Opticron or Hawke? (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

I am considering a Hawke Endurance ED 68 scope or Opticron MM4 w/ SDL v2

Do not like scopes which are much bigger than these so portability is key but above that I want good optical quality.

I was wondering out of these two which would be preferable?

Thanks.

Hi,

I don't know the Hawke, but Opticron MM4 60 or 77 should be quite nice...

Joachim

I recently bought the MM4 60/45 and like it very much. I bought it with the 17x and the SDL v2. I later also found the out-of-production 32x and now use that 32x all the time and the SDLv2 stays in the box. The 17x, 23x and 32x all have a very pleasing wide FoV, whereas the SDL v2 gets pretty narrow and a small aperture at higher mags. The one advantage of the SDL, of course, is it zooms so if you want that feature or don't want to swap eyepieces, it's the way to go.

THe MM4 is very light and compact. The double focusing knobs (coarse and fine) work very well.

I was not very happy with the protective case (which was included for free). It is hard to rotate the scope with it on, and that's one of the big reasons I bought the MM4 is so I could rotate it base on use on a tripod or car window. Instead. I use McNett tactical camo wrap, which is like $15, and sticks to itself very well. I wrapped the regular objective cover onto the scope so it just pops on/off and never comes loose.

I have no experience with the Hawke model. It is much larger and heavier than the MM4 60.

Marc

I don't know about the Hawke, but it is bigger and heavier than the MM4-60. If portability is key, try the MM4 - I bought it with the v2 for a light setup beside the 85mm-DiaScope. Optically is very fine, compared with the big cousin, but mag ends with 45x. If you want more try the new 77mm, but it's not so much more like the 60-70x in the 'big scopes'. The field of the v2 is narrow at 15x, but it is the same field visible at 20x - I use 15x only if exit-pupil is needed. Bigger scopes need bigger (sturdier) tripod/head, and so there is more weight. You can read in this forum from my MM4 or in the german forum Jülich, Bonn (there are also size comparison with the 85, the MM4 looks tiny, but optical big…

good decision
Manfred

Thanks for the help, just wondering if anyone has experience of the Hawke?

How is the quality control on the mm4?

Thanks

hr21 said:

How is the quality control on the mm4?

Click to expand...

We haven't heard any bad things and should there be an issue with the usual support, Pete Gamby from Opticron is active in here and should be able to help.

Joachim

I've used both.

The Hawke has a very 'warm' image, excellent at low power, Great at middle but soft, very soft at high zoom.

The Opticron has a very neutral colour to it. What you see with the eye is what you see through the scope. Excellent all the way to the end of the zoom, and the dual focus is a dream to use. Very smooth, very precise, lovely if you have gloves on.

Weight wise, the Opticron is a feather, throw it on a mule pack and you can forget at times you are carrying it. The Hawke is hefty but like my ol 85ED? Is going to take a shed load of abuse and keep rocking.

All in all? Go with the Opticron now that they are water \fog proof.

Ratal said:

I've used both.

The Hawke has a very 'warm' image, excellent at low power, Great at middle but soft, very soft at high zoom.

The Opticron has a very neutral colour to it. What you see with the eye is what you see through the scope. Excellent all the way to the end of the zoom, and the dual focus is a dream to use. Very smooth, very precise, lovely if you have gloves on.

Weight wise, the Opticron is a feather, throw it on a mule pack and you can forget at times you are carrying it. The Hawke is hefty but like my ol 85ED? Is going to take a shed load of abuse and keep rocking.

All in all? Go with the Opticron now that they are water \fog proof.

Click to expand...

So Opticron is sharper across the range vs. the Hawke?

Hawke is more robust but overall optically worse?

Thanks.

I do not know if the Hawke is more robust, but the Opticron does not seem fragile at all. I do not feel at all like I need to baby it. I have a small Pelican case for the eyepieces, but the scope I just be on in the back of my truck cab with the objective and eyepiece covers on.

I did not like the Opticron protective case -- it is very hard to rotate in the case, which is a feature I use when window mounting it in a car. I used McNett tactical camo protective wrap, which is a 2" wide tape that sticks to itself but not your gear. This also let me wrap on the objective cover so it will never come loose and can flip on/off.

Marc

has anyone compared the newer hawke endurance 15-45x60 to the opticron? the hawke is a fair bit lighter and also cheaper, but I'm not sure about its optics...