Steve C
Well-known member
Well, this has taken longer than I thought it would when I started out on this series. :eek!: The Toric was out of stock and there was a wait for the new shipment, and by the time I got this unit, I was too busy into farming to have time to get into this.
The Tract Toric has been discussed a lot here. That discussion was what prompted my interest in this binocular. I make no secret about having an interest in new binoculars, as I for one welcome any and all competition. This is a new company founded by two people with long experience in optics working for Nikon. They have the direct to the consumer sales model, similar to another newcomer, Maven. The prices for the Tract Toric from the website are $626 for the 10x42 and $616 for the 8x42. This is the price with the binocular kit which includes a chest harness, lens pen,and case. My new unit came without the kit and does not include the case. I did not see a price for the no kit version I received. Mine has a neck strap, lens covers and no case.
Out of the box we have a light graphite gray armored binocular with dark charcoal gray eye cups, lens covers, diopter ring and focus wheel. The armor is a soft sort of a silicon leather affair, pleasant to the touch. The armor has a stippled pebble grain finish and is a more than adequate grip surface. The binocular has a right eye diopter adjustment ring. The ring seems to be somewhat easy to turn, but in use, I have had no issues with inadvertent movement.
The specs can be viewed in detail here: https://www.tractoptics.com/product...42-bino-kit-includes-bino-harness-bino-storag
This is a more or less typical size for a 42 mm class glass and of somewhat average heft at a weight of 26.4 ounces. The minimum IPD is listed at 58 mm, however this unit adjusts to 57 mm.
Focus action: This unit has 1.25 turn of focus wheel travel ad the focus direction is counterclockwise to infinity. This one focuses to 7 feet as compared to the listed close focus distance of 8 feet. From the close focus distance, .75 turn gets to 75 feet. A full turn gets to 100 feet. Another .25 or so turn gets to infinity and the rest is over travel past infinity. There is no looseness or side play in the wheel. The focus behaves as a relatively quick focusing unit.
Field performance: The spec sheet says… Yeah the spec sheet says. Lately I have come to regard the spec sheet with a somewhat jaundiced eye. What the spec sheet says, and what is also marked on the binocular is 7.2* or 377 feet at 1,000 yards. That is an afov of 57.6*. There was substantial comment here already that, in spite of many comments about a restrictive fov, the people who actually had the Torics were saying the view did not seem restrictive. Well in spite of what the spec sheet says there is a reason the view does not seem restrictive. The spec sheet understates the actual dimension by more than a half of a degree. At a measured 30 feet from the center of the tripod, there is clearly 49.5 inches of tape visible across the field. This is 4.04 feet or 404 at 1,000 yards and is just over 7.8*, yielding an afov of 62.5* This obviously is the SLOW (Simple. Old fashioned. Logical. Way) afov method. Viewing the tape there is obvious distortion around the outer inch. The black numbers on the white tape are clearly visible, but the 1/16” fractional markings are not separable. The fractions get clearer as you move to the center and at 5” they are clearly distinct. At 4” they can be easily separated, but are blurred. There is a minimal apparent black ring in the outer fov at the field stop. Distortions across the field can be found, but you have to look off axis to see them, and on axis, where observations will occur, there is negligible distortion. So if you go looking for distortions you will find them.
Image performance: The Toric has a very competitive image. It is bright, clear, and sharp. The apparent color presentation is quite neutral, but there is a very slight yellow tint viewed against a well light white background. The contrast is very good, details at any distance a hand held binocular will be used is excellent. The view overall is quite transparent. There is not much feeling of there being a binocular in front of your eyes. The view seems wide and is pretty relaxing. Nothing to fault at the price level. It won’t match toe to toe with careful examination with the alpha, but the worth of the difference will be one of personal choices. The view is good enough that I’d take one of these on a once in a lifetime trip with no qualms.
