Vixen Artes Binoculars (1 Viewer)

brocknroller

porromaniac

• Jul 1, 2011

• #1

Has anybody tried the new Artes Vixen ED roofs or read any reviews?

They look like two milk bottles stuck together. Open bridge, of course (aren't all the clones these days?). Twice the price of the Talon and the configurations match the Monarch X but the FOV is a little more generous in the Mnnarch 8.5x45 model - 7* FOV. "Made in Japan" (music to my ears).

http://www.vixenoptics.com/binoculars/artes.html

"Very interesting, but (hopefully... not) stupid."

Artes Johnson

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2011

S

Sancho

Well-known member

• Jul 1, 2011

• #2

Haven't seen 'em, Brockster. But they remind me of a Delorean car for some reason.

 

FrankD

Well-known member

• Jul 1, 2011

• #3

$1000? Ouch.

I have owned some Vixen eyepieces in the past and thought they were good quality but that is a big step up the price ladder. The 8.5x magnification does give them a little distinction over the other open bridge ED roofs as does that flat connecting bridge between the barrels. Other than that though........

...and at 32 ounces dem's babies are gonna be heavy. ;-)

 

K

Kammerdiner

Well-known member

• Jul 1, 2011

• #4

Attractive they are not. In general design terms I prefer curves to angles most any day. And the focus knob looks awefully slick. They are definitely more Delorean than Porsche.

Agreed, Brock, "Made in Japan" is a selling point because the Chinese are often still cranking more than crafting. Remember when we were kids--when "Laugh-In" was on--and "Made in Japan" often meant "junk"? Or perhaps I'm dating myself.

Mark

 

brocknroller

porromaniac

• Jul 1, 2011

• #5

One question I had about the Artes was what the "SK15 prisms" were, and if that is part of the reason why the bins cost more.

That term is explained in this thread (see post #15):

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=187116

Brock

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2011

H

henry link

Well-known member

• Jul 1, 2011

• #6

Not too likely, Brock. SK15 is only 1.79 times as expensive as cheap lowly BK7 in the Schott catalogue from the back of Rutten and van Venrooij. BTW, "costly" BAK4 is exactly 1.02 times as expensive as cheap lowly BK7. I imagine the cost of the raw glass for the prisms differs by less than $10, $20 at the most.

I'm more curious about why such glass is being used at all. It's Abbe# falls between Bak4 and BK7. It's dispersion is a little higher than BAK4, so it could be useful for maintaining TIR if the objective is very fast, but otherwise it wouldn't be "better".

Maybe in this case "SK15" isn't glass at all, but just another marketing term for a prism mirror coating.

Henry

 

Last edited: Jul 1, 2011

lilcrazy2

Well-known member

• Jul 2, 2011

• #7

They remind me a lot of the discontinued Bushnell Infinity binos, except the Bushnells have a lifetime warranty and can be picked up for around $200. Same mags also of 8.5 & 10.5x45.

Tom