Corporations tend to get bad press, as we all know, but, now and then, a corporation does something that deserves a pat on the back and should be mentioned, too. This is the case with
Nikon’s Ecobins binocular. What makes the
Ecobin binocular special is its environmentally friendly approach to manufacturing. To start, the Nikon Ecobin binoculars lenses are made with eco-friendly, lead-free glass – a trend that is becoming ever more common in the binocular world and thankfully so. The Ecobin binocular is also coated with non-chloride rubber and no harmful inks or dyes have been used anywhere in the production of the binocular. Even the binocular case is made from a biodegradable material. Now, if we could only get cars and many other products to use this same approach, the world would be a safer place.
Keep in mind that the Ecobin binocular is not a stand lone product, meaning that it has its more conventional counterpart in the still excellent
Nikon 10x25 Prostaff binocular – one of the most popular compact binoculars on the market. In other words, the Nikon 10x25 Ecobin is a standard Nikon 10x25 Prostaff with additional environmental protection in its manufacturing. All other
binocular features - waterproofing, eye relief, field of view and so on – are the same on both Nikon binoculars.
Did I forget something? Oh, yeah, the price. There was a time, couple years back when Nikon introduced the Ecobin, when the price on the Ecobin binocular was just a touch higher than its equivalent Nikon Prostaff binocular. No longer, thanks to a special purchase by OpticsPlanet. Take a look at those prices, again. OpticsPlanet is now offering the environmentally friendly Nikon Ecobin binocular for almost half the price of a standard Nikon Prostaff binocular, even though the two are identical in terms of standard binocular features. Wow! That makes the Nikon Ecobin 10x25 binocular easily the best buy in a compact binocular on the market in my book.