend them to anyone I know even remotely interested in the whole world around them, including the tinniest of details.

Bought these primarily for close focus feature and have been happy with the performance. As sort of an amateur naturalist, I was trying to get closer looks at things like insects or tree leaves that were out of reach but close enough I couldn't focus on them with my other binoculars, and these did the trick. Given that they are small, lightweight, and relatively inexpensive I keep them in the car and carry them when I go walking in the parks just in case there's something interesting to look at.

Excellent! These are light weight binoculars with amazing clarity and they are particularly good for observing insects from 5-6 feet away. It is like having a great magnifying lens without crawling on the ground to use it.I highly recommend this product to all devoted eco-piddlers.

These are very nice little compacts. They're not as difficult to use as others I've tried. The problem I have with compacts is the eyepiece (ocular) lenses are always small with a very narrow beam of light and these eyepieces have to be placed and held directly over the center of the eye. Higher power compacts such as the 8x21 and 10x21 models are virtually impossible for me to use since that beam of light is even narrower. The 6.5x Papilios are a bit brighter and easier on my eyes. To anyone who hesitates due to the lower magnification, don't sweat it. A 6.5 magnification is pretty decent and it's easier to hold steady, especially compared to 10 power models. I doubt you'll see much difference between a 6.5x and a 7x.Their claim-to-fame is that the Papilios focus very close, necessary for butterfly and insect watching, but handy also for birding. Take it from someone who has done birding with the venerable old Leitz Trinovid 10x40 models in the past. Those binoculars had a "close" focus of about 25 feet and that can be a handicap when birding in deep woodlands. The old Trinovids were superb for open country but too claustrophobic in tight spaces.To my eyes, the optical quality of the Papilios is just fine. They're sharp with good contrast and a pleasing color rendition. These binoculars are lightweight, perhaps a bit too lightly built. They appear to be all plastic construction with a rubbery gripping surface that allows good handling. They are small binoculars so that means there's not that many places to put your fingers. Those with large hands might find them difficult to manipulate until they adjust to this small size. I was a little surprised at how loose they are. The focus knob and the body hinge are quite loose and a little bit too easy to adjust, in my opinion. I'd like these controls to be stiffer so you don't inadvertently change the settings. Eye relief is just enough for me as an eyeglasses wearer but there's no eye relief to spare.Overall, nice binoculars but I wouldn't want them to be my only binos. They're not good for low light and they probably won't handle the banging around most binoculars get during normal use. For those uses you really should have standard size binoculars in your choice of magnification, either porro prism or roof prism. The Papilios are good for travel, to keep in your vehicle or to back up the main binocular. As a compact, I really like them.

These are a great value. They are good all around binoculars for the money, but the best part of them is they excel in their ability to focus close up. They can focus to about 18” and are great for observing your garden or other things in nature. They are also cool to take to a museum where you can look at amazing detail in a painting or sculpture. A bit like a long distance microscope. After I bought myself a pair I bought some for gifts. Everyone has been thrilled with them that I have given them to. I don’t believe there is anything else like them on the market.