Mind Blown by Hawke Pro-Stalk 8x56 ED (1 Viewer)

CliveP
Take a look at this and see if they are the same. Is the focus wheel and writing different?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/270847458387?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

After reading your posts I couldn't resist this for the price. These may be phase coated but I am wondering about ED glass, which I would doubt. They look identical to the Hawke's externally, so I would assume they came out of the same factory, but possibly with different internals. Guess I'll find out in the next week.

Tom

Hi Tom

Had a look and for $57 they could well be ok but the new badge is different in that its like clear plastic over the writing and it says ED. I should maybe put a few pics together.

Also the bin looks the same except there is a nice Hawke logo on one of the barrels of mine and the objectives are green reflecting which matches the armour.

I've just recieved my Leica back and I can see that the Leica contrast is stronger but I'm still liking these Hawke because they are more relaxing on the eye than the smaller 3.2mm exit pupil.

lilcrazy2 said:

CliveP
Take a look at this and see if they are the same. Is the focus wheel and writing different?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/270847458387?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

After reading your posts I couldn't resist this for the price. These may be phase coated but I am wondering about ED glass, which I would doubt. They look identical to the Hawke's externally, so I would assume they came out of the same factory, but possibly with different internals. Guess I'll find out in the next week.

Tom

Click to expand...

Stopped in passing to talk to another bogger (bog reserve visitor) and he happened to have a pair of Swaro 8x56.

Well I thought these Hawke were good but I think my eyeballs were being sucked out of the sockets by the Swaro. My brain was just saying oh I like this I want to see this some more.

I remember watching a very experienced reserve warden using a pair of these years ago and thinking he was crazy to use something so bulky but I now realise how foolish I was or that I just had never had the chance or wanted to try such a thing.

Still the Swaro owner complained of the 9m close focus where the Hawke have a 3m use. He also commented on how compact the Hawke were in comparison and found them noddingly approvable when he tried them.

What really got me was the stability of the Swaro view compared to the Hawke and I had thought the Hawke very good in this respect. I realise now that it is the slightly better fov of the swaro plus the much longer focal length and probably better eyepieces that were in the Swaro's favour.

Still the Hawke stacked up well and I am still fascinated by them. I actually preferred their colour and contrast but with the eyecups fully out they seem more tunnel like and with the eyecups half way the eyerelief is a bit to much.

If this could be improved by Hawke then these 8x56 would only be more to my liking.

I noticed on ebay that Barr and Stroud ED seem to be the same bin as the Hawke and for £229 or so without guarantee. My Hawke have a 10 year.

I did a comparison around the lake with my Leica 10x32HD and the Hawke "almost" always were clearer and brighter and this is very compelling even with the narrow fov but strangely perhaps the Leica do resolve more over distance maybe just because of the greater magnification.

Still I am really fascinated by these 8x56 and will certainly be keeping an eye on developments with these in future and of course always keeping a compact 32mm for something more convenient.

Would these be good bins on a budget then? I can stretch to a pair but no further.

Things like FOV and exit pupil don't bother me too much, I'm after something that gives good, crisp views and shows colour well when looking into gloom I.e. from outside a wooded area at something in amongst the branches.

Thanks in advance.

TheThing said:

Would these be good bins on a budget then? I can stretch to a pair but no further.

Things like FOV and exit pupil don't bother me too much, I'm after something that gives good, crisp views and shows colour well when looking into gloom I.e. from outside a wooded area at something in amongst the branches.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Shouldn't be a problem for these bins although obviously if its pitch black they won't work. I've only tried them in the evening and they worked great. The ED glass helps a lot for colour and sharpness.

Price wise, I think they are fantastic.

Sounds kind of spooky. Are you looking for The Thing?

Just an update on my post. I've had a few e-mails back and forth with CliveP in which I agreed to buy his Hawkes for (what I consider to be) a very reasonable price.

Clive very kindly fitted in with my unusal schedule and the bins duly arrived about 10am this morning, superbly packaged. Can I just say that CliveP is a very nice chap to do business with? Nothing is too much trouble.

The bins are like new. I think Clive must have worn gloves when using them as there is no sign they have ever been out of the box, although we know they have.

I've always had porro prism bins before and these are my first roof prisms. Also, I've never spent more than £50 on bins (except the pair of Opticron Countryman MC's I inherited from my dad although, technically, I didn't pay for them)

The Hawkes are a good, chunky pair of bins. Not quite as heavy as my WWII 6x30s, but still a fair good weight. Not too heavy, mind. A feel of quality in the weight.

The centre diopter will take a little getting used too. I've already moved it a couple of times whilst focusing, but that is more user error than anything else.

My word, the view though! Miles better than anything else I've ever owned. I've looked thru some 10x42 Swaros before and, whilst perhaps not quite in this league, the Hawkes can hold their own. They box above their weight.

At then end of the garden there are some fir trees hanging over from next door. My feeding table is there as the birds like to hop back and forth. Normally, they are lost within the gloom of the branches to other optics. The Hawkes make then stand out, like you're right there using just your MkI eyeballs. Brilliant colour.

A Willow Warbler alighted in a tree at the end (first ever for my garden!) and the Hawkes showed its colour magnificently. There was not mistaking the light legs and supercillium. Clarity and detail I've not seen before.

I have yet to try them out in the field - I am on a birdwalk over Ashtead Common on Saturday am where they will get a proper outing - but my first impressions are very favourable.

I'm glad that Clive e-mailed me and agree to let his bins go. I do know of an as new pair in a local retailer at a marked discount over the RRP, if anyone is interested? They were in my sights originally until Clive showed up!

