They did have a stand at this years Birdfair - the Frontier EDs are hitting the shelves at certain Hawke dealers. They have them near me - twenty so miles from Norwich
I'm guessing this was at Cley Spy... I saw them at work on Saturday and was very impressed. Optically very good, seem well built though the focus did feel a bit spoungy. All in all an excellent buy at £279 for the 8x42s, mid-price bins just keep getting better.
Having gotten a 8x that was better optically, I just got rid of my 10x for that very reason, along with not being able to hold it steady for extended periods.Part of me thinks that I really need to sell the 10x and get a scope or 12x+ glass to use with a tripod. It is hard to see if 10x really is that much better than a good 8x like the Promaster.
If I end up with a PF-65 EDII scope, a pic of my gear will look like a Pentax ad...
I tend to think that with a lower street price for the Hawke than the Promaster, plus the added fov, that there may have had to be a corner or two cut somewhere.
tried a pair of these today (ed's) and they are very very good !!!!
looks like they will be replacing my minox 8x32's
i quite often pop up among the dissused china clay pits on the new cycle trails for a spot of star gazing and to save on having to use up the bike light batteries will go up when its still light and wait till it gets dark, of course i'll busy myself with the bins watching rabbits and the occasional fox ect till its properly dark so get a chance to try the bins in every light condition from bright sunshine to almost complete darkness and they perform very well, even on overcast days they appear to show good contrast. the previous bins i used were hawke frontier 10x42 roofs costing £189 and allthough they seemed ok in the shop and were reduced to £109 i took them back. the reason... they were fine if the sun was out but as soon as the light failed if only slightly the view was uneven and i'de spend ages fiddling with focus and diopter to no avail.... horrible
NW,
Actually it repels water and oily residue...more similar to the Lotutec type coating found on the FLs.
I would like to hear comments from anyone that owns the Hawke model.