APM MS 25×100 ED

Specifications:

Objective diameter:  100 mm
Magnification:  25 x
Exit pupil: 4 mm
Eye relief (acc. to spec): 16 mm
Usable eye relief (measured from rim of eyecup): 13.5 mm
IPD:  56 – 74 mm
RFOV:  2.7  degrees = 47 m
Focus type:  IF
Minimum focus distance (measured): 35 m
Range of diopter adjustment (estimate): +/- 6 dpt
Excess focus travel beyond infinity position (estimate): 6 dpt
Prism system:  Porro I
Waterproof: yes
Weight (measured, with eyepiece cover and objective caps): 4‘385 g
Made in: China

Remarks:
The largest of APM’s “MS” line of binoculars, in terms of performance placed at the very high end of the 25×100 binocular market segment.

Ratings:

Review:
Currently, we would give the label “Best 25×100” to the APM MS 25×100 ED (which, if we are not mistaken, is essentially the same as the Oberwerk 25×100 ED Ultra).

Comparing the new APM side-by-side with the Omegon Argus 25×100: The two look absolutely identical (except for the logo/label and the different look of the antireflection coatings), and they share the same essential specs such as dimensions, weight, field of view, eye relief etc.
The APM comes with an improved tripod adapter which helps balancing it out even for those with narrow IPDs.

To make it very brief: The image in the APM is brighter, sharper, contrast is higher and color fidelity appears better. The differences are significant in our eyes, the ED glass and apparently better AR coatings, plus possibly other improvements result in a clearly better optical performance.

The only other 25×100 binos we know are the Celestron Skymaster and the Omegon Nightstar, which both do not match the performance of the Argus, which was a step up when it came to the market. The new APM ED is now again a further step up performance wise; and like the Argus, it is lighter and more compact than all other (except for the same size Oberwerk “ED Ultra”) current 25x100s, be it Celestron Skymaster, Omegon Nightstar, TS Optics, Helios Stellar-II or Oberwerk DeLuxe.

Of course, “Best 25×100” comes at a price (literally): the new APM ED is 20% more expensive than than the Argus (which, to the best of our knowledge, is the same bino as the APM non-ED 25×100).