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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Hawke Sapphire 10x43 (1 Viewer)

I've only tried the 8x43s I'm afraid.

At the price, they probably takes some beating optically. Large sweetspot, low CA, clean colours and perhaps a bit sharper than some other models I've tried in the class. A small but worthwhile increment over the otherwise similar Frontier ED IMO. It's still a bino I find hard to like though. It has magnification distortion like it's cheaper brother, but I think I'm alone on the forum in commenting on it so clearly not an issue for most. The single hinge Sapphire was a little better than the dual hinge version in this regard. I didn't find the weight/balance right for me and focus was harder work than some of the competition.

I enjoyed using the Opticron Countryman HD, Imagic/Verano HD more, but depending on your priorities, you would argue the Sapphire does one thing or another better optically. There are mixed reports on the Nikon Monarch 7. At launch, some of us complained about a broad border of soft focus. According to some reports this was a fault on some samples that has been fixed. If so, probably more to my taste than the Hawkes.

David
 
Thanks for that comprehensive reply. I had the Frontier ED for a while and liked how they handled and enjoyed the view. I think if the Sapphire is better then I will really like them.

I wasn't keen on the Countryman HD - I thought the Hawke Frontiers were better optically. I'm not really a fan of opticron. The monarch 7s look interesting. How would these compare optically to the Sapphires?
 
The 7 is quite a different animal to the MkIII Monarch. Much wider FOV, much less CA, less glare and sharper with more vibrant colours. As I said, the 8 and 10x both had this sudden transition to soft focus about half way to the edge. I tried them last August and have not checked since if it's been 'cured'. Without trying a good one I don't think I could make a call on which is the better optically. The 7's lighter weight and shorter length contributed to much better ergonomics than the Sapphire ED for me.

The Countryman HD doesn't suite everyone but to my eyes it's one got about the best centre sharpness at the price point. Carries a lot of weight for me.

David
 
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