Reverse porro compacts (1 Viewer)

I think I may have narrowed my purchasing options down to 10x compact
reverse porros. Which of the current RP current Opticron offerings would you choose in preference, if at all, over the Nikon Travelite EX 10x RP?

I need long eye mrelief, but i have not yet fathomed how much.

Thanks

Because you need longer eye relief you should really try those binoculars in person.

You need to step up at 10x to get what you want:


The Travelite 10x25 has an eye relief of 11mm....not good for glasses,even for me (I can do 13mm...rare)
They don't have an advanced eyepiece, which you need at 10x and 25mm.
If you add ~$36 and get the Nikon 10x25 Prostaff ATB, that gets you to 16mm eye relief,good for most folks

Similarly, the Opticron 10x26 HR WP will get you to 15mm, but it's ~$165

At that power,you have to buy more EP elements and precision for the eye relief.
As a consolation, you usually get a flatter and sharper field at the same time.


A possible alternative:

The Olympus 10x25 Tracker is reverse-porro and has 15mm eye relief,
but it looks like it costs~$100.

Most people are OK with 15mm.
For rare cases over 17mm, you will either pay even more, or might consider
backing off to 8x and then checking the models.

The Vortex Vanquish 10x26 Reverse Porro has 16mm eye relief. Its FOV is a narrow but useable 294'@1000yards. $99.99 US dollars. I believe there are Vortex dealers in England.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/vortex/vortex-vanquish-10x26-binocular

If you get it on sale....like now.
I didn't know there was a 10x26 Vanquish...cool!
At 10x I start at 42mm,myself. Extra mass and light.

Thank you all for your replies.

In the UK we don’t have large chain stores where goods such as a range of binoculars may be seen, like Walmart or Cabelas. There are a couple of places I could visit but each would necessitate an overnight hotel stay. By making this post, I was really hoping to whittle down a field.

However, yesterday I was able to look through a pair of Nikon Travelite EX bins and the eye relief was fine. The ER is given by Nikon as 15.9 mm. I think this may be Prostaff ATB in the US.

I like Opticron’s bins but the HRWP’s ER is 15mm, which may, or may not be, OK. I can only get to see the Opticron range once a month and have to ask the rep to bring the compacts to an ‘events’ day, which will be about a month away, and even then I can only compare them against others in the Opticron line-up. I bought an ex-demo pair of Vega 8x25 bins just over a week ago for £33.35. However the focus wheel needs attention so I am sending them back for repair.

I had not considered the Olympus but I vaguely recall a post saying that they were sharper than the Nikon’s, but I cannot remember where.

I have often been tempted by Vortex, but it seems to me that they only want to sell to the converted. There retail dealerships do not hold any or many items. However, I came across a hunti-shootin-fishin guy who stocks Vortex in Scotland. He has the Vanquish 10x26 RPs at £98.10 with an introductory discount would bring it down to £88.30. That is tempting but I need to research its reviews for quality. The ER is given as 16mm, but is one manufacturer’s ER the same as another’s. I would have to buy this unseen: although returning it would be possible, tracked and insured post is not cheap. But I am sorely tempted.

I am unable to remember the image quality characteristics of a pair of bins when switching from one bin to another, except brightness when I looked briefly through a Swaro, at an RSPB shop, so I should welcome more experience birders, opinions.

The US version Prostaff ATB 10x25 looks like this:

http://www.nikonsportoptics.com/Nikon-Products/Binoculars/ProStaff-10x25-ATB.html

It does have 15.9mm ER.

"

However, yesterday I was able to look through a pair of Nikon Travelite EX bins and the eye relief was fine. The ER is given by Nikon as 15.9 mm. I think this may be Prostaff ATB in the US.
"
I think you are correct as far as the inner optics are concerned.
Kind of like comparing Ford cars here and there, same names on different models.

The Olympus seem sharper,but are not as rugged.
They are also more compact...no coincidence.
The Vortex is far more fall-proof than either, but bigger than even the Nikons.
The striped ribbing on the Vortex is an amazing piece of crash-proofing that adds bulk.
That's the main trade-off from my POV. Pick your size and toughness.