Outdoors

Pentax binoculars are an optical multitool for inquisitive eyes

Pentax binoculars are an optical multitool for inquisitive eyes
Share the view by breaking the VD 4x20 WP into two monoculars
Share the view by breaking the VD 4x20 WP into two monoculars
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The versatile VD 4x20 WP is the headliner of the new Pentax V-Series of sport optics
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The versatile VD 4x20 WP is the headliner of the new Pentax V-Series of sport optics
Split the binoculars apart, attach the two scopes together and you have a telescope that multiplies the magnification
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Split the binoculars apart, attach the two scopes together and you have a telescope that multiplies the magnification
Share the view by breaking the VD 4x20 WP into two monoculars
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Share the view by breaking the VD 4x20 WP into two monoculars
Ricoh bills the Pentax VD 4x20 WP as the world’s first “three-in-one” binocular product
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Ricoh bills the Pentax VD 4x20 WP as the world’s first “three-in-one” binocular product
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Ricoh Imaging this week launched the Pentax V sport optics series, which will include both binoculars and monoculars. In fact, with its first product, it already includes both. The all-new Pentax VD 4x20 WP is an innovative multifunctional optical tool that looks like an unassuming pair of binoculars out of the box but splits apart to increase viewing versatility. Share with a friend or fasten the two scopes together to increase magnification.

Ricoh bills the Pentax VD 4x20 WP as the world’s first “three-in-one” binocular product
Ricoh bills the Pentax VD 4x20 WP as the world’s first “three-in-one” binocular product

Ricoh calls the Pentax VD 4x20 WP the world's first three-in-one binocular product. The weather-resistant binoculars strap around the owner's neck and surround his or her eyes with 4x magnification. But whereas the average pair of binoculars would stop there, that's just the beginning for the 4x20. With a quick pull, the two barrels separate into individual 4x monoculars. This should prove a better way to share a fleeting view than having the person standing next to you lean in to look through the binoculars still strapped around your neck. That neck strap splits apart into hand straps for each monocular.

The VD 4x20 WP should also be helpful for a parent pointing something out to two children, eliminating the inevitable bickering over who gets the binoculars first. And if there's no one around to share with, the two monoculars can stack into a longer telescope for 16x magnification.

Split the binoculars apart, attach the two scopes together and you have a telescope that multiplies the magnification
Split the binoculars apart, attach the two scopes together and you have a telescope that multiplies the magnification

Ricoh builds the new Pentax V-Series, which also includes the VM 6x21 WP handheld monocular at launch, for durable, multipurpose outdoor use, recommending the VD 4x20 WP for activities like sightseeing, outdoor sporting events and concerts. The 5.3-oz (150-g) binoculars have a waterproof construction and can be used in the rain and rinsed clean.

The US$249 Pentax VD 4x20 WP is available for preorder now and will officially launch in September.

The short clip below shows the Pentax multitool in action.

PENTAX VD 4x20 WP

Source: Ricoh

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3 comments
3 comments
JeffK
For $249 I could purchase several pairs of decent 8X or 10X binoculars to distribute to friends and/or family so everyone could enjoy a stereo-scopic view with the diopter already adjusted for their individual eyes. If a pair is lost or broken it isn't a huge loss, and if more magnification is truly needed there are many options for inexpensive telescopes including the old standby of yore that begat the verb; that would be brass tubes of sequentially decreasing diameter with a lens at each end that "telescope" into a compact unit for ease of carrying or storage. As for monoculars, I have two that began life a couple of decades ago as a cheap pair of rubber armored 8X25 binoculars. The hinge on one side of the connecting bridge broke after a couple of years and voila', two 8X monoculars.
NikBennewitz
I had similar ideas as a child when my mind was still free, but then as now i just can´t get enough out of it, it doesn´t seem like perfection or the ideas` peak. Big telescopes using glass never got to formal structural perfection, while mirrored could . If you use glass lenses instead of mirrors it is also getting darker, so this pentax model would be usable in daylight, but if you wantz to watch the stars at night it uses too many glasslens stages and go too dark. But i am not an optician and cannot think of a mirror alternative, plus mirrors are also not cheap .
NikBennewitz
these glass telescopes look too dark for watching the the stars at night, maybe there is a Mirror splitbino concept for that ?