Praktica Falcon 10x50 review: powerful, pin-sharp binoculars at a preposterously low price

From its birth in the 1940s up until the fall of the Berlin Wall, Eastern Bloc manufacturer Praktica built a cult following around its no-nonsense, slab-like SLR cameras, offering similar performance to big-name Japanese rivals but at Škoda prices. Today, the Dresden factory is sadly shuttered, but the Praktica name lives on, currently adorning, among other things, a range of suspiciously cheap binoculars. Various configurations all come in at around the $55 (£40) mark, including this chunky set of 10x50s.

The Falcon 10x50s are at the bulkier end of Praktica’s lineup, so if you’re after something to slip into a pocket or daypack, these aren’t it. But if it’s raw enlarging power you need, then, on paper at least, the 50mm objective lenses and 10x magnification should provide enough welly for everything from trainspotting to stargazing.

So, what does the world look like through a pair of bargain-basement binoculars? Will you be tickled pink, or seeing red? And are they among the best budget binoculars you can buy?

Praktica Falcon 10x50: Specifications

Praktica Falcon 10x50: Price

The Praktica Falcon 10x50 binoculars are available from various retailers for a paltry $55 / £40 / AU$78. That’s at the very bottom end for a pair of nockers of this spec, and is less than a third the price of Nikon’s equivalent, the Action 10x50s.

A rifle through the internet throws up an array of alternatives for similar money – it’s a crowded market for cheap binos – but Praktica’s offering at least has some kind of brand heritage behind it.

Praktica Falcon 10x50: Design & Handling

Given the budget price, don’t expect a premium unboxing experience. The basic cardboard packaging contains the binoculars themselves, a simple, lightly padded case, a lens cloth, and a hardly confidence-inspiring strap that you’ll need to thread into place yourself and hope for the best. Think “My First Spy Kit” and you won’t be too far off the mark.

However, the actual binoculars themselves have a reasonable solidity to them, with a vaguely rubber-like coating and knobbly grips in all the right places. Ignore the odd blemish and wonkily applied logo, and some dubious flexing of the eyecups, and there’s little to complain about. My pair sports a classic black finish, but there’s also a beige option for covert desert ops.

Lens caps are provided for both front and rear sets of glass, but don’t expect them to remain in your possession for long. They’re slack-fitting and fall off at the slightest provocation – I defy anyone to squeeze these binos back into their case without dislodging at least one cap – so it’s only a matter of time before you’re down to three, then two…

Glasses wearers are catered to by fold-down eyecups. At least, that’s the theory. In practice, I found that with just 13mm eye relief, they swiftly flip back, unbidden, to their original position, and no amount of refolding will persuade them to stay put. Thankfully, the diopter adjustment works a treat, and there’s also some spare focus adjustment beyond max range, so many of us should be able to fling our jam jars aside and rely on Praktica’s optics for 20/20 vision.

Where the Falcon 10x50s really begin to turn things around, though, is in the quality of the mechanicals. Both hinge and focus adjustment are surprisingly smooth, weighty, and stable, and wouldn’t embarrass a pair ten times the price. These things are a genuine pleasure to operate. But can they really be any good to look through?

Praktica Falcon 10x50: Performance

Given the measly price tag and the various build-quality niggles, I was almost scared to lift the Falcon 10x50s to my eyes. But orders are orders, and, to my amazement, with a tweak of the focus wheel, the vista ahead of me shimmered into view with near-perfect clarity. Distant blobs became living, breathing sheep and cows. Indistinct squiggles resolved into crisply defined foliage. And overhead, I was able to zero in on what turned out to be a kestrel, individual feathers twitching as it circled above its quarry.

The Prakticas’ innards, as might be guessed from their old-school appearance, consist of traditional Porro prisms coupled to "multi-coated" lenses. (Coated with what, they’re not saying.) And everything works together absolutely splendidly. The hefty 50mm objective lenses draw in enough light to give a bright, colorful image even on a dreary day, and they carry on performing at night, with the moon’s craters rendered in crystal clarity and not a trace of chromatic aberration around its edge.

A 122m field of view at 1,000 compares favorably to rival binos, particularly given that the entire image remains impressively sharp and bright almost to the edges.

The high magnification means these are best used with elbows propped on something to keep the image stable, but their somewhat plastic build has the advantage of keeping the weight down a little, so they’re not overly tiring to hold. While they won’t tripod-mount directly, a cap unscrews to reveal a thread for a tripod adapter. You’ll need to fork out for that separately, though.

There’s no mention in the specs of waterproofing, so it's probably best to check the weather forecast before slinging these over your shoulder on your way out.

Praktica Falcon 10x50: Verdict

Praktica’s Falcon 10x50s are so cheap they can’t possibly be any good… and yet, they somehow produce admirably clear images, equal to many a much more expensive pair.

From their don’t-look-too-closely finish to their no-frills case and strap, they aren’t pretending to be anything but a budget option. But once you start adjusting and focusing them, there’s really nothing to complain about: they hinge smoothly, and the focus is rock-solid. And Praktica itself seems supremely confident in its quality control, throwing in a reassuring 25-year warranty with every pair.

One thing to bear in mind: that meaty magnification comes at the price of portability, so these aren’t the best choice to keep about your person in the hope you might one day hear the elusive squawk of a capercaillie.

But if you essentially want to, well, make things look bigger, and don’t care what anyone else thinks, these fit the bill perfectly, and you’ll struggle to do better without splurging significantly more on a premium-brand alternative.

Alternatives

For a bit more money, the pocket-sized Nikon Aculon T02 10x21 brings stronger build quality and much more portability, but sacrifices low-light performance with smaller lenses.

The Nikon Action 10x42 is better built than the Prakticas with similar specs, but will set you back not far off three times the price.