Eye cups and eye relief: Here we have the weakness of the Toric. The eye cup assemblies are really pretty comfortable and they have three stops in their travel. The stops are distinct, but nowhere near as tight as they need to be. Not an issue for a single user as a couple of O-rings will fix the slack. The outer lip of the eye cup is very comfortable and will not be an issue for many people. The issue here is that they extend out 5 mm above the lens when completely retracted. Depending on whether or not the user is a wearer of eye glasses and the distance of the lens from the users eye, there may be some adjustment difficulty. The eye cup extends to 17 mm above the lens. If these measurements do not fit your needs, if you wear glasses, these may not be for you. Otherwise for non eye glass wearers there will probably not be an issue. When fully extended, there is some evident play in the eye cup around the inner circumference of the eye cup and the outer dimension of the ocular tube.
Glare and CA control: These issues are well taken care of here and should not pose a problem unless there is a poor facial fit or unless the user is particularly CA sensitive. CA can be induced here, but only with some difficulty and in extreme glare prone scenarios. There are no false exit pupils around the outside of the EP. The EP is distinct and completely round. There appear to be no reflective internal surfaces.
Service and Warranty: Their policy is called Trust Assurance and you can read it for yourself here: https://www.tractoptics.com/tract-trust. It is a customer oriented policy and their aim is customer satisfaction. Yes we do get into the old company vs the new. That argument is what it is and time will shake things out. If you need the security blanket of a name you happen to like, than that is what is is. Not better or worse, just human nature.
Summary: We have here yet anther example of what you can get for $1,000 or less. In the scope of this review series it represents extreme value. I said earlier I’d be happy to take a Toric anywhere. Tract states in their literature this is the best glass you can buy for less than $700. At this point I am inclined not to argue the point. With some eye cup issues, this is a solid well balanced and apparently well constructed binocular that is pretty clearly aimed at the mythical average user. There is some reduced diopteric adjustment and the 8x has fewer lens elements than the 10x.
I had both the 8x and 10x42 Torics, so be advised what applies to the 8x here also goes for the 10x. The exception is that the 10x was right at its stated fov. There seems to be no more difference between the 8x and 10x Toric than there is between an 8x and 10x version of any other model of binocular.
This is a binocular worthy of a long, hard look, whether or not you buy it. It represents just about the apex of what you get for the price. Note this last has changed since I got the Toric, but more will come on that. The Tract Teoka needs to be evaluated here too.
More to come on the overall comparison. Cheers
The Tract Toric has been discussed a lot here. That discussion was what prompted my interest in this binocular. I make no secret about having an interest in new binoculars, as I for one welcome any and all competition. This is a new company founded by two people with long experience in optics working for Nikon. They have the direct to the consumer sales model, similar to another newcomer, Maven. The prices for the Tract Toric from the website are $626 for the 10x42 and $616 for the 8x42. This is the price with the binocular kit which includes a chest harness, lens pen,and case. My new unit came without the kit and does not include the case. I did not see a price for the no kit version I received. Mine has a neck strap, lens covers and no case.
Out of the box we have a light graphite gray armored binocular with dark charcoal gray eye cups, lens covers, diopter ring and focus wheel. The armor is a soft sort of a silicon leather affair, pleasant to the touch. The armor has a stippled pebble grain finish and is a more than adequate grip surface. The binocular has a right eye diopter adjustment ring. The ring seems to be somewhat easy to turn, but in use, I have had no issues with inadvertent movement.
The specs can be viewed in detail here: https://www.tractoptics.com/product...42-bino-kit-includes-bino-harness-bino-storag
This is a more or less typical size for a 42 mm class glass and of somewhat average heft at a weight of 26.4 ounces. The minimum IPD is listed at 58 mm, however this unit adjusts to 57 mm.
Focus action: This unit has 1.25 turn of focus wheel travel ad the focus direction is counterclockwise to infinity. This one focuses to 7 feet as compared to the listed close focus distance of 8 feet. From the close focus distance, .75 turn gets to 75 feet. A full turn gets to 100 feet. Another .25 or so turn gets to infinity and the rest is over travel past infinity. There is no looseness or side play in the wheel. The focus behaves as a relatively quick focusing unit.
