Vixen Foresta porros (1 Viewer)

Hi,

these bins are are an unknown factor for me. I have never seen any and there are no shops anywhere near me that stock them so I am trying to get a gauge on them.

So a question for those of you who have experience of them:


To what are they comparable? In terms of their optics, the quality of their view.

In particular the 8x42s and 8x32s.

Thanks
Martin

I have the 7x50CF-they are almost identical to the old Celestron Untimas
-high qulality
-light weight

My only negative is durability issues

edj

edwincjones said:

I have the 7x50CF-they are almost identical to the old Celestron Untimas
-high qulality
-light weight

My only negative is durability issues

edj

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How do you mean durability issues? Not the dreaded wobbly bridge syndrome?

Thanks

I've just ordered a pair of the 10x42 porros. I'll let you know what I think of them when they arrive.

BinoBoy said:

I've just ordered a pair of the 10x42 porros. I'll let you know what I think of them when they arrive.

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Cool! Look forward to finding out what you think.

Martin Fagg said:

How do you mean durability issues? Not the dreaded wobbly bridge syndrome?

Thanks

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no, just so light, and large,
I am not sure how much abuse they can tolerate
but I have had no problems yet

edj

Does anyone know if all the Foresta porros have triplet objectives, or just the 7x50? The Vixen website doesn't explicitly say so. The web page for the 10x42s at BHPhoto.com says they do, but they may have just copied and pasted from the 7x50 description.

BinoBoy said:

Does anyone know if all the Foresta porros have triplet objectives, or just the 7x50? The Vixen website doesn't explicitly say so. The web page for the 10x42s at BHPhoto.com says they do, but they may have just copied and pasted from the 7x50 description.

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The various descriptions I have read for the Forestas are so obviously haphardly cut and pasted I am not sure what to make of them but I think, and it is only me thinking- nothing definite- just the conclusion I Ihave reached from reading lots of blurb on the 'net, that only the 7x50s have triplet objectives.

I am quite happy to be told otherwise. In fact I would like to hear that the others are triplets too.

I think if they specify that the 7x50 uses a triplet ,and there is no mention of this on the other models,it indicates that only the 7X uses this design..otherwise they would advertise the whole series as using triplet objectives,..At least I would !

That's what I suspected. B&H is usually pretty reliable. It is disappointing that their web pages for the Foresta's are so slipshod. The description for each one says that they have the triplet objective. The good news is that there is a customer review for the 8x42 and he rated it very highly.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/531055-USA/Vixen_Optics_14502.html

I hope the 10x42 is good. The normal selling price is about twice that of the Nikon Action Extremes, so I hope the quality is twice as high! They don't seem to be well known here in the USA. I got mine off ebay for about 1/3 the normal price. I was the only bidder.

I see that BH specifies every model as featuring a triplet...the japanese Vixen page doesnt specify any difference between the different sizes of this model,and the Vixen Optics page,is the only reference to such triplet in the 7x50 version.Price is almost the same,so maybe all of the series feature the triplet(now,for the experts,what is the advantage of a triplet in a binocular...?..)..A call to Vixen Optics will shine light upon this question ,and they are very nice,..I would call them,but international phone call rates are getting bad these days!
BinoBoy..the review in B&H seems promising,cant wait to hear from You!

Well, I called Vixen and they say that only the 7x50 has the triplet objectives. I told them about B&H and she said she would call them. She didn't know why all the Foresta porros didn't have triplet objectives. It makes no sense to me. The 7x50s are more expensive than the 8x42s but cheaper than the 10x42s, so if there is little extra cost and you get better performance, why not include them? Oh, well. Hopefully, the 10x42s will deliver image quality in line with their near $300 price. I should find out on Thursday.

Hi there..!..Did You get those forestas?..Im curious..I saw a pair of the 7x50 triplet,on Eb@y for 149 buy it now...It should be a great astronomy bino..

Yes! Thanks for pointing them out. I already have the Brunton Echo 7x50, which I am very impressed with. But, I searched CloudyNights and found a thread where EDZ rated the Foresta 7x50s as one of the three best 7x50s, and the only one of the three best with center focus. So, I splurged and bought them. Amazingly, I was the only bidder again, so I got them for $134 + $10 shipping!

The 10x42 arrived Thursday. The weather has been lousy, so I've only spent an hour or two with them. I compared them to my Nikon Superior E 10x42s, which have the same FOV. I haven't done a really detailed evaluation yet, but just using them handheld in bad light, I'm having a hard time seeing any difference in the optical quality. I think that's a pretty impressive performance for the Vixens considering their price. I noticed that EagleOptics.com has them for $200. I'll post more later after I've used them a bit more.

BinoBoy said:

I compared them to my Nikon Superior E 10x42s, which have the same FOV. I haven't done a really detailed evaluation yet, but just using them handheld in bad light, I'm having a hard time seeing any difference in the optical quality. I think that's a pretty impressive performance for the Vixens considering their price.

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That sounds promising indeed. i look forward to hearing what you think after a proper comparison. A top quality porro with long eye-relief is just what I have been looking for.

How is the e/r on yours? Do you think it really is 20mm as specified?

