Optolyth Royal 8×56

Specifications:

Objective diameter:  56 mm
Magnification:  8 x
Exit pupil: 7.0 mm
Usable ye relief (measured from rim of folded eyecup):  14.5 mm
IPD: 61 – 76 mm
RFOV:  6.3  degrees = 110 m
AFOV (measured, rounded):  53 degrees
Minimum focus distance (measured): 4.1 m
Focus type: CF (direction of rotation from close to infinity: < anticlockwise)
Degrees of rotation of focus wheel from 4.1 m to infinity (measured): 550 degrees
Range of diopter adjustment (estimate): +/- 2.5 dpt*
Excess travel of focus wheel beyond infinity position (estimate): 6 dpt*
Prism system:  Abbe-König
Waterproof: splashproof
Weight (measured, with eyepiece cover and strap): 1‘174 g
Made in: Germany
*range of diopter adjustment not affected by position of focus wheel

Remarks:

Optolyth has a long tradition in the sports optics market. Predecessors of the current company were founded already in the 19th century; the name Optolyth was first used from the 1960s for a range of binoculars and spotting scopes. The “Royal” series with 8×56, 10×56, 9×63 and 15×63 models was later complemented by the ViaNova product line. The Royal 8×56 was sometimes dubbed “poor man’s Zeiss”, hinting at the amazing external similarity with the Dialyt 8×56 (see separate post, https://binocular.ch/zeiss-dialyt-8×56-b-ga-t/) and indicating that the overall quite decent optics of the Royal, which is much cheaper than similar Zeiss models, never matched the Dialyt’s performance, despite nice features such as Abbe-König prisms and a clever double focus wheel. Today, the design of the Royal binoculars appears dated, and innovations seem not to have happened at Optolyth for quite some time.

see also separate post “Optolyth Royal 9×63”, https://binocular.ch/optolyth-royal-9×63-2/

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