Eschenbach Arena D 8×32 Binoculars: Our Review

At A Glance

PROS:

• Quick-adjusting focus wheel
• Comfortable eyecups

CONS:

• Focus wheel brushes agains housing while turning
• Poor close focus
• Large hinge makes them awkward to hold for larger hands
• Hard plasticky finish is not for everyone

STATS:

• Price: $240 MSRP at press time. Prices often fluctuate, so check with retailers
• Close focus: 10.2 feet (310 cm)
• Field of view: 7.0° (368 feet at 1,000 yards). More about field of view 
• Weight: 17.6 oz (500 g)—that’s about 0.1 oz (2 g) lighter than the average for compact binoculars in our review. Compare binocular sizes and weights

Viewing Experience: The Eschenbach Arena D produces a clear and somewhat bright image at close and middle distances, but had difficulty producing a sharp image for distant objects. The relatively small field of view and small eyepiece lens imparted a distinct tunnel vision. Close focus was over 10 feet, near the bottom of the pack for that metric. The focus wheel was smooth, and could adjust very quickly from close to distant objects. This could be advantageous in some circumstances, but it also made it difficult to fine-tune because the focal distance changed so much with just the slightest turn of the wheel. There was a distinct globing effect when panning and refocusing—one tester said it made them feel “woozy.”

Feel and Build: These binoculars are a bit bulky but not too heavy. The extra-large closed-hinge design makes them feel larger in the hand than many of the compact models, and that hinge makes the barrels feel shortened—a tester with large hands found his pinkies hanging awkwardly off of the end. The eyecups are comfortably rounded and click into 5 positions, but they are stiff and feel like they are grinding against something. The focus wheel turns easily, but is set so close to the housing that it almost touches. In time, if the rubber warps at all, this could be problematic. The neck strap was padded but narrow.

Tester’s Comments:

• Nice and light
• Hard to adjust focus
• Clunky to hold

This article is one in a series of mini-reviews. To see how these binoculars compare to others we’ve tested, see our full review of affordable compact binoculars.