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New Hawke Binoculars - ED X (1 Viewer)

John Cantelo

Well-known member
I see from an advert in the latest 'Birdwatch' that Hawke will shortly produce a new (and seemingly top-of-the-range) model - Hawke ED X. It'll be interesting to see how these compare to earlier Hawke models and Alpha products in terms of price and optics ....
 

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Well spotted. It appears to be priced the same as the Frontier ED and below that of the single and dual hinge Sapphire EDs. It looks too short to be a single hinge version of the Frontier ED. Should be interesting.

David

P.S. I'd forgotten that Hawke eventually produced a single hinge version of the Frontier ED, but a lower price point than the dual hinge. This looks distinctly different.
 
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It seems the ED-X is the replacement for the Frontier ED which is currently being sold off. An x32 will join the line-up later next year. Although the Sapphire ED compact has sold out there are good stocks of the x42 and x43s for the time being.

David
 
Had a brief 45 minutes or so (although the wife said it was "bloody hours") look at these last Saturday and was very impressed. I had a couple of pairs of my bins with me (Nikon 8x32 HGL and Hawke Frontier ED 8x43) and also compared them with the Leica Trinovid HD 8x42 which I was having thoughts about buying. The build quality and finish of the new ED-X seemed much better than previous Hawke models and optically they were both brighter and sharper than my older 8x43 model, the only area they were worse was in close focus where, although both specs are the same at 2 metres, the older 8x43 definitely focused closer than the newer 8x42 model. Comparing them with the Nikon's and the Leica's I couldn't really see much difference in terms of sharpness in the centre although both Nikon and Leica were sharper in the outer 10 or 15% of the field. The ED-X were slightly brighter than the Nikon's (42 v 32mm) and about the same as the Leica's. The Leica's also had a better close focus with the Nikon's in between the two.
The weather was pretty awful, very grey with spots of rain, so looking for CA was tricky although unless it's really bad it doesn't generally bother me much.
All looking good for my Leica purchase then? Sadly no. The FOV was on the low side, less than the Nikon's and much less than both pairs of Hawke's. Disappointing as one of the main properties I always look for is a good FOV. Strange as well, since the Leica 10x42 don't suffer from this and have a reasonably good FOV (and better close focus!). Overall the Leica's felt best from an ergonomic and tactile point of view, which made the narrow FOV all the more disappointing.
Back to the new ED-X, ergonomically they too felt good, nicely balanced, not too heavy and a quality feel (just not quite as good as the Leica's) definitely better than the 8x43.
Current price for the ED-X £369 and Trinovid's £749. Better? Probably just slightly but certainly not that much difference.
Eventually left without buying anything but planning on going back in a couple of weeks and wouldn't be too surprised if a pair of ED_X accompanies me when I leave the shop (or maybe the 10x42 Leica's).

All the above is, as always, IMHO.

Nick
 
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Very nice binocular to look through.

However for me the Celestron Granite and Viking ED FF just edge it. That said, like the poster above I was surprised just how good they are compared to the Leica Trinovid!
 
I make quick side by side test today with ED X and older frontier.
Im litttle confused.
Size of them are: ED X 10x42 and older frontier is 10x43 but some reason i feel that ED X magnification is just little smaller.
Like 9- 9,5 or something like that? Can it be? Is it somekind optical delusion or what?

Older frontier is little wider fov and image itself is warmer.
ED X it is colder image and seems to be overall little bit brighter. Size of ED X is smaller and it feel lighter to handle.
Both are good binoculars for the price and to me it is hard to say witch one is better.
Anyway i must go and try them again if i buy one.
 
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Hyvaa iltaa,

It is quite possible for a marked 10x binocular to be nearer 9x or 11x.

The old Nikon Action VII 10x40 I think was about 10.9x and had short eye relief.

A Celestron 8x30 is about 6.7x27 from memory.
 
Hyvää iltaa :)

Ok, thanks Binastro!

I think that magnification is main reason why i may buy older one, but let see!
My targets is far away at Liminka bey. I watch there couple times through swaro x12 and i must say, that it is very tempting go that way...
 
