Barska X-Trail 20x80mm Porro Prism Binoculars

5 reviews for Barska X-Trail 20x80mm Porro Prism Binoculars

1. 

   Legacy Reviewer – August 7, 2014

   Too heavy for hand-held apps, but on a tripod, these bins really perform. Nice clear optics, good adjustable focus. Feel very solid and well constructed.Pros: Clear optics, good focus adjustmentCons: Rear lens cap tends to fall off.

2. 

   Legacy Reviewer – July 3, 2021

   This pair are FMC, rubber coated, sport a center reinforcing bar and 3.3 degreefield. They are housed in a hard leather case.T hey are remarkably lightweight and balance easily by holding the objectivecells. Eyerelief was very comfortable using glasses. All optics do show the telltale blue-green tintof FMC, so I was pleased with that feature.First night out on stars revealed some miscollimation, but as I adjusted IPD from narrowto wide, the collimation improved. More fiddling with focus improved this further. I diddetermine that the housing contains prism adjustment screws but at the moment, it is notreally justified. I've spent three nights observing so far, mainly on the M42 region andclusters in the general vicinity. In a word- optically good, mechanically good, wowfactor very good. The 20x magnification and decent eye relief create a "magnifiedwindow on sky" effect which I find pleasing. Edge distortion is quite low. Color correctionis as good or better on bright objects than my Oberwerk 15x60s. Also, I was able toshow all the Orion belt stars (3 degrees) with maybe another 1/4 degree to spare.Despite the fact that the prism housing seems sized roughly for a 60mm objective, I didnot notice strong vignetting (light dropoff at the edges). I looked for but did not find anyoff-axis glare due to odd reflections inside the barrels. I will say that the optics do notprovide pinpoint sharpness which I have become accustomed to using my Fuji 10x70s.One indication of this is how the milky way backgound is resolved, into a fuzzy haze orinto thousands of faint stars.The Barskas show a view in between, with partial resolution.Still- a great result for 1/6 the price of Fujis.My real surprise so far was a resolved view of M37, dense cluster in Auriga. While itis bright and large, I have not seen a binocular view yet which resolved the mass of starsit is composed of. In the Barskas this is accomplished nicely. Perhaps 15 stars areresolved against a grainy background. It was this view that convinced me to keep thebinos and adapt to whatever quirks they offer. Thenights these tests were performed also included a bright 5-7 day moon. Turning tothe moon itself revealed good resolution along the terminator as well as a faint starabout to be occulted along the unlit edge. Pros: Lightweight, good balance, wide field, great valueCons: Less durable due to plastic constuction

3. 

   Bill – March 7, 2022

   Thanks barska for these good astronomy Binos at a great price. Good for seeing planets and several Messier objects with significant WOW! factor. They work well on a camera tripod or just lying on your back on the ground with a big pillow.

4. 

   Bill – March 9, 2022

   I bought these 20×80’s and they are excellent for astronomy. A medium camera tripod, even folded up helps in holding steady. Also lying on the ground with a big pillow. Much easier/quicker than setting up a telescope. Beautiful views of the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades. I like ‘em so much I also bought the 30×80’s.

5. 

   Legacy Reviewer – December 2, 2023

   I am an avid binocular astronomy fan and these Barska Xtrails 20x80s were my first "big" binoculars, having previously exclusively used 10x50s and 7x35s. I was initially very impressed by these binoculars, but previous experiences told me that only time can tell how well I really like them. Its now been one year since I got them, and am very comfortable and confident in giving my review.In short, these are great binoculars for the price point and I wholeheartedly recommend them.In long, the pros of these binoculars are their light weight, braced centre bracket, very comfortable eye relief at around 15mm, big eyepieces, good fit and finish. It came perfectly collimated and so far, after one year of good use, it still retains its collimation…this is an outstanding achievement for this class of instrument. The objective covers are nice and snug, but the eyepiece covers are slightly loose. A big plus is its wide FOV. Its stated to be 3.7 degrees, and in practice is about right. Very few large binoculars have this wide an FOV.The cons are that these are multicoated only in the objective end, the prisms show a pale blue reflection indicative of single coatings only. In practice, however, this may or maynot matter, and clearly for this pricepoint, this is very very minor con. A second issue is that too much brow pressure forces a loss of focus. However, I have experienced this in other binculars also, so its not specific to these ones. Also, the long eye relief does not require one to bury one’s eyes into the eyepieces. This has absolutely not been a problem for me. Lastly, with the eyeguards up, there is a loss of FOV at the edges. Again, this is quite frequent, and all my other binoculars show this, so its not specific this binocular. Optically, these are a joy to use. The stars on axis are very sharp, and remain so until maybe 70% out. After that, it turns into elongated spikes. Bright stars show some flaring, but that is quite acceptable in binoculars of this size. There is very little chromatic aberration on the moon. The contrast is not the best I have seen, but still quite good for the price point. In summary, good eyerelief, light weight, wide field of view, sharp images, sustained collimation more than outweigh multicoated lenses, average contrast, and the usual problems of loss of focus after too much brow pressure. These are great binoculars for the pricepoint, and I highly recommend these binoculars for their performance.Pros: long eye relief, light weight, good collimation, wide field of viewCons: multicoated lens vs fully Multicoated, brow pressure can loosen focus wheel