Hawke Frontier ED 8x36 ED (1 Viewer)

Hawke Frontier ED 8x36

I see Hawke is in the x36 compact business as well.

http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?key=3240

The Hawkes seems to be consistently more expensive than the Zens while having less features (dielectric, argon) but still seem to come from the same "factory". Seems like Zen are the only customers buying the top shelf stuff.

Also, it seems that Hawke has a pretty nice website compared to ZR but almost no community presence.

shaocaholica said:

The Hawkes seems to be consistently more expensive than the Zens while having less features (dielectric, argon) but still seem to come from the same "factory". Seems like Zen are the only customers buying the top shelf stuff.

Also, it seems that Hawke has a pretty nice website compared to ZR but almost no community presence.

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Could you explain what you mean by "community presence" and how ZR has this?

Thanks,
Brock

brocknroller said:

Could you explain what you mean by "community presence" and how ZR has this?

Thanks,
Brock

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Zen-Ray's owner?/operator? Charles has an account here on birdforum and at opticstalk. I think he has goes to a few other forums too. He will occasionally post about upcoming products and clarify things. He also pointed out to the fact that the 7x36 ED2 was born from a "what we want" thread right here. He also seems to be a bino enthusiast instead of just a business type.

Steve C said:

I see Hawke is in the x36 compact business as well.

http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?key=3240

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Good catch, Steve.

Not up on the web site yet

http://www.hawkeoptics.com/us/binoculars/frontier_ed/index.php

shaocaholica said:

Also, it seems that Hawke has a pretty nice website compared to ZR but almost no community presence.

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Perhaps less presence than ZR but when they released their bin we did have some interaction with the Hawke folks here but not much since then.

Charles from ZR doesn't pop up much here (not point in getting involved in our running arguments about the bins) but I believe he uses the subscription feature to follow the ZR threads. So he can hear what you're saying. And he certainly responds to emails of either criticisms or suggestions rather well in my experience. He's not a hidden face behind the company.

He also seems to be a bino enthusiast instead of just a business type

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Well, I think he's a bit of both. I'm pretty sure he's in this to make money.

And if I recall correctly I think he mentioned once (in email, IIRC) that he's a U of Arizona optomech graduate. So he does know some optics too.

Definitely a nice catch Steve. I wonder when they will be available. I wouldn't mind seeing how their 8x36 compares with the Zen and the larger Frontier ED model