Often binoculars that have smaller magnifications than marked do this to have larger fields.

For instance the Bushnell Xtrawides have a 4x21 or 4x30 that is 3.5x.
The 5x25 is 4.4x and so on.
So the real field can be wider without using wide field eyepieces.
I think that anything deviating by 10% or more, shouldn't.
Some specs are supposed to be within 5% I think according to Japanese rules, but China is unlikely to have any rules at all, or at least no rules are respected.

Hyvaa Vapuaa myos.
 
Thats true, it is intresting if shop have secend pair of those to compare. I must ask them.

Kiitos ja oikein hyvää vappua teillekkin!
 
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Hyvaa iltaa,

It is quite possible for a marked 10x binocular to be nearer 9x or 11x.

The short answer should be no.

Since 2006 all binoculars should be compliant with ISO14133-1 which covers 'general purpose' binoculars or ISO14133-2 for higher quality instruments, which I would expect would include the ED X.

I only have information on the 2016 revised specifications, but I would be surprised if the magnification criteria had changed since 2006. ISO14133-1 allows a maximum deviation from the stated magnification of +/- 5% and the higher standard ISO14133-2, +/- 4%.

Of course that doesn't guarantee that every binocular on the market is compliant, but the manufacturers in the far East do know about and understand these rules. I'm not sure their customers always do as well. I should also point out that products classed as toys are not bound by these rules.

David
 
Just retested basically a new and complete Nikon Action 10x40 CF.
Made in China.
Aspherical eyepiece lenses to minimise aberration.
Multilayer coated optics (actually green coated on two outer surfaces only and transmission is rather poor compared to a 10x42 Elite).
Rubber armoured
Wide strap
Tripod adaptable.

I don't know when it was made but Japan information, 10 year limited warranty.

The image is good, but very little eye relief even for me without glasses and wide rubber eyecups.

I think it was Allbinos who made it 10.9x. I thought that was credible.

I make it 10.7x at 120 metres.
Objectives seem unvignetted exit pupils round.

Exit pupil with Duratool metric drill gauge 3.7 to 3.75mm
Exit pupil with Duratool imperial drill gauge 0.147 inches.

Late sunny evening after strange day, heavy rain, large cumulus, and high flying aircraft with no contrails.
Turned out nice.

P.S.
Japan Warranty leaflet is dated December 2007, so the binocular was probably made on or after that date.
 
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I think it was Allbinos who made it 10.9x. I thought that was credible.

According to their documentation, Allbinos do not measure magnification, just report the objective diameter to exit pupil ratio, which may be a rather different of value of course.

Lazy_ferret

I can't tell you without checking if the magnification difference you report is real or an illusion without doing some checks. Did you notice anything else unusual about the view. Was the edge of the field sharp or fuzzy for instance, or perhaps a darkening at the edges?

David
 
I make quick side by side test today with ED X and older frontier.
Im litttle confused.
Size of them are: ED X 10x42 and older frontier is 10x43 but some reason i feel that ED X magnification is just little smaller.
Like 9- 9,5 or something like that? Can it be? Is it somekind optical delusion or what?

Older frontier is little wider fov and image itself is warmer.
ED X it is colder image and seems to be overall little bit brighter. Size of ED X is smaller and it feel lighter to handle.
Both are good binoculars for the price and to me it is hard to say witch one is better.
Anyway i must go and try them again if i buy one.

Hawke claim 112m fov for both the Frontier 10x42 and ED X. Changes in the amount of black area around the field of view can cause different and misleading impressions of the fov and/or magnification.

Lee
 
I bought a pair of 8x42 Frontier ed-x. Really nice binos. They hold up very well to my Swaros, And Tract Torics. The price is much nicer.
 
I bought a pair of 8x42 Frontier ed-x. Really nice binos. They hold up very well to my Swaros, And Tract Torics. The price is much nicer.

It would be great to have a detailed comparison! Are they better than your Torics ignoring the price?
 
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