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Vanguard Venture Plus 10x42 review (1 Viewer)

WiscTJK

Well-known member
Doug from Cameraland had asked on another forum for reviews on a new line of binoculars they are thinking of carrying and I was lucky enough to get these to try. The following is the review I did.

"Well I took Doug from Cameraland up on a chance to review the Vanguard Venture Plus 10x42. Although new on this forum, I have followed CL on the birdforum.net forum. Also, I apologize as I am wordy.

In order to do this review objectively, I used my current binoculars (vortex viper 6x32, vortex fury 6.5x32, and Leupold Yosemite 6x30) as a direct comparison. I did the review in direct sunlight, out of the sunlight, and towards the end of the day with sun low in the sky.

Specifications:
Power: 10
Diameter of objectives: 42mm
Prism Type: Bak4 Roof, Fully Multi-Coated
Waterproof: Y
View Angle: 5.8°
Field of Viewm1000m: 101m/304 ft
Eye Relief: 17mm
Near focus(m): 2.8m;9.2 feet (I found near focus to be closer to 5 – 6 feet)
Lens coating: Fully multi-coated
Dimensions(L x W): 129x148
Weight(g): 680/24 oz

First when I opened the package, I took a look at the accessories. The rainguard is a hard plastic cover that fits nice and tight as to not fall off, but not so tight that you couldn’t get it off quickly. I liked it. The objective cover is a similar hard plastic one piece unit. I was actually surprised that I liked this design - it fits snugly, can be used to protect the lenses for travel, and then be taken off and pocketed or attached to the strap. However, it would be easier to lose than individually attached objective covers.

The strap is a neoprene style that has two quick disconnects that you can take off the binoculars and attach to the bag, to carry the binoculars. Pretty nice design. The bag is very basic, zippered, not a lot of padding, but is nice and slim and fits the binoculars fine.

The binoculars upon first review are very compact and nicely weighted. I have a 6.5x32 Vortex Fury and it is just slightly longer and wider. The eyecups are twist up and of very good quality for the price point. They don’t have any stops or lock at full twist out, but they stayed in place at any mid point and didn’t want to slack down. I wore glasses and got the full field of view with the eyecups down. I have had to add o-rings to my fury’s to shorten up the eye relief.

The binocular has a vinyl/rubber coating that is fairly tacky, but not as tacky as my Vortex Viper or Fury. I love the thumb recesses on the underside of the viper, but the ridges on the Venture Plus, work satisfactorily.

The focusing wheel was extremely good. It was smooth, quick and nicely weighted. In fact I rate it very close to the Viper in quality, which is great. I don’t think anyone will be disappointed in the wheel. Minor quip is the sticker on the focusing wheel is of poor quality (if you want to nit pick).

The diopter adjustment was very smooth and nice and firm so it won’t move. It is on the right tube. It does not lock.

Warranty is 5 years.

Overall, I was surprised at the quality of the build on these binoculars. I didn’t look up the typical cost of this unit until after the review, and when you consider this is between $70 and $150, the build quality is unbelievable for the price point.

Now for the view. I am not a good person to judge the field of view, as I mostly use 6x and 6.5x power binoculars.

The view is clear and crisp, with I would guess 2/3 sweet spot and then view slowly softens at the edges. The edges are not real bad and I think the view is pretty good for the price point. As a comparison, I thought the Fury and especially the Viper were a bit brighter, but they are considerably more money than the Venture (with the Fury being close in price on discount).

I had minor CA when looking at very bright objects, that the Fury, Yosemite and Viper did not exhibit.

The biggest problem I had with the view is whitish ghosting/reflections when the sun in early afternoon was behind or to the side of me. This covered the bottom and 2 sides for about the outer 15% of view. When you were out of the direct sun, this went away for the most part. It was also much better but not completely gone later in the day getting near dusk. I tried to get the Viper and Fury to exhibit this and if you placed them at just the right angle, they would show a little bit of this, but it was much, much less pronounced and only at that one angle. The Venture had this at most viewing angles. When you place your hand over the end of the objective end like a sun shade the ghosting was significantly reduced. I even had my wife, who hates binoculars look thru them and she noticed this problem right away.

In summary, for a binocular around or even under $100 - $150, the Vanguard Venture Plus is pretty outstanding. The build quality is outstanding for the price point. The glass was pretty clear, and except for the minor CA and ghosting, was very good.

I couldn’t get past the ghosting, as that bothered me much more than the CA, but if this could be corrected, these binoculars would be an excellent if not an unbelievably good deal."

http://binoculars.shutterfly.com/pictures/20
http://binoculars.shutterfly.com/pictures/19
http://binoculars.shutterfly.com/pictures/18
http://binoculars.shutterfly.com/pictures/17
 
Hi,

Although I'm not in the market for binoculars at this time, I would like to complement a nice review that puts the Vanguard Venture Plus 10x42 in very meaningful perspective. It sounds like a good buy for the money, particularly for someone with glasses who is willing to trade off FOV for eye relief.

Thanks for the effort. :t:

Ed
PS. For some reason JavaScript doesn't allow me access to the pictures.
 
Last edited:
Hi,
PS. For some reason JavaScript doesn't allow me access to the pictures.

If someone knows how to directly add photos, I can do that. Please let me know the process.

Edit - thanks to Surveyor for showing me how to upload directly.
 

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