The RSPB Buzzard ED binoculars are a brand new model from the UK's leading birding charity. As you'd expect, then, they're primarily marketed as birdwatching binoculars. Price-wise, these are mid-range binoculars, coming in around the £550 mark. But are they worth investing in? We put them to the test in another of our in-depth reviews.
Related: Top 10 Binoculars for Birdwatching
Design & Build
The 8x42 Buzzards weigh in at 740g- not exceptionally heavy for ED binoculars, but a bit heavier than regular 8x42s. They certainly feel good and solid, and while we'd always recommend you be careful with your binoculars (especially if you've spent £540 on them), the Buzzards could take a bit of knocking about without getting damaged.
As with virtually all binoculars at this price point (and indeed most decent ones in general), the Buzzards come with twist-down eyecups. There are two intermediate positions here, as well as all the way up and all the way down. They come out a decent amount so are comfortable to use. The intermediate positions also feel good and solid while using them; sometimes we've found eyecups can be too easily pushed back down when using them in the intermediate position, but thankfully that wasn't an issue here.
The focus wheel on the Buzzard is a bit larger than on the average pair of binoculars., and a bit more ridged as well. This makes it really easy to use and adjust. The dioptre wheel is also ridged and coloured grey- this stays in place well so you shouldn't accidentally knock it out of alignment while using the binoculars.
Optical Quality & Performance
The RSPB Buzzard comes in two variants: an 8x42 model, and a 10x42 model. We tested the former for the purposes of this review. Judging by our previous experience with testing binoculars, though, we would expect the 10x42s to be much the same. just offering a slightly more zoomed-in view.
These are ED binoculars, which stands for "extra-low dispersion" glass. For those not familiar with this term, ED glass is designed to better focus the light that passes through them. This means that the image that hits your eye is brighter and more true-to-life than you'd get from standard glass.
Thanks to the ED glass, we found that the Buzzards performed exceptionally well when it comes to brightness of image. We were lucky enough to get some sunshine here in Scotland while testing the binoculars, but gave them a whirl at dusk to get an idea of how they would perform in low-light conditions (i.e. the other 51 weeks of the year here!). Colours remained clear and distinct, whereas in bright conditions there was only a tiny amount of chromatic aberration.
They offer a field-of-view of 8.1 degrees, which is a bit above average for 8x binoculars. This makes them an excellent option for birdwatching, as it makes it that much easier to track birds in flight. There's an ever-so-slight distortion at the very edge of the lenses, so they don't quite offer complete edge-to-edge clarity. However, we only noticed this because we were actively looking for it while testing. For most users, this won't be noticeable.
Viking Buzzard ED: The Verdict
As RSPB's first set of ED binoculars, one could reasonably expect there to still be some teething issues. However, we're delighted to say that the Buzzards are a brilliant set of mid-level binoculars, and comfortably compete with other models around the £700 mark, making them excellent value for money.
