What I don't get about the Bushnell Elite 7x26's is how they can have the same ER as the Olympus 8x25's but yet their eyecups only come out half as far. How in the xxxx is that going to ever work and give you the full FOV without blackouts?
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Cheap Compact question (carson, brunton, bushnell...) (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter BrightIdea
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What I don't get about the Bushnell Elite 7x26's is how they can have the same ER as the Olympus 8x25's but yet their eyecups only come out half as far. How in the xxxx is that going to ever work and give you the full FOV without blackouts?
lilcrazy2
Well-known member
Dennis
I think you sell the readers and members of the forum short when you post such an obviously biased review and compare them to Walmart binos. Since I predicted you would not like them, I have to wonder what the purpose was in buying them in the first place.
In the following review you did on the 7x26 Custom Elites back on 10/19/09 you are comparing them to a Nikon 8x32 SE, so I am a little puzzled as to the vast discrepancy between the 2 reviews on the same bino. One is like a "little SE" and the other is like a pair of Walmart binos????? I guess maybe our eyes, perceptions, and biases change over time, but I don't think these binos have. While they are not perfect, they are a heck of a little bino for what they are, as Typo and dozens of others can attest.
I started off on this thread stating that the 8x25 Olympus Trackers were the best bino for the $$ around to which you disagreed. When I specifically doubted that you had even tried them, and Kammerdiner posted how good they were, you backtracked and decided maybe it was a different model that you had tried previously. While we now agree that the Trackers are a great little bino, I have to take issue with your comparison to the Swaro. When I said I felt the Tracker was about 80% of the Alphas, I was taking all optical categories that we measure into account. Just as I don't feel like the 7x26 Customs are like a little SE, I don't think the Trackers are in the same league as the Swaros in many categories.
Tom
Dennis
I think you sell the readers and members of the forum short when you post such an obviously biased review and compare them to Walmart binos. Since I predicted you would not like them, I have to wonder what the purpose was in buying them in the first place.
In the following review you did on the 7x26 Custom Elites back on 10/19/09 you are comparing them to a Nikon 8x32 SE, so I am a little puzzled as to the vast discrepancy between the 2 reviews on the same bino. One is like a "little SE" and the other is like a pair of Walmart binos????? I guess maybe our eyes, perceptions, and biases change over time, but I don't think these binos have. While they are not perfect, they are a heck of a little bino for what they are, as Typo and dozens of others can attest.
I started off on this thread stating that the 8x25 Olympus Trackers were the best bino for the $$ around to which you disagreed. When I specifically doubted that you had even tried them, and Kammerdiner posted how good they were, you backtracked and decided maybe it was a different model that you had tried previously. While we now agree that the Trackers are a great little bino, I have to take issue with your comparison to the Swaro. When I said I felt the Tracker was about 80% of the Alphas, I was taking all optical categories that we measure into account. Just as I don't feel like the 7x26 Customs are like a little SE, I don't think the Trackers are in the same league as the Swaros in many categories.
Tom
You know I remember that more favorable review on the Bushnell's and it has me wondering if there wasn't something wrong with the pair I bought on E-bay. Perhaps there was something wrong with the eyecups not fully extending. It didn't seem like the eyecups were coming all the way out like they should. They were just terrible so maybe they were defective. I sent them back to the seller but I am going by the Sportman's Warehose tonite after work and I am going to try another pair to see.
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lilcrazy2
Well-known member
I too found that the eyecups on the 7x26 Elites could twist out a couple of mm more. I originally bought 2 pairs of the 7x26 Elites, and sold one when I got the 7x26 Customs with the rubber eyecups. I can't stand binos that I have to hold slightly away from my eyes for proper eye relief without glasses, and this also includes many decent binos such as the 8x42 Zen ZRS HD, 8x42 Legend Ultra HD, 8x28 Vortex Diamondbacks and others. Usually I only have this problem on 8x roofs so the Elites were a surprise in this area. But other than that - they are a nice bino.
The one with the rubber eyecups are the older model right? This older model should fit me better because the rubber eyecups extend out further right? I too had trouble in this way with the Zen Ray 8x42 HD and I am like you in that I can't stand it because too much stray light comes in from the side when your eyes are not against the eyecups.
lilcrazy2
Well-known member
The oldest 7x26 Customs are the squarish looking gray body with the black objective tubes that move in and out (1993 and earlier). They even made a 6x25 model that some like better. These were replaced in 1994-2004 with the B&L 61-0726 (mine), and in 2004-2007 with the Bushnell 12-0726.
The oldest 7x26 Customs are quite common on ebay, and generally sell in the $60-$110 range. The B&L 61-0726 and Bushnell 12-0726 are quite rare on ebay with only about 5 or 6 pairs being sold in the last 9 months that I have seen.
http://www.betterviewdesired.com/Bushnell-7x26-Custom.php
The oldest 7x26 Customs are quite common on ebay, and generally sell in the $60-$110 range. The B&L 61-0726 and Bushnell 12-0726 are quite rare on ebay with only about 5 or 6 pairs being sold in the last 9 months that I have seen.
http://www.betterviewdesired.com/Bushnell-7x26-Custom.php
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I tried a Bushnell 7x26 Custom Elite at the store and they were considerably better than the ones I had bought on E-bay. It seemed like the eyecups came out further and I had less blackouts. Optically, I will say they were very good but I still don't think they were as good as the Olympus 8x25 and the Olympus is 1/3rd the price.
I have the model previous to the current one. It is one of the first ones made under the Bushnell name and has a 2 digit SN. I like it very much except for the diopter which moves much to easily. Other than that it is excellent optically. Bright, sharp with good edges on its wide field. I like the style better than the new model too.