Field performance: The spec sheet says… Yeah the spec sheet says. Lately I have come to regard the spec sheet with a somewhat jaundiced eye. What the spec sheet says, and what is also marked on the binocular is 7.2* or 377 feet at 1,000 yards. That is an afov of 57.6*. There was substantial comment here already that, in spite of many comments about a restrictive fov, the people who actually had the Torics were saying the view did not seem restrictive. Well in spite of what the spec sheet says there is a reason the view does not seem restrictive. The spec sheet understates the actual dimension by more than a half of a degree. At a measured 30 feet from the center of the tripod, there is clearly 49.5 inches of tape visible across the field. This is 4.04 feet or 404 at 1,000 yards and is just over 7.8*, yielding an afov of 62.5* This obviously is the SLOW (Simple. Old fashioned. Logical. Way) afov method. Viewing the tape there is obvious distortion around the outer inch. The black numbers on the white tape are clearly visible, but the 1/16” fractional markings are not separable. The fractions get clearer as you move to the center and at 5” they are clearly distinct. At 4” they can be easily separated, but are blurred. There is a minimal apparent black ring in the outer fov at the field stop. Distortions across the field can be found, but you have to look off axis to see them, and on axis, where observations will occur, there is negligible distortion. So if you go looking for distortions you will find them.
Image performance: The Toric has a very competitive image. It is bright, clear, and sharp. The apparent color presentation is quite neutral, but there is a very slight yellow tint viewed against a well light white background. The contrast is very good, details at any distance a hand held binocular will be used is excellent. The view overall is quite transparent. There is not much feeling of there being a binocular in front of your eyes. The view seems wide and is pretty relaxing. Nothing to fault at the price level. It won’t match toe to toe with careful examination with the alpha, but the worth of the difference will be one of personal choices. The view is good enough that I’d take one of these on a once in a lifetime trip with no qualms.
Eye cups and eye relief: Here we have the weakness of the Toric. The eye cup assemblies are really pretty comfortable and they have three stops in their travel. The stops are distinct, but nowhere near as tight as they need to be. Not an issue for a single user as a couple of O-rings will fix the slack. The outer lip of the eye cup is very comfortable and will not be an issue for many people. The issue here is that they extend out 5 mm above the lens when completely retracted. Depending on whether or not the user is a wearer of eye glasses and the distance of the lens from the users eye, there may be some adjustment difficulty. The eye cup extends to 17 mm above the lens. If these measurements do not fit your needs, if you wear glasses, these may not be for you. Otherwise for non eye glass wearers there will probably not be an issue. When fully extended, there is some evident play in the eye cup around the inner circumference of the eye cup and the outer dimension of the ocular tube.
Glare and CA control: These issues are well taken care of here and should not pose a problem unless there is a poor facial fit or unless the user is particularly CA sensitive. CA can be induced here, but only with some difficulty and in extreme glare prone scenarios. There are no false exit pupils around the outside of the EP. The EP is distinct and completely round. There appear to be no reflective internal surfaces.
Service and Warranty: Their policy is called Trust Assurance and you can read it for yourself here: https://www.tractoptics.com/tract-trust. It is a customer oriented policy and their aim is customer satisfaction. Yes we do get into the old company vs the new. That argument is what it is and time will shake things out. If you need the security blanket of a name you happen to like, than that is what is is. Not better or worse, just human nature.
Summary: We have here yet anther example of what you can get for $1,000 or less. In the scope of this review series it represents extreme value. I said earlier I’d be happy to take a Toric anywhere. Tract states in their literature this is the best glass you can buy for less than $700. At this point I am inclined not to argue the point. With some eye cup issues, this is a solid well balanced and apparently well constructed binocular that is pretty clearly aimed at the mythical average user. There is some reduced diopteric adjustment and the 8x has fewer lens elements than the 10x.
I had both the 8x and 10x42 Torics, so be advised what applies to the 8x here also goes for the 10x. The exception is that the 10x was right at its stated fov. There seems to be no more difference between the 8x and 10x Toric than there is between an 8x and 10x version of any other model of binocular.
This is a binocular worthy of a long, hard look, whether or not you buy it. It represents just about the apex of what you get for the price. Note this last has changed since I got the Toric, but more will come on that. The Tract Teoka needs to be evaluated here too.
More to come on the overall comparison. Cheers
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