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Hawke Frontier v Frontier ED (1 Viewer)

g0ukb

New member
Hi - I'm a new member here and am just about to retire. My company provide a retirement gift of around about £170 which I can augment so I was thinking of a pair of binoculars in the £250 price range.

Quickly looking through these forums it seems the Hawke Frontiers get rave reviews and I can find a pair of 8*42 open hinges in my price range. These are substantially cheaper than the 8*43 ED model - is there a huge difference or are the non-EDs just an older model?

Of course if anyone else has good ideas about a decent entry level pair of binoculars for around £250 I'd appreciate the input. My current model are a pair of old Carl Zeiss Jena 8*40s which ironically where a gift from my colleagues when I left my last job 20 years ago.

Thanks for your help

Brian
 
Hi Brian,

Welcome to the forum.

I don't know the vendors in your area, but I urge you try a few for yourself if you can. I think the Frontier ED is noticeably better than the PC and would probably rank at the top of the UK recommendations list. Similar in a number of ways is the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD. Normally these are a little above your price point. (Check out London Camera Exchange, they have offered quite good deals on the Hawke recently and there is a branch near you). Usually a bit cheaper, the Nikon Monarch is well a look as well.

I personally find that the porros still offer an overall more satisfactory view in this price range, though they are harder to track down these days. I think the Opticron HRWP is well worth a look for example if you can find it. If you can wait 'till the beginning of March In Focus are having a demo at Ringwood (they normally have the Hawke and Opticron ). Or check Pete Gamby's posts for other events near you.

Best regards,

David
 
London camera exchange in worcester have just today sold me some new hawke frontier ed 8x43's for £230 :)
Also opticron HRWP 8 x 42's are stunning, I got mine ex demo but immaculate for £120 :))
 
Great price indeed - if I could get them at that price then no quibble but my two local LCEs have quoted £299 and £319 :-(

Still I've had some useful alternative advice too by pm so thanks for that. Lots of food for thought. It's a pity the In Focus day at Ringwood is mid-week I'll still be working then but might be worth a day's vacation.

Brian
 
I think the plain Frontiers (or a previous version) was reviewed here. Rather worse than the Frontier ED.

Names for these things are often just brands the bins probably aren't even made by the same OEM (unlike scopes with ED and a non-ED option).

The usual rule of thumb is buy the best you can (as you won't regret it).
 
Great price indeed - if I could get them at that price then no quibble but my two local LCEs have quoted £299 and £319 :-(

Still I've had some useful alternative advice too by pm so thanks for that. Lots of food for thought. It's a pity the In Focus day at Ringwood is mid-week I'll still be working then but might be worth a day's vacation.

Brian

Tis worth phoning around various LCE branches to get the best price, they all seem to be quite seperate entities with surprisingly different prices, they will post the binos to you too.
 
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