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A bizarre comparison: Opticron porro vs Vanguard endeavour roofs (1 Viewer)

frootz

Well-known member
Hello,

I am changing my binoculars yet again after a down-grade in my budget.

I appreciate I need to test both out for sure but what would be your pick out of these and why?

Opticron HRWP 8x42 £249
Vanguard Endeavour ED 8x42 £249

Many thanks again if you take the time to reply,

Emma
 
Hello,

I am changing my binoculars yet again after a down-grade in my budget.

I appreciate I need to test both out for sure but what would be your pick out of these and why?

Opticron HRWP 8x42 £249
Vanguard Endeavour ED 8x42 £249

Many thanks again if you take the time to reply,

Emma

Emma, I can't speak to the Opticron but you should consider the ED II model. It's very sharp for the price point.

http://www.vanguardworld.com/index.php/en/os/products/hunting-outdoor/list-2-10-274.html

They should be arriving in the UK very soon.
 
Emma,

I have the new Endeavour ED II to play with at the moment and Cnick is right that it's very good indeed but it is around the £400 mark, so with your opening comments probably out of the running for the moment. Not a problem, the old one is very good for the money as well.

A couple of things to note. Both are over 700g so not particularly light weight and while the Vanguard does better with 122m than the HRWP's 112m neither are particularly wide views by today's standards. The Vanguard does have an unusually fast and the samples I've tried slightly stiff focus. I quite like the speed but I know others have criticised it. I don't recall the speed of the HRWP but I'm sure it's slower and I thought the tension was good. The close focus is a bit better on the Vanguard and if butterflies are on your list, the closer objectives would make life easier as well.

I think, as others do here, that the HRWP is a very sharp binocular and together he widely spaced objectives, and degree of field curvature it does offer a particularly detailed three dimensional view which little on the market can rival. The Vanguard on the other hand has a sharp and contrasty, flatter field of view with possibly a larger sweet spot.

I know on occasions the narrow view and physical bulk of the HRWP are going to bug me occasionally, but the view of a good porro always seems to offer that little bit extra... and it is very good.

David
 
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Many thanks for the replies that's very helpful.

Thanks particularly to David too, I did see your Bird Fair report and it was a brilliant round-up. I'm looking forward to your review of the Endeavour EDIIs perhaps I could be persuaded to go back to 8x32s instead as the price for these should be a bit lower!
 
Emma,

I think you will be seeing some comments on the 8x32 as well in the next few days. I liked that one as well. Places like Clifton are listing it at £329.

David
 
Probably worth noting that Vanguard have added a new 8x32 to the original Vanguard Endeavor ED line.

With participating retailers there will be a choice between the Vanguard Endeavor ED 8x32 and the Vanguard Endeavor ED II 8x32, and good luck with finding a UK retailer, Emma.

Best wishes,
 
I haven't seen a Vanguard, but I did recently compare my Minox BD10X44BP, which is basically the same as the HRWP, to the Kowa Genesis 8.5X44, Nikon 10X42 SE, and 12X50 SE. I preferred the Minox and returned the others. The narrow "tunnel like" FOV of the HRWP is a deal breaker for many, but I'm more than willing to live with it to get the amazing resolution and transmission.

Hello,

I am changing my binoculars yet again after a down-grade in my budget.

I appreciate I need to test both out for sure but what would be your pick out of these and why?

Opticron HRWP 8x42 £249
Vanguard Endeavour ED 8x42 £249

Many thanks again if you take the time to reply,

Emma
 
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The HRWP does deliver amazing clarity, however I did eventually tire of that narrow fov , also the focuser can be hard to reach for smaller hands, I don`t know the Vanguard so can`t comment.
 
If you can find anywhere local stocking the Visionary Freebird I would recommend checking them out. They're only £130 and they are not ED glass but I am really enjoying mine. I tested them directly against the likes of the Bushnell Legend Ultra and that were by far and away the best. See my mini review in the ' Other Binoculars' section for my thoughts.
 
Minox view

I haven't seen a Vanguard, but I did recently compare my Minox BD10X44BP, which is basically the same as the HRWP, to the Kowa Genesis 8.5X44, Nikon 10X42 SE, and 12X50 SE. I preferred the Minox and returned the others. The narrow "tunnel like" FOV of the HRWP is a deal breaker for many, but I'm more than willing to live with it to get the amazing resolution and transmission.

