Kowa BD II XD 6.5x32 Review - Best Mid-Range Bino?

There are very few binoculars left with magnification of less than 8x.
6x30 or similar designs really have a lot to offer when you are looking for stability and ease of use in a compact package.
As a matter of personal preference, for general purpose use, I like binoculars with the exit pupil around 5mm and Kowa 6.5x32 is a grand example of why.

[TheSavagederek]

Around 11 years back I gifted a pair of Leica Trinovid 8x32 to a mate, as I'd just bought a new pair of the Ultravids, which were stolen a few years later . About 2 months ago I bought a pair of the Kowa BD8x42XD and been very impressed by them . Yesterday I was with that mate, out birding at some local lagoons . I wouldn't swap back tbh . Those Leicas were nearly £700 at the time I purchased . I've been extremely impressed by the view and brightness of the BD .

[janpedersen]

Very good review indeed. I have tested a lot of Pentax, Steiner and Kowa's over 10+ years, and I was blown away too by this 6, 5x32 BD II from Kowa. They use one pair of flourid lenses, essentially XD Prominar lenses, in each barrel, although not screaming this out loud since the Genesis series (and all there scopes) are supposed to have a monopoly on this term. I was given the 6, 5x a year ago and it put my 1000gram Swarovski 10x50 more or less on early retirement, since I much more appreciate the lightness and extreme FOV on this Kowa. One thing you do not mention is a great feel of a 3-D image unusual to a roof prism binocular. During migration I always have my Kowa scope at hand so up till now I have never been in a situation where I miss out on magnification. Highly recommended (and underrated binoculars).

[andrew]

Curious to know if you'd recommend the 6.5x32 for midrange (<600yd) target finding in a NRL/field style match? I used my Sig 10x LRFs in one last year and the FOV really hurt my ability to be effective IMO. Thinking the wide FOV here could help fix that but hung up on "will it be enough magnification" to recognize targets to 4, 5, 600yd. I assume it'd be awesome 1-300.

#2 - are there any variable magnification binos that you like under ~2k$? obviously idea being to meld the two attributes of a 6.5ish and a 10/12ish mag range without having to carry 2 binos and re index each time you go to a different glass (ineffective).

Thanks for the video!

[MikeGuadango]

I had the Kowa Prominair 8.5x44. Aside from being a bit heavy and heaving a narrower FOV (compared to other in the class) they were great binos. I don’t think I gained much when I bought Swarovski ELs

[falba]

Thanks for the review. I picked up a pair at MidwayUSA for $329. Everyone else is asking $399 for these.
The glass and field of view are excellent. This is the second optic I purchase, on your very excellent advice, in the last two weeks.
How would you rate the Kowa Genisis line the to European brands? Are there any other hidden treasures to be had?

[GM-bqzo]

These aren't as good as the first bd xd model which I have, they're not as sharp or quite as bright. I have compared both.

[sammiller]

Where were you seeing these for $330? Best I’ve found is $399.

[RabbitSlayer]

I have the cheap kowa 6x32 i think it is. I dont care for it too much compared to my 6x leupold that os also about 100 bucks. Unfortunately the leupold is discontinued. I was looking at the maven 6x but this looks nice too.

[mauriciolacruz]

I've just purchased the Kowa Genesis Prominar XD 8.5x44 and want to put filters to protect the objective lenses (this model features front threads for installing filters).

Is it better to install just standard protective filters (i.e. Hoya HD Gold Protector) or UV filters instead (i.e. Hoya HD Gold UV)?

Thank you.

[commonsense]

I really think the sub $150 Nikon P7 8x30 is a fantastic set of binoculars comparable to the $550 Mavens but better actually. Field of view is incredibly wide.

[Bıçaklar_Aletler]

*Kowa BD-II XD 8x32 Most İdeal Version, 6.5x32 Very Good Kid Toy.*