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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Hawke Frontier ED 10x36 (1 Viewer)

I'd like to read a comparative review of the 10x36 Hawk and the 9x36 ED2. It would seem that the ED2 would be the Hawk's closest competitor.

Perhaps someone with deep pockets and a big closet could buy both and write a review for us.... (my pockets are shallow as Hal and my closet has a boogie man, so I won't open it).
 
The reason I chose the Hawke was its better eye relief. Obviously, the number is just a figure, but it is all there is to lean on when not being able to try before buy.

Pros of the Hawke: Magnification, eye relief, price (£260]

Pros of the Zen-Ray: FOV, exit pupil, dielectric coatings, water repellent, faster focus, argon filled

Magnification and eye relief are worth more for me than exquisite technical features. The Hawke will still be more technically advanced than my beloved Fury 6.5x.

Time will tell whether the slow focuser and small exit pupil will disturb me or not, and how the backlight properties compare to the excellent Fury.
The image will surely be two steps up from my Zeiss Classic and beat that of the Minox HG 8x33 (now sold).
 
The reason I chose the Hawke was its better eye relief. Obviously, the number is just a figure, but it is all there is to lean on when not being able to try before buy.

Pros of the Hawke: Magnification, eye relief, price (£260]

Pros of the Zen-Ray: FOV, exit pupil, dielectric coatings, water repellent, faster focus, argon filled

Magnification and eye relief are worth more for me than exquisite technical features. The Hawke will still be more technically advanced than my beloved Fury 6.5x.

Time will tell whether the slow focuser and small exit pupil will disturb me or not, and how the backlight properties compare to the excellent Fury.
The image will surely be two steps up from my Zeiss Classic and beat that of the Minox HG 8x33 (now sold).

Thanks for those comments. Another A/B I'd like to see is the 10x36 Hawke vs. the 10x36 EII.
 
Hawke - Major Fail :(

Received the Frontier ED 10x36 today. Faulty.
The barrels don't focus synchronized, if I adjust the diopter to perfect vision R/L and then refocus, one barrel goes out of focus. I even noticed that it went out of focus while I looked through it w/o me touching the focus.

Other than that:
1) The magnification is visibly less than my Zeiss Classic - I would estimate it to be about 9x.
2) The FOV was exactly the same as the Zeiss.
3) The eyecups effectively stopped any attempt to use spectacles, as the ocular lens was buried deep down in the eyepiece. (no less than 5 mm recession with the eyecups collapsed)
4) The ocular lens was quite small by today's standards.
5) The image was clear and very sharp. Slightly brighter than the Zeiss, no wonder as the exit pupil should be the same (I estimate them to be a 9x36 rather than 10x36).

Need I say they go back? And this failure is an eternal knock-off from buying Hawke or Zen-Rays, as the QC apparently is inferior.
 
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Interesting. The first two Hawke EDs I tried were faulty. One sounds an identical fault to yours. The next three were fine, but it was enough to give me cause for concern.

Looksharp,

What are your thoughts on contrast and focus speed? They weren't to my taste.

David
 
Looksharp,

What are your thoughts on contrast and focus speed? They weren't to my taste.

David

Since I just tried them briefly and indoors, I can't say my judgement would be fair.
Even I prefer a fast focus, but probably I would get used to a slower one. It gave me a kind of rubber band or chewing gum associations, but the faulty focuser may be part of it.
Compared to the Zeiss, contrast was excellent. (the Zeiss is not phase-coated)

//L
 
Very dissapointing for you, that's darn bad luck to get a faulty set. That fault should have been determined at build or at least the supplier prior to shipping them to you.
 
Very dissapointing for you, that's darn bad luck to get a faulty set. That fault should have been determined at build or at least the supplier prior to shipping them to you.

Yup. But admittedly, I still can consider myself lucky. After all, it wasn't suitable to my needs and I expect the refund process to run smoothly.
 
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