• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Hawke Sapphire 8x43 ED (1 Viewer)

CliveP,

what's the direction of focus on the Sapphire?

//L


Clockwise to infinity.

Prostalk and Frontier PC are anticlockwise to infinity but I seem to be coping with the changes without much thought. Used to prefer the anticlockwise but now don't really care which direction they go.
 
Last edited:
Hi :)

I'm French and new to the forum.
I've read you have some difficulties to compare the Sapphire and the Frontier.
I do not own them myself, but I know a test that has been done to compare them.
Obviously it's in French but google can translate it for you :)
I can translate myself if you wish so.

The conclusion of the review is that the sapphire has a better neutrality of the colours while the frontier is a bit yellowish.
(According to the tester, it's a nice effect since it heats up the picture - maybe that's why some of you may like the Frontier better).
The second difference is about the acutance being better on the Sapphire.
Other points are the size and weight - the Sapphire being smaller and lighter.
He rates them at exactly the same level as far as price/quality ratio is concerned.

http://www.topoptics.biz/Technique/Bras-de-fer/HawkeFrontED1043_vs_SapphireED1042.htm


Hope you will find this helpful.
Kindly,
 
Last edited:
Welcome Adrien (I won't try my French).

That's a good post (well your translation) because I was just thinking about getting a 10x42 Sapphire and if it's as good relatively as the Frontier then that is good!

I am actually starting to begin to favour this neutral colour of my 8x43 Sapphire over the yellowish ( I call it creamy as opposed to the Sapphire white) warmness of my Prostalk 10x56 but I loved the stronger richer colour and clarity of the 8x56 Prostalk.

What I do really find superb with the Sapphire is the amazing clarity and near perfect CA control. Definitely can provide for wonderful viewing. Sometimes reminds me of looking at a really high end photo just that bit more high end than the with the Prostalk.

So I might just get one of those 10x42 Sapphire after all as they do seem prettty compact too.


Hi :)

I'm French and new to the forum.
I've read you have some difficulties to compare the Sapphire and the Frontier.
I do not own them myself, but I know a test that has been done to compare them.
Obviously it's in French but google can translate it for you :)
I can translate myself if you wish so.

The conclusion of the review is that the sapphire has a better neutrality of the colours while the frontier is a bit yellowish.
(According to the tester, it's a nice effect since it heats up the picture - maybe that's why some of you may like the Frontier better).
The second difference is about the acutance being better on the Sapphire.
Other points are the size and weight - the Sapphire being smaller and lighter.
He rates them at exactly the same level as far as price/quality ratio is concerned.

http://www.topoptics.biz/Technique/Bras-de-fer/HawkeFrontED1043_vs_SapphireED1042.htm


Hope you will find this helpful.
Kindly,
 
Last edited:
I think you are going to get a nice surprise if you try the Hawke ED's. For me they provide an image that equals the Swaro's and in the case of my chums EL's then even better.

i agree, i have both and the first time i looked through the hawkes i could not beleive it. i have the frontier ed 8x.
 
Good discussion. It looks like the Chinese are catching up with the Japanese etc? I'm considering buying the Hawke Sapphire ED 8x43 and the Vanguard Endeavor ED IV, both Chinese I think. But I might wait for the ED V to come out, hopefully with dielectric coating like the Sapphire.
Then there's the Sapphire ED 8x25, which also has good reviews.
Sorry about reviving the thread, but would like to know if anyone had any problems with these Sapphires or Vanguards?
 
Ravis,

Funny you mention this - I just tried out a pair of Hawke Sapphire ED 8x43s today in New York City. Err...I shouldn't say a "pair": when I put them up to my eyes and tried to adjust the focus, only the right side focused - the left side was disconnect from the focus wheel, and would not focus at all(!) Obviously a quality control problem - don't they test these things before shipping them half-way around the world? BTW the focus wheel had a bit of play in it.

I'm giving up on that brand before I even get started.
 
Oh, too bad. Premium brands have been known to be faulty too, but it's not so common in top bins, as far as I know.
They were rated highly on at least one well known review website. It's a pity because they supposed to be at least as good as others in the same price range.
Thanks for the comment.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top