Nikon 7508 Travelite 8 X 25mm V Binoculars: Customer Reviews & Product Details

I bought both the zoom and non-zoom. I find the non-zoom easier to focus and use while the zoom had to be refocused with every zoom. The image got darker when zoomed and it was easy to see black circles (eye gets out of line with the eyepiece). I kept the non-zoom, and they work great for football games.

Also, zoom lenses are so jittery in my 30-year old fairly stable hands. You really do need a stand if you are going to zoom in more than 8x.

Introduction:

I already own Nikon Action 8 x 40 Binoculars that work really well and are in the same price range as these Travelite binoculars. BUT! The Action 8 x 40's are way too big and way too heavy and I found myself not carrying them outside the house much. I needed a smaller, lighter pair to travel with that could fit in my pockets. So I went to several different stores and tried a lot of different smaller lower weight binoculars some costing almost $1,000.

But I kept coming back to these Nikon Travelite's and so went home and ordered them from Amazon.com for the best price and no taxes.

Review:

Here's what I love about these binoculars:

I love the way they fit in my hands like a natural extension of my body.
I love the way without glasses my eyes sit inside the cups shielding them from external light
I love the way I can still see pretty good even with my glasses on
I love the way they resolve detail with great contrast, colors and sharpness
I love the way I can hold them up for hours to my eyes looking for birds without straining my back and arms.
I love the way with several different binoculars present people always want to borrow these.
I love the way the focus adjustment wheel fits my hand and works perfectly
I love the way they are small enough to fit into my pockets but large enough to work.
I love the precision high quality feel you would expect on a much more expensive pair of binoculars
And of course I love the price.

Regrets:

They aren't waterproof / resistant.
Cheap eyepiece caps are too easy to lose and no end caps

Verdict:

Buy them you will probably love them and if you don't someone you know will!

In the end binoculars are a highly individual thing and you should go to an actual store and try out as many different ones as possible before going home and then ordering from Amazon.com. That's what I did and that's why I bought these Nikon Travelite 8 x 25 binoculars. If you want something in the same price range but even brighter, bigger and heavier try the Nikon Action 8 x 40 Binoculars

02-08-2008 Update:

Still loving these binoculars, have lost one eye piece cover now but other then that no problems even after letting lots of other people borrow them including kids.

First of all, these binocs are very lightweight (but don't feel like a toy) and fold to jacket pocket size, a real plus. Optics also seem to be what I would expect from Nikon. Overall very satisfied for the price. Will probably also buy the higher mag version for home use. Great glasses to take along on a hike for birding etc., esp. if you are also carrying camera gear and don't want to be weighted down.

Purchased for a relative and within a budget limit. for the price, the Nikon's are a good value but clearly not for a more serious user. As a birder, I have a Nikon Monarch- considerably more money and size but the best optics for the money.

These binoculars are nice; took them on a long western trip to see some national parks. I took along a second pair of 10 dollar binoculars and these Nikon's weren't a whole lot better in clarity or field of view. They have a nice case which I kept in a camera backpack with my backup cameras; easy to adjust from my view without glasses to my husband's who wears glasses. We will certainly use them, but some cheaper ones may be just as good for your use.