Nikon Prostaff P7 8×30 Binoculars: Our Review

At A Glance

PROS:

• Bright, colorful image
• Wide field of view
• Good focus wheel
• Excellent value at this price point

CONS:

• Somewhat bulky build for a compact binocular
• Slight distortion of image when panning

STATS:

• Price: $180 MSRP at press time. Prices often fluctuate, so check with retailers
• Close focus: 8.2 feet (250 cm). In tests, we could focus these binoculars down to about 6.4 feet (196 cm)
• Field of view: 8.7° (457 feet at 1,000 yards). More about field of view 
• Weight: 18.0 oz (511 g)—that’s about 0.3 oz (9 g) heavier than the average for compact binoculars in our review. Compare binocular sizes and weights
• Eye relief: 15.4 mm

Viewing Experience: Nikon’s ProStaff line is where you’ll find their lowest-priced birding binoculars, but leverages the company’s renowned optical know-how to provide surprisingly good results. The ProStaff P7 offer a big, bright, colorful image and a very wide field of view. The image isn’t quite sharp all the way to the edges, and there is minor distortion at the edges that can be disorienting when panning or following a moving bird. But the brightness is impressive—even during testing in extremely dim, post-sunset light. We enjoyed watching a male Red-winged Blackbird flying straight at us, picking up detail in the black face despite the glare, and crisply delineating the scarlet epaulets and even the fringe of yellow visible behind them. And the binoculars did justice to the crisp streaking and yellow-brown tones of a Savannah Sparrow singing among green branches at the edge of a field. For watching feeders and studying slow-moving birds, these binoculars provide good optics at an excellent price.

Feel and Build: The ProStaff P7 8x30s are among the bulkiest compact binoculars we tested—surprising given the very lightweight feel of their 8×42 counterpart. The soft and thick rubbery armoring will presumably help cushion the binoculars against knocks and bangs. They felt well balanced in the hand, but you may not be able to stash them in a pocket or other tight space. The focus wheel has a soft feel with narrow ridges for grip. It rolls smoothly, making it easy to dial in focus swiftly and precisely. The eyecups move firmly into three preset positions.

Comments From Testers:

• Bright, colorful image but a bit of distortion at edge of image
• Bright, with a wide field of view
• Clear, crisp image and comfortable focus wheel placement

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.