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Tract Toric 8x42 Experience (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter jgraider
- Start date
No. I just have my two Swarovski SV's. The 10x50 SV and the 8x32 SV. I sold all my porro's. The Habicht 8x30 W just had too much glare as Henry said in his post. You really notice it at extreme angles in sunny conditions. The EII is a very good binocular for the price though I will agree with that. You can still buy them on Ebay for about $400.
B
I just noticed a marked difference in my ability to hold a 10x depending on my BAL. Maybe if I reach a certain threshold I will become steadier. I am going test that theory out. I am headed down to the pub.B
:t: :t: :t:
Lee
Tract_Optics
Well-known member
BruceH
Avatar: Harris Hawk
Trevor ..... Thanks for the feedback on the lack of a case. If hitting a price point is an issue, then you folks may want to consider offering a nice soft case (as mentioned above) as an affordable accessory.
On a different subject: If you folks are interested in getting more known to the birding community, then you might consider attending the 2016 American Birding Expo running from Sept 16 through the 18th, 2016. It is sponsored by Bird Watcher's Digest. It is held in Columbus, OH, which looks to be about a 6 hour drive from your location. Just about everyone in birding optics is listed to be there except Nikon (no surprise). Even another startup, Maven is listed. It may not generate the largest attendance but it looks to atract people from the press (i.e. Bird Watcher Digest) and most likely some of the Forum members will attend.
http://www.americanbirdingexpo.com/
On a different subject: If you folks are interested in getting more known to the birding community, then you might consider attending the 2016 American Birding Expo running from Sept 16 through the 18th, 2016. It is sponsored by Bird Watcher's Digest. It is held in Columbus, OH, which looks to be about a 6 hour drive from your location. Just about everyone in birding optics is listed to be there except Nikon (no surprise). Even another startup, Maven is listed. It may not generate the largest attendance but it looks to atract people from the press (i.e. Bird Watcher Digest) and most likely some of the Forum members will attend.
http://www.americanbirdingexpo.com/
I received the Tract Toric 8x42 today and I must say I am very impressed. I have only had a chance to use it for about 6 hours but I did take it up in the mountains and compared it under different lighting conditions to my Swarovski 8x32 SV. I agree with everything jgraider says about it. This is the only mid-priced binocular that I have ever tried that I wanted to keep.
First of all the build quality is way beyond any mid-tiered binocular I have seen. This binocular is alpha-level quality and made in Japan. Nothing looks cheap on this binocular.
Eyecups-These eyecups work very smoothly and there is no slop in them like most mid-priced binoculars. These are alpha-level eyecups and maybe even better than some alpha's. The rubber that meets your eyes is very comfortable and almost perfect in size like a Swarovski.
Focus Mechanism- Not too hard and not too easy. Perfect in tension both ways and the perfect speed. The focus is very Zeiss SF like. Excellent.
Ergonomics- The ergonomics are great and the armour appears very quality. This binocular is much sleeker and more comfortable in the hand than say a Zeiss Conquest HD or a Maven.
Optics- The optics are neutral with no color cast. It is a very bright sharp view with about a 70% sweetspot and the edges are very good with very little fall off in sharpness. It almost seems like an SV but you do notice a little fall off in sharpness at the edges. There is no RB feeling which is nice. Flare control is excellent. Much better than my little SV. I tested it at extreme angles and it showed hardly any flare under bright sunny conditions. It performed much better than say my Habicht 8x30 W did for flare. The transmission on this binocular must be high because it is very bright under low light conditions. The 8x32 SV does have a bigger FOV but the FOV on the Toric does not seem that small in comparison. I compared it to a Conquest 8x42 HD and I will have to agree with jgraider in that it is slightly brighter and sharper to my eyes also. I really like my SV 8x32 but it is really nice to use a binocular that controls glare better like this one.
Size and weight- I weighed it on my scale at 26 oz. and the dimensions were surprisingly not that much bigger than the 8x32 SV as the pictures show. So this is a nice compact and relatively light 8x42 binocular.
Overall- This is the best mid-tiered binocular I have ever tried and I am very picky but I just can't find anything wrong with it. You have to get your own case but it comes with a nice strap, tethered objective covers, and a nice rainguard. This binocular is really a bargain at $650.
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Denco, and others,
I would agree very much with your comments on the Toric. Our 10x version also provides a *very* nice view for the price. Ours does differ from yours a bit. The focus wheel on ours takes much more effort to move than is necessary, or commonly seen. Fortunately, there is no slop/backlash, and the rubber cover provides great traction. Also, the diopter ring turns much too easily. IOW, the two wheels are backwards in what their turn efforts should be. Not a big deal to me, but the diopter ring in particular will no doubt bother some as it really should not be so easy to turn.
I thought the ergos are very nice too. The only slight quibble being a somewhat loose fitting of the rubber armor at the objective ends of the barrels. I did notice some CA. Not a lot, but then again I am not particularly sensitive to it anyway. I fear however that people who might be sensitive to it might not be happy with it. I look forward to hearing/reading from someone who it more capable to assess CA than me about what they think of this aspect of these very nice binos.
