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Bushnell Elite vs. Leupold Golden Ring vs. Pentax DCF ED 8x43 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bobcat
- Start date
Steve C
Well-known member
I've not looked at the Pentax ED, so I can't comment on them. From what I have looked at in your general price range I would personally rank as follows.
Promaster Infinity Elite ELX ED and Gold Ring almost too close to call. I had decided to get a Gold Ring (well almost) before the Promaster came out. The quality/price ratio sealed that deal pretty quick. Leupold has top notch service and warranty.
Next I would put the Meopta Meostar and the Minox HG.
Then the Bushnell Elite. This is the smallest , lightest, and most compact of the lot if that is a consideration.
Then the Vortex Razor (Vortex has outstanding service/warranty)
As a reality check, any of these is probably all the binocular almost anybody needs. What I'd do is just try as many as you can and keep what suits you best. Ask 25 other people for the ranking and you will get 25 different rankings and/or reasons..
CameralandNY is good to deal with as far as being able to order more than one glass and return if you don't like it. Ditto Eagle Optics.
Promaster Infinity Elite ELX ED and Gold Ring almost too close to call. I had decided to get a Gold Ring (well almost) before the Promaster came out. The quality/price ratio sealed that deal pretty quick. Leupold has top notch service and warranty.
Next I would put the Meopta Meostar and the Minox HG.
Then the Bushnell Elite. This is the smallest , lightest, and most compact of the lot if that is a consideration.
Then the Vortex Razor (Vortex has outstanding service/warranty)
As a reality check, any of these is probably all the binocular almost anybody needs. What I'd do is just try as many as you can and keep what suits you best. Ask 25 other people for the ranking and you will get 25 different rankings and/or reasons..
CameralandNY is good to deal with as far as being able to order more than one glass and return if you don't like it. Ditto Eagle Optics.
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Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
Just an observation: A multi-vendor post should perhaps go at the top level of the Bin subforum. Starting multiple threads in subsubfora is a bad idea and just dilutes the conversation.
And some info ...
I have the Elite and the Promaster/Hawke. So I can compare these and you can match that to the others.
The Elite wins in weight, slimness, brightness and stray light control with an bright overcast. As for weight and size (they minimize the amount of armor on the bin rather like the Swaro EL) so they feel more like 8x32 bins with big objectives. Looking for a perched owl in trees it was one of the few bins not to suffer veiling glare from the light between the trees. In this case the Elites kept the color very very nicely showing NO problems at all when even Zeiss Victory 8x40 had a problem though it wasn't unusable. I was pleasantly surprised. I suspect the 7.1 degree FOV (good but not wide) helps here. This was one occasion I've seen the Promasters fail rather badly (not totally unusable but rather annoyingly poor) in "normal use" and unlike the "too close to the sun" this is a real case for a lot of the temperate latitudes in autumn and winter.
The Elites are bit less sharp than the Promasters (a notch in my terminology ... i.e you can easily notice it but it's a small change).
The only issue I had optically with them is they have a lot of ER. A bit too much for the eyecups when down if you wear "tight" glasses like I do. If you have big glasses down your nose then I suspect they work fine. Fixed with a couple of washers to move the cup up. Current Elites have a four stop eyecup which should fix this issue.
The Elites loose a bit on the accessories.
They have a "clever" twist quick release straps (rather than lugs) that I really don't like. They tend to hit my hands (some of the time). I've had one case when trying to pull the around when wearing it as a sling that the QR released on one side. Fortunately friction saved the bins from a fall. They do enable you to have a couple of straps of different lengths if you like that thing.
The rainguard doesn't stay on all that well and effect exacerbated by the twisting QR lugs (that's supposed to be a feature but it torques the rainguard off the EPs).
The provided strap is nice but is a snug fit for the hole in the rainguard again tending to pull it off. I plan on getting a non-Elite Bushnell strap (they're quite inexpensive) to replace it.
There seems to be a certain lack of attention to the "small parts" that I would not have expected for a pricey bin. Though I didn't pay full price for my "previous" model.
So the Elite occupies an interesting niche: it's the Rodney Dangerfield of bins ("It don't get no respect"). I think you have to try it to know if it's for you.
I'd also add the Chinese EDs to your list of potential bins: Promaster ELX (my favorite), Hawke Frontier ED and the new Zen Ray ED (pending reviews).
And some info ...
I have the Elite and the Promaster/Hawke. So I can compare these and you can match that to the others.
The Elite wins in weight, slimness, brightness and stray light control with an bright overcast. As for weight and size (they minimize the amount of armor on the bin rather like the Swaro EL) so they feel more like 8x32 bins with big objectives. Looking for a perched owl in trees it was one of the few bins not to suffer veiling glare from the light between the trees. In this case the Elites kept the color very very nicely showing NO problems at all when even Zeiss Victory 8x40 had a problem though it wasn't unusable. I was pleasantly surprised. I suspect the 7.1 degree FOV (good but not wide) helps here. This was one occasion I've seen the Promasters fail rather badly (not totally unusable but rather annoyingly poor) in "normal use" and unlike the "too close to the sun" this is a real case for a lot of the temperate latitudes in autumn and winter.
The Elites are bit less sharp than the Promasters (a notch in my terminology ... i.e you can easily notice it but it's a small change).
The only issue I had optically with them is they have a lot of ER. A bit too much for the eyecups when down if you wear "tight" glasses like I do. If you have big glasses down your nose then I suspect they work fine. Fixed with a couple of washers to move the cup up. Current Elites have a four stop eyecup which should fix this issue.
The Elites loose a bit on the accessories.
They have a "clever" twist quick release straps (rather than lugs) that I really don't like. They tend to hit my hands (some of the time). I've had one case when trying to pull the around when wearing it as a sling that the QR released on one side. Fortunately friction saved the bins from a fall. They do enable you to have a couple of straps of different lengths if you like that thing.
The rainguard doesn't stay on all that well and effect exacerbated by the twisting QR lugs (that's supposed to be a feature but it torques the rainguard off the EPs).
The provided strap is nice but is a snug fit for the hole in the rainguard again tending to pull it off. I plan on getting a non-Elite Bushnell strap (they're quite inexpensive) to replace it.
There seems to be a certain lack of attention to the "small parts" that I would not have expected for a pricey bin. Though I didn't pay full price for my "previous" model.
So the Elite occupies an interesting niche: it's the Rodney Dangerfield of bins ("It don't get no respect"). I think you have to try it to know if it's for you.
I'd also add the Chinese EDs to your list of potential bins: Promaster ELX (my favorite), Hawke Frontier ED and the new Zen Ray ED (pending reviews).
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