The high-quality lenses and prisms of the BDII-XD binoculars, along with ED technology (Extra-low Dispersion), provide an exceptionally sharp image and excellent color reproduction. When you need to distinguish the shade of a birds wing coverts while the bird is sitting in the shadow of a branch, your chances are clearly better with these binoculars compared to cheaper models. When you compare the field of view and image quality provided by these binoculars to, say, a pair of two hundred euro binoculars, the difference is enormous. A very wide field of view, excellent precision, and color reproduction - using the Kowa BDII XD Wide Angle is a pleasure. An 10x magnification brings objects closer than the most common factor of 8. 42 mm objective lenses gather ample light, without making the binoculars too heavy. A great choice even for use in less than perfect lighting conditions. The closest focusing distance is only 1.8 meters, making these binoculars very suitable for observing ins