While I am not ready to state that the Toric is better overall than a Conquest HD or a Razor or a Meostar HD, I do think it is a better buy than those three. I've got a lot of binos that are much more expensive than our Toric, but I really enjoy using the Toric anyway, and am glad to add it to the fold.
BTW -- there was a few hitches when I purchased it, but Mr. LaCorte handled the issues extremely quickly, and to my great satisfaction. It's really nice when the (co-)owner of a company returns your emails within an hour or two.
I would agree very much with your comments on the Toric. Our 10x version also provides a *very* nice view for the price. Ours does differ from yours a bit. The focus wheel on ours takes much more effort to move than is necessary, or commonly seen. Fortunately, there is no slop/backlash, and the rubber cover provides great traction. Also, the diopter ring turns much too easily. IOW, the two wheels are backwards in what their turn efforts should be. Not a big deal to me, but the diopter ring in particular will no doubt bother some as it really should not be so easy to turn.
I thought the ergos are very nice too. The only slight quibble being a somewhat loose fitting of the rubber armor at the objective ends of the barrels. I did notice some CA. Not a lot, but then again I am not particularly sensitive to it anyway. I fear however that people who might be sensitive to it might not be happy with it. I look forward to hearing/reading from someone who it more capable to assess CA than me about what they think of this aspect of these very nice binos.
While I am not ready to state that the Toric is better overall than a Conquest HD or a Razor or a Meostar HD, I do think it is a better buy than those three. I've got a lot of binos that are much more expensive than our Toric, but I really enjoy using the Toric anyway, and am glad to add it to the fold.
BTW -- there was a few hitches when I purchased it, but Mr. LaCorte handled the issues extremely quickly, and to my great satisfaction. It's really nice when the (co-)owner of a company returns your emails within an hour or two.
I guess coming from a Habicht 8x30 W which has a really tight focus wheel the Toric seems about right. I am with jgraider in that I don't like too loose of focus wheel because it seems often times you overshoot it. The Toric focus wheel has no slack so it is very accurate which I like. My SV 8x32 focus wheel is smooth but almost too loose so sometimes I overshoot focus. It is kind of a personal thing which you prefer. I find the diopter stays in position pretty well once I set it but mine might be tighter. The rubber at the objective end feels softer than some binoculars like a Swarovski but all binoculars seem to end the binocular frame close to the objective so they add a little bit of rubber to the end for protection. The Swarovski's use firmer rubber but I think Trac is wise using a softer rubber because if think about it if you drop your binoculars they will mose likely hit on the objective edn because it is the heaviest part of the binocular. If the rubber around the objective lens is softer it is going to absorb more shock possibly saving your binoculars from damage. I didn't notice anymore CA than my SV's although the SV's aren't the best for CA control either but I will%2
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PhilR, interesting your comments on the 10x42. I liked the 8x so much I ordered the 10x as well. I found it excellent, BUT not nearly as impressive as the 8x. Not sure why but that's the way my eyes saw it with my samples.
denco, excellent review. Glad you like it, and good to know I haven't totally lost my marbles.
denco, excellent review. Glad you like it, and good to know I haven't totally lost my marbles.
Tract_Optics
Well-known member
Bruce, thank you for the heads up. I'll pass that along to the team. I know they like to get to as many shows as possible to get product in peoples hands.
Trevor
Tract Optics
Tract_Optics
Well-known member
Denco,
Appreciate you taking the time to post this review. Its great to read what you, JG, and others think about some of our products.
Trevor
Tract Optics
Hmmm.... I've resisted buying a nice 8x42, since I have a really good 7x42 (Victory FL), but now I might have to consider an 8x Toric. Can't have too many good binos, after all.....:t:
Thanks for the recommendation of the Toric. You were right on on everything. First time I bought a binocular based on a review and I liked it. A 10x is a lot more difficult to make than an 8x no matter who manufactures it. You are getting a smaller exit pupil with a 10x42 and it makes a difference in a lot of areas including eye placement. That IMHO is why if you want a 10x it is better to go to 10x50 like the bigger SV.
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No problem. Right at 6 inches.
Yeah me too. It took a while for me to even purchase an 8X. The first few I tried I really didn't like. I always felt I was giving something up by using something less than 10X, especially looking at wild game. Now I know it's hard to beat a quality 7X or 8X for overall use. Funny...I was told this for YEARS by folks that were wiser than me. Yes, wisdom DOES come with age.
Theo98
Eurasian Goldfinch
Ok...Thanks a lot! Was just kinda comparing some specs of some of the smaller/lighter 42mm binoculars:
Toric 8X42- 6 inches long...weight 26 oz(Thanks Dennis)
Trinovid 8X42- 5.8 inches long...weight 28 oz(My measurements)
UV HD + 8X42- 5.6 inches long...weight 26.5 oz(My measurements)
Victory FL 7X42- 6 inches long...weight 27 oz(My measurements)
So looks like the Toric is the lightest here and the UV HD + the smallest..
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