Hawke Frontier ED: 8x or 10x for raptor watching? (1 Viewer)

I am about to treat myself to a new pair of binoculars and after reading through certain threads and reviews on this forum have been tempted to purchase a pair of Hawke Frontier ED bins as they seem to offer me the ideal compromise between quality and price.

My main dilemma now is whether I should opt for the 8x43 or 10x43 versions?

I spend most of my time in the mountains, either in rocky alpine terrain, or else in pastoral landscapes dominated by a patchwork of meadows, pastures and orchards.

In particular I am interested to have some bins which will be of aid for raptor ID.

Any recommendations?

Buy the sharpest pair you can afford. The bird you are trying to ID is in the middle, most of the distortion is bad in the edges. You may wish to compare 8x and 10x models in a store if possible. Raptors often show little color in the distance, so you really are dealing only with shape and flight style.

Now... we have, among the experts here, almost no info on the 10x. I have personally struggled to get the ideal 10x pair for under $1000 and have not found one yet. For me, I see a little difference between the right and left eyes at 10x and it bothers a bit, whereas all optic faults and eye problems are evened out at 8x, and focusing is less work.

What are you using right now? 8x or 10x?

Raptors do show patterns and the patterns do look good in sharp bins (like the Hawke).

Yes but ED glass alone without the sharpness is useless.

Up to now I have always being using 8x bins, though recently had a go with a pair of cheapy bargain 10x50s and was pleasantly surprised. When I'm hiking through the mountains I don't normally have a chance to carry a scope with me, so wondered if a pair of 10x would be more useful than a 8x pair...or whether I should stick with what seems to be a more 'standard' 8x format....

My own personal preference has always been, and likely will always be , for an 8x glass. There are two main reason for this, the 8x image always seems brighter and there always seems to be less eyestrain if the binocular is used for a long period of time. The 8x vs 10x question is a largely personal one. Some like the extra magnification and some can't handle the extra shake. So this is a presonal matter that really only you can settle for yourself.

I have the 8x Promaster ELX ED, the apparrent close cousin to the Hawke ED. I can tell you that without question, you will not get better optics at that price level. Even comparing them to the alpha class binoculars, the image differences will be very slim. I have not had a look ath the 10x version, but I have a hard time thinking it would be any less of a binocular than the 8x. However, it is more difficult to produce a good 10x at a particular price point than it is for an 8x. Maybe that comes into play.

Another thing is, that for me at least, the Promaster 8x image is good enough, I feel I gain nothing over the 8x Promaster whem I use a 10x Viper. That includes Hawk watching, for which I prefer the wider fov of the 8x.