wide clear fields of view in 8x42's (1 Viewer)

timmay · Oct 9, 2015

Has anyone found an 8x42 with wide field of view that is actually sharp to the edge in the midrange price point (midrange to me is $500)

Like the Zen Ray ED3
Bushnell Legend M series
Talon HD
They all have the exact same 426' @1000 FOV

The Monarch 7s have the same large FOV but has bad edges, very disappointing at how large the softness is on them. The distortion starts at about 60% and then gradually gets worse to the edge to where it will split a star in two..not very happy anymore with them.
I loved them at first, but this issue and also the issue of the image rolling into view rather than being flat bothers me.
Anyways, If I want a crisp view to the edge am I stuck with submitting to something like a Vortex Viper or Monarch 5 that has much less field of view but better edges?

jremmons · Oct 9, 2015

From experience, the Leupold McKinley, and so I assume the Zen Prime HD and Theron Questa are likewise good (some reports indicate the Questa is actually better than the others).

FrankD · Oct 9, 2015

Ditto on JRemmins comment. I have owned all three and now have the Questa. Sharp to the edge with a 425 foot field of view and priced at $425 with coupon.

timmay · Oct 9, 2015

Ive never heard of the Theron Questa..thanks.
As far as the Leupold BX4 McKinley, I picked them up at the store to look through but something with the eyes cups did not work with me..I don't remember exactly what it was, but I didn't look through them for more the a couple seconds and it was because of the eye cups.
Ill check out the Questas.
Frank, where do I buy them and what is the coupon code?
Are they just as good as the ZR Primes...as I was thinking of buying their last demo unit for $469 with coupon, but its in 10x42 instead of 8x42 which is what Im after. (large FOV)

One more question, would I be correct to say that these Questas or the Primes will be much more optically pleasing than the Monarch 7...with no "rolling ball" and large soft distorted edges?
The Monarch 7 is very comfortable though and the eye cups are great for me, but that isn't enough to overcome the view roll and also the distortion at edges.

FrankD · Oct 9, 2015

This should help.....

http://theronoptics.com/site/mobile?url=http://theronoptics.com/QUESTA_HD-ED_BINOCULARS.html#2683

They don't have fuzzy edges. No worries there. However, I am curious about your description with rolling ball. I am wondering exactly what you are seeing. Is it "rolling ball" or "rolling bowl"? The first is caused by angular magnification distortion and is usually found in binoculars that utilize a field flattener element. The latter is the result of excessive pincushion distortion and is often found in many wide angle eyepieces.

Both can be disconcerting if at an extreme level. To my knowledge the M7 does not utilize a field flattener so I am guessing you are seeing pincushion distortion.

Hope this helps.

hubcap · Oct 9, 2015

For $500.00 I do not think you can beat the ZR Prime or the Theron.

timmay · Oct 9, 2015

FrankD said:
This should help.....

http://theronoptics.com/site/mobile?url=http://theronoptics.com/QUESTA_HD-ED_BINOCULARS.html#2683

They don't have fuzzy edges. No worries there. However, I am curious about your description with rolling ball. I am wondering exactly what you are seeing. Is it "rolling ball" or "rolling bowl"? The first is caused by angular magnification distortion and is usually found in binoculars that utilize a field flattener element. The latter is the result of excessive pincushion distortion and is often found in many wide angle eyepieces.

Both can be disconcerting if at an extreme level. To my knowledge the M7 does not utilize a field flattener so I am guessing you are seeing pincushion distortion.

Hope this helps.

Yes the "bowl" would be a better description as the image seems to slightly roll into view and then flatten out in center and then slightly roll back out of view. This starts to get distracting when panning.
Its not too bad with the M7 but still noticeable and after a while can give me a slight vertigo feeling.
Does the ZenRay ED3 have this issue?
Also Id like to understand why my Vortex Raptor 8.5x32 does not have this problem. The view is very flat, where as The Nikon aculons I had in 7x35 had a very noticeable bowl effect going on.

By the way, the link you provided is dead, but I found they sell them at predator optics with the $75 off questa code

timmay · Oct 9, 2015

hubcap said:
For $500.00 I do not think you can beat the ZR Prime or the Theron.

Better than the Viper HD's in your opinion?

jremmons · Oct 9, 2015

timmay said:
Better than the Viper HD's in your opinion?

The Viper HD is a very good set of binoculars, but has a very narrow field of view for a current 8x42 (the 10x42 and 8x32 are more consistent, only slightly more narrow). Color, CA control, central sharpness, and size of sweetspot are all very good.

I would say that central performance was very similar to the McKinley (which actually fit my eyesockets, unlike most it would seem), but narrower and without a truly flat field.

IAN JAMES THOMPSON · Oct 9, 2015

In my opinion the Zeiss HT 8x42 is a fantastic pierce of equipment that I only bought in August, at a cost of just over £1,399 and I can easily see the colour of all the birds in either very bright or dull light as well as at dusk.
Ian.

timmay · Oct 10, 2015

jremmons said:
The Viper HD is a very good set of binoculars, but has a very narrow field of view for a current 8x42 (the 10x42 and 8x32 are more consistent, only slightly more narrow). Color, CA control, central sharpness, and size of sweetspot are all very good.

I would say that central performance was very similar to the McKinley (which actually fit my eyesockets, unlike most it would seem), but narrower and without a truly flat field.

I didn't like the viper 8x42 because of its FOV, but I really liked the 8x32 with its larger field, but I never got to test it outside.
So would you say optically that the Zen Prime and Theron Questa are better than the viper not taking into account FOV, or the same?
Ive read that a lot of People say the Zen Prime is in another league over the Vipers

jremmons · Oct 11, 2015

timmay said:
I didn't like the viper 8x42 because of its FOV, but I really liked the 8x32 with its larger field, but I never got to test it outside.
So would you say optically that the Zen Prime and Theron Questa are better than the viper not taking into account FOV, or the same?
Ive read that a lot of People say the Zen Prime is in another league over the Vipers

I have not tried the Prime or Questa, just the McKinley (though I do believe the optics of the McK are the same as the Prime).

I owned the Viper HD and McKinley at the same time so I could compare both for about a month. I eventually went with the McKinley simply due to the much larger field in the 8x42 format; if you instead were interested in the 8x32 Format, I do not think you'd be shorted by selecting a Vortex Viper HD.

I'd argue that the central sharpness and control of CA was about the same, and that brightness in the Viper HD was a bit higher. The edges of the McKinley were superior, due to the field flatteners, but I've not ever found that to be a particularly noteworthy advantage (others certainly will disagree here).

Justin

wide clear fields of view in 8x42's (1 Viewer)

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