BinoBoy!!!..those are the Venerable 10X SE you are talking about!!!..You can easily be burned at the stake!!!!carefull what You say..!!!..hahaha!!!!!
If they are close enough to that kind of performance,the 8x42 and 8x32 are going to be super...Glad You got the 7x50..EDZ is pretty demanding too,so if he puts the 7x50 with some of the individual focus, perfect 7x out there,is not going to dissapoint You!
Happy Holidays!

The eye relief is a little weird. The eyepieces are DEEPLY recessed when the eyecups are down. They seem to have an "eye box". I've read about eye boxes on the forum and first experienced it with the Bushnell Legend 8x42 roof. With most bins, there is one eyecup position that works best for me with my glasses. In some cases, the adjustment is very precise and only one position works well. With the Legends, almost any position works. With them all the way up, I can't quite see the entire FOV, but any other position works OK. The Vixen are kind of like that. The eye cups have only one detent half way up. Anything from down to the first detent seems to work OK. I finally settled on down as the best, though. That is surprising considering the 20mm eye relief.

I'm not going to say that they are as good as the Superior E's! Even if I believed that, I'm not dumb enough to say it. I suspect everyone would just assume that I don't know what I'm talking about. I suspect that's what people thought after my enthusiastic review of the Brunton Echos.

I'm not a sophisticated reviewer. I'm 53 years old, near sighted, oblivious to CA and wear progressive bifocals. I am visiting relatives on the east coast for the holidays, so I don't have a monpod or tripod to steady them for checking nuances. But I do own high end bins (Zeiss FL T*, Leica Ultravid, Nikon E II, etc) and I know a beautiful view when I see one. I'd like to use the Vixens in good light before passing final judgment on them.

The only thing I don't like about the Vixens so far is the diopter. It doesn't lock and it moves too easily. It is also the first "fast focus" diopter I've encountered. A small movement makes a big difference. On the first day, I inadvertently moved the diopter a small amount. The right side was so blurry, I thought I had a rain drop on the eyepiece. I thought that this was going to be a big problem, but I made it through an hour or so of use the next day without moving the diopter accidentally. It's probably something I'll have to remember to check every time I take them out of their case, though. There is an up side to the fast focus. If you bump the diopter, you'll know it right off.

If you don't share the bin I find adhesive tape will hold the diopter in place (on my Eagle Optics Raptor version of the Vixen Foresta 10x42). It is easy to move especially with any sort of rainguard that holds in place.

The view of these is not as good as the SE (field curvature compared to the SE much flatter field) and weight is in the SE's favor too. But they're not bad bins.

Kevin,

I believe that this is a newer generation of the Foresta porro. I have the Raptor 10x42, also. (I bought them from Eagle Optics off ebay for $90 based on your recommendation). The Raptors have a 6.5 deg FOV and shorter eye relief, whereas these have a 6 deg FOV and 20mm eye relief. The enclosure is different as well. I'm not sure when these were introduced. It would be nice if they would change the name when they redesign them. I don't have the Raptor's with me, so I haven't compared them to the Foresta's yet.

BinoBoy said:

I believe that this is a newer generation of the Foresta porro........I'm not sure when these were introduced. It would be nice if they would change the name when they redesign them.

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You're right Binoboy. The naming is quite confusing. And not just between the old model and the new one but also within naming system (or lack of one) of the new model.

I first saw them a year or two ago on Vixen US's website when I was looking for 8x32 porros. I didn't like the narrow 6.4* fov of the 8x32s so lost interest.
The US site calls them Foresta ZWCF.

http://www.vixenoptics.com/binoculars/foresta.htm

Recently I rediscovered them on some European sites, where they are called "Foresta CF" or "Foresta CF Wide." I assume this is because the 8x32s are listed as having 7.5* fov rather than 6.4*. (They are still 6.4* on the US Vixen site).
The 8x42 and 10x42 haven't changed their fov specs but on some sites they are also called "wide" but on other sites they are not.

http://www.telescopios.eu/vixen-foresta-c-89_167_170.html

Vixen Europe calls them "CF Wide."

http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...de&hl=en&rlz=1C1RNNN_enGB358GB358&prmd=ivnsfd

On Vixen's Japanese site they're called "Foresta ZR 8x32 WP" and are listed as 7.5*.

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.vixen.co.jp/English/bandfs/foresta-zr_e.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dvixen%2Beurope%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26prmd%3Div&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&usg=ALkJrhiFPQIpYch83yFQwilCDzYiNIyucg#foresta-zr

From this I have concluded that there is a new version of the 8x32 with a 7.5* fov that has been released in Japan and Europe but not yet in the US.

There are some minor differences in the specs for these bins on different websites so I have little faith in any of them. I think Vixen Japan is probably the accurate version because they are the only one that mentions a weight reduction in the latest model. 695g rather than 710g everywhere else.

I am concern that if I order a pair of 8x32s I'll get a pair of 6.4* ones which I am not interested in. I have emailed one of the European suppliers to verify that they are stocking the latest 8x32s with 7.5* fov but have had no reply yet.

Best wishes
Martin