Hi Hugh

Thanks for the nice comments.

I can almost feel the excitment (The ProStalk effect) in your message.

I'm just back from a trip out trying to get used to the Sapphire but I'm missing that photographic colour of those Prostalk, quite a lot in fact.

The Prostalk are defintiely one addictive view. I would say you are going to have a very enjoyable birding trip at the weekend. Those Prostalk always gave me wow views and I've owned quite a lot of top tier bins so its not just that they are better than what you've owned before its that they have something special in there going on. I wish the Sapphire had it, unfortunatley it doesn't seem to. Very different, more brigthness than colour so I'll definitely be keeping my Leica for the strong HD colour.

Let us know more when you've had a good chance for further viewing.
I just know you're going to see great views. I'm glad that I owned them to experience their view for a while but I wish my "upgrade" had brought some of that Prostalk colour along.

Well, I couldn't wait. On the way back from Slough (lucky me!) I stopped off at Staines for an extended lunch hour at 10:20am.

I decided against lugging the scope with me as a back injury (pre-existing, not caused by the bins!) is playing up. Bins only, so no pressure!

Wow! Just wow! Such clarity and definition. Birds miles away were clear and colourful (up to a point. Not much colour on BH gulls!) Two courting GC Grebes were exquisite! I could pick out water droplets falling from the offered weed!

A rare and unusual bird turned out to be a scaffold pole sticking out of the water.

Ok, I didn't see the back necked Grebes, the little gulls or the shag, but what I did see was glorious. It was like birding for the first time ever!

The Hawkes are superb. They now top the list of the 3 things I'd save from a house fire; along with the dog and one of the twins...

I still have beautiful images burned into my brain from using them.

Good news for you is you are only going to get more.

Try a late evening. They are fantastic in winter also.

I think I am getting over the withdrawal a little bit more each day.

I really think Hawke should be looking at making all their bins more like those.

In future if they bring out a somehow improved model I might look at buying another pair. The Sapphire are great and I'm getting more used to them but I can't crow about them they way I was able to about the Prostalk.

Seems you agree with me about the Prostalk. To be honest I couldn't see how you could have thought otherwise.

On occasion I have let people try them and they have immediately said that they were going off to buy a pair. The Sapphire impresses people also but they don't seem to think its a higher end model in comparison to the Prostalk.

There are of course others who try them and just hand them back and say thanks as if nothing had happened. They're the ones who surprise me. What did they see, or not see it seems, I wonder?

CliveP said:

There are of course others who try them and just hand them back and say thanks as if nothing had happened. They're the ones who surprise me. What did they see, or not see it seems, I wonder?

Click to expand...

I share binos with many people regularly. I am struck by how many people dont know that they have to adjust IPD, diopter, and honestly, even the focus.

"I cant see" "these re all blurry"

It boggles my mind, but I am now 100% convinced there is a decent % of the population who "fake it" when looking through binos.

Seriously.

Thanks, thats funny, but I think it may really be true to a large extent.

Should almost be a seperate thread. I try and take a little time to show them how to focus at least but I know what you mean. Its to technical.

I also one time got this person who after saying they couldn't see started to rub the very clean occulars with their very greasy fingers as if they were trying to remove the glass!

Last time I showed the Prostalk it was to a guy wearing glasses (Prostalk has excellent eyerelief) immediately the response I got was "oh yes", seriously.

Last time I went to a sports event with friends I took a couple of pairs and shared them around. I had to point out that they needed to be focussed and the eyecups adjusting. I know both families own binoculars. It makes you wonder!

David

I've not had another chance to use mine out in the field due to the poor weather and a dodgey back, but I have used them to watch birds at the garden feeders daily. I still cannot get over how superb they are!

Why would you pay £1,800 for a pair of bins when the Prostalks are just as good (almost) for less than 1/6 the price?

ProStalk 10x56

Saw a good deal on a pair of these and so couldn't resist but when I got them there were a lot of quality issues so Hawke kindly accepted them to look at which they are doing at present.

I missed my 8x56 which I think led to me getting these to try but from the little use I had from them before sending them off I think there is something missing in the special view department when compared to the 8x although its clear they are extremely similar.

Hoping things will improve when I get them fixed.

Been using my Prostalks for a few weeks now and cannot fail to be impressed by them. Just great views all the time, in all conditions.

Details leap out; even on dull days and at dusk. Colours are fantastic. These are my keepers.

TheThing said:

Been using my Prostalks for a few weeks now and cannot fail to be impressed by them. Just great views all the time, in all conditions.

Details leap out; even on dull days and at dusk. Colours are fantastic. These are my keepers.

Click to expand...

Hi Thing

Glad you are still getting the buzz.

I'm just back from a beautiful location at the coast especially with the superb weather and with my repaired 10x Prostalk and they worked pretty good in fact very well. I don't have the 8x now to compare so going from memory I think there is a little more magic with the 8x thats lacking in the 10x but since I have the 8x Sapphire now the 10x Prostalk is probably better for me as a companion but if I had to do it again I think I'd stick with the 8x. For me it was defintiely a special bin. I totally understand what you are going through. Its even strange to me that the 10x feel heavier but it appears its because the view doesn't seem as much worth carrying the extra weight and yet I'm still a fan.

Don't think there is as much eye relief with the 10x and so to get the best view as near to the 8x when outdoors I am using them with the eyecups folded completely down and then I get a nice big view whereas with the 8x it was midway with the eyecups. I do however find the 10x strangely better for closeup viewing and there is obviously more magnification but for overall wow magic I would have to say the 8x is best. Its a bit clearer and better dof and less or should I say no glare.

Stick with it for sure. Very hard to better.