ZOMZ Kronos Binoculars
These Kronos brand of binoculars are made by the Joint Stock Company ZOMZ (Zagorsk Optical Mechanical Plant) in Sergiev Posad (formerly Zagorsk), Russia. See the picture below for their logo, shaped like an eye. The sizes available are 6x30, 7x35, 8x40, and 10x50. They share common design characteristics and appear to use the same eyepiece design. The bodies come in several styles, including camouflage patterns and rubber covered. The mechanical construction on these binoculars is of mediocre quality, but the wide angle optics are better than average, with decent eye relief. The optics appear to have multilayer coatings of a moderate quality. Though these binoculars have some flaws, they should be considered for someone looking for wide angle optics on a budget. In the U.S. these binoculars sell for around $140. In today's market I think this is a bit overpriced ($100 would be better) but there are not a lot of choices left for extra wide angle binoculars.
For excellent detailed reviews of the ZOMZ 6x30 and 8x40 by Holger Merlitz, visit this web site.
Kronos 8x40
Mfr: ZOMZ
Date: 1990's
AFOV: ~76 degrees
TFOV: ~9.5 degrees
Eye Relief: ~17mm
Prisms: high index
This particular version of the Kronos 8x40 has a camouflage painted body with rubber eyecups. My sample has a rough focus feel. The eyecups are very short and don't fold down so if you are using glasses you may want to remove them, but then metal is exposed. Alternatively the eyecups can be cut down.
This binocular has a very wide field of view, so much so that it is hard to see the field edge. The eye relief is good for such a wide field though I experienced some blackouts when the eyes were placed too close. I found this binocular to be usable with glasses but as mentioned before, one can not really see the whole field of view. In the center of the field the image is very sharp. Towards the edge of field the image is soft, mostly from astigmatism. Distortion is well controlled for a wide angle binocular. Compared to the Kronos 10x50, the shorter objective tube of the 8x40 does not exhibit the reflective glare problem and the prism leakage is not as bad. As with most Russian optics, the image is slightly yellow.
Kronos 10x50
Mfr: ZOMZ
Date: 1990's
AFOV: ~78 degrees
TFOV: ~7.8 degrees (printed on body under rubber)
Eye Relief: ~17mm
Prisms: high index
The Kronos 10x50 shown here has the rubber armored body with attached rubber objective covers. I prefer this type of finish to the camouflage version. The rubber covering is quite thin though so I wouldn't really consider it to be armor. The focus on my 10x50 is slightly smoother than on my Kronos 8x40. I took apart the eyepiece and found it to have a 1-2-1 configuration, sometimes termed a Konig. The objective tubes show reflective glare from bright objects. Although there is some baffling inside, the black finish is glossy. I placed black felt inside one objective tube and this helped, but there is still some light interference from a prism leak. Otherwise the optics are similar to the 8x40 so please see above for optical performance characteristics.