Bob
Bob
lilcrazy2
Well-known member
If I only had $200 in my pocket, I would buy the 8x25 Trackers and take the other $140 down to Delaware Park and watch the ponies thru my Trackers.:king:
Amazon still has not shipped the 10x25 Trackers, so I am wondering what is up. Also managed to pick up a new pair of 8x26 Alpen Shasta Ridges yesterday for a good price, so I am curious to see how they compare - and they are waterproof.
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Let me know how you like the 10x25 Trackers and the 8x26 Alpen Shasta Ridges. I beleive you will still like the Trackers best. Did Amazon list them as being in stock when you ordered them. Usually they are very good about shipping fast.
Kammerdiner
Well-known member
Yup. Until something better comes along, that should pretty much do it. They aren't definitive, but they are--as far as I know--state of the art. Which is crazy since they must be a 12+ year old design. I'm not looking for something better. I'm going for a walk.
Mark
A simple porro prism is easy to make and simple in design. That's the beauty of them.
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David Swain
Well-known member
Corrected it for you. You were being ironic, of course.
Thanks.
BrightIdea
Well-known member
Trackers arrived today (thanks to a kind BF member). IN between work and errands I hope to give them a look-see.
First impressions last night in the dark:
Minimum IPD barely makes it for me... probably not kid friendly.
Smaller than I thought from seeing pics and description. Nice!
Are these filled with Helium? Light little buggers.
Definitely cant forward/out when worn around the neck... oh well.
First impressions last night in the dark:
Minimum IPD barely makes it for me... probably not kid friendly.
Smaller than I thought from seeing pics and description. Nice!
Are these filled with Helium? Light little buggers.
Definitely cant forward/out when worn around the neck... oh well.
OLYMPUS TRACKERS BITE THE DUST IN TWO WEEKS! THEY MELT IN THE SUN!
I bought a pair of Nikon 8x25 Prostaff's because I thought it would be nice to have a waterproof and fogproof pair of reverse porro's so I am out on my deck comparing them to my Olympus 8x25 Tracker's and actually they were about optically equal with the Nikon's. The Nikon's having a slightly bigger FOV. The Nikon's also have a nice rubber armour protecting them which makes them nice to hold and of course they are waterproof and fogproof. They are almost twice the price though running around $100.00 compared to $50.00 for the Olympus. And then guess what happened and trust me I have not dropped or jarred them in anyway. In the right lens of the Olympus at the top edge of the field I start to see like a little u forming and I don't think to much about it but then I look again and it getting worse. Now there are two of them. It was a warmer day and it was almost like glue or something was melting and causing something to come loose at the top edge of the field on my binoculars. Weird huh? Ever seen that before? I have never had that problem before on any of my binoculars but of course I have never had $50.00 binoculars before. It looks like the objective lenses on the Olympus are GLUED in. The Nikon's appear to be screwed in. Anyway I sent the Olympus back for a refund and I was thinking "You get what you pay for". So even though the Olympus Tracker 8x25 provides a great view for the money I would have to say I question there durability and I don't think I will be buying anymore after that experience. We will see how the Nikon Prostaff 8x25 holds up.
BrightIdea
Well-known member
Wow. Weird.
Kammerdiner
Well-known member
Interesting. My 2001 pair (remember they were sold by Minolta back then) slowly developed the same problem, but it took years, and that included countless hours in sun-drenched kayaks. But then I take a certain amount of care with my binoculars and never leave them sitting in the sun if I can help it.
My second pair, which I've had for about two years, has no problems so far, and that includes two sun-drenched weeks backpacking in the Sierras.
Incidentally, that beat up old Minolta works just fine. The field stop looks a bit molten, but I don't much care. They still work the same.
So here's a caveat: don't leave the Olympus sitting in the hot sun. Here's another: don't leave any bin sitting in the hot sun.
Mark
My second pair, which I've had for about two years, has no problems so far, and that includes two sun-drenched weeks backpacking in the Sierras.
Incidentally, that beat up old Minolta works just fine. The field stop looks a bit molten, but I don't much care. They still work the same.
So here's a caveat: don't leave the Olympus sitting in the hot sun. Here's another: don't leave any bin sitting in the hot sun.
Mark
The thing is isn't wasn't really that hot! It maybe got up to 75 degrees yesterday and I didn't leave them in the sun I only had them outside maybe fifteen minutes comparing them to the Nikon Prostaffs. The binoculars were not even hot. It was just my theory because that is what it looked like and it got progressively worse as time went by. At first I just barely noticed it then it got worse and I said what the heck is that. I guess it could have been something braking loose in the binoculars but it was this irregular shape that just kept getting bigger along the top edge of the right tube field. Really weird! Well it made me lose confidence in Olympus binoculars and I am sure I won't be buying anymore if that's how long they last. Never had anything like that happen to any of my other binoculars. All I can say is be real careful with yours!
henry link
Well-known member
Based on the somewhat sketchy description of what happened to the Trackers I'm going to speculate that the cause was direct sunlight entering the binocular. The sunlight could be focused by either the objective or eyepiece lenses into a tiny hot image of the sun falling on what is probably a plastic eyepiece field stop. This could happen from sunlight entering either end, but the eyepiece is more likely just because it accepts light from a much wider angle than the objective. The ambient air temperature wouldn't be much of a factor if a focused image of the sun is doing the damage. A few unlucky circumstances would have to come together for the this to happen. First the angle of the sunlight entering the binocular would have to be just right for the sun's image to fall on the field stop edge and the binocular would have to remain motionless long enough for the plastic to melt. I imagine most really cheap binoculars use plastic field stops, so if this is really the cause, it might happen with any of them.
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