Hi Bruce,

By "tunnel like FOV", do you just mean you have to move more often to see what you want, or is it that you find it appears to be like looking through a narrow tube? I imagine wearing glasses might have some effect on your view, but I recently picked up a used pair of the Minox BD10x44BP's (close equivalent to the Opticron HRWP's) and I do not find the view to be tunnel like in any way, though I do not wear glasses when viewing.

Yes, they have a more narrow field of view, but for me that doesn't seem to matter-I like the sharp, clear image enough not to notice, and don't mind moving the bins around to see other things when I want to scan. I do have other bins with a wide field view if I want that viewpoint, but these are great for reaching out and finding birds or other details I want to see closer at 10x.
 
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And, in comparison I believe the ED Vanguard Endeavors (not the II's), to be as clear or possibly a little sharper to my eyes that the Minox BDBP's (or HRWP's for that matter), if I can recall the image correctly-when I had my pair of Endeavors, not long ago. I did not have them at the same time, so it's only my impression I can go by now. But I did like the ED glass a lot-it seemed to make a difference in detail I could see, and also clarity under certain unfriendly viewing conditions that stumped some other bins I was comparing them to at the time.

Both show some CA, under the right conditions, so that I believe cancels out as equal in comparison. Yes, the Vanguard's did have a fast focus, and things would not snap in and out of focus, but that is all I found fault with besides the minor CA, and the fact that they did not have the 3D view I like in Porros.
 
Ive long been a fan of the HRWP's and am always surprised when others don't also see them as the optical equal of absolutely anything else out there.
Their real strength lies in distance birding, I don't like using a scope so rely on razor sharp clarity to pick out minute details at a distance and the HRWP's really deliver here.
I've not tried the endevours but to match the HRWP's transparency and sharpness in a roof prism I've found you have to jump right up to something like a Conquest HD.
 
Did you buy the pair on eBay with the adapter for $199 ? The FOV doesn't bother me to any degree, but I do see a moderate amount of CA which does bother me somewhat. I have seen some of the best "Alphas", and the BP is at least equal to all and better than some in the area of resolution and just plain pop and wow factor. I have wide field models also, but that just isn't the most important thing to me. Every time I look through mine on a good day, I am amazed all over again.

Hi Bruce,

By "tunnel like FOV", do you just mean you have to move more often to see what you want, or is it that you find it appears to be like looking through a narrow tube? I imagine wearing glasses might have some effect on your view, but I recently picked up a used pair of the Minox BD10x44BP's (close equivalent to the Opticron HRWP's) and I do not find the view to be tunnel like in any way, though I do not wear glasses when viewing.

Yes, they have a more narrow field of view, but for me that doesn't seem to matter-I like the sharp, clear image enough not to notice, and don't mind moving the bins around to see other things when I want to scan. I do have other bins with a wide field view if I want that viewpoint, but these are great for reaching out and finding birds or other details I want to see closer at 10x.
 
:t: Not only yes, but hell yes.

Ive long been a fan of the HRWP's and am always surprised when others don't also see them as the optical equal of absolutely anything else out there.
Their real strength lies in distance birding, I don't like using a scope so rely on razor sharp clarity to pick out minute details at a distance and the HRWP's really deliver here.
.
 
I've never seem the Endeavor, but recently did months worth of side by side comparisons with my BP's and the Leupold McKinley 8X42, Kowa Genesis 8.5X44, Nikon 10X42 SE, Nikon 12x50 SE and my Zen ED2 8X43. To my eyes none of them were able to resolve nearly as much detail as the Minox. The glass I would love to compare them to first hand is the EL 10X42 SV. In the short time I had to look through a pair, I was thoroughly mesmerized.

And, in comparison I believe the ED Vanguard Endeavors (not the II's), to be as clear or possibly a little sharper to my eyes that the Minox BDBP's (or HRWP's for that matter), if I can recall the image correctly-when I had my pair of Endeavors, not long ago. I did not have them at the same time, so it's only my impression I can go by now. But I did like the ED glass a lot-it seemed to make a difference in detail I could see, and also clarity under certain unfriendly viewing conditions that stumped some other bins I was comparing them to at the time.

Both show some CA, under the right conditions, so that I believe cancels out as equal in comparison. Yes, the Vanguard's did have a fast focus, and things would not snap in and out of focus, but that is all I found fault with besides the minor CA, and the fact that they did not have the 3D view I like in Porros.
 
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