RoadsterGirlie
Active member
The following is for the original version of the EDs - not the II or the IV. If anybody has read my thread in the Nikon section, you'll know that I was in the market for an economical binocular in the sub $200 range. I was leaning heavily on the Prostaff 7s 10x42. I had pretty much ruled out the Action Extremes as while I was hearing great things about the crisp views from these porro prisms, the weight of 2.5lbs would just not be practical for birding.
I originally wanted these solely for astronomy purposes, but the more I read up on them, the more birding sounded like a fun daytime activity with them and we have all kinds of nature trails where I live where I could use them. That's when I ruled out Porros altogether and decided to stick to the lighter roof design.
I going to wait a couple of weeks after pretty much deciding on the Prostaffs, but then a one day sale from B&H last week on the Vanguard Endeavors at $160 changed that. I had never heard of this brand, but it didn't take a lot of Internet digging to find they were not only a reputable company, but a couple of steps above anything in my current price range with a normal retail of $250-$300. These were meant to compete with Nikon's Monarch line, which I wasn't previously considering due to price.
I hate buying stuff sight unseen but it seemed like I'd be an idiot to pass these up. And of course I could always return them if I didn't like them. So I pulled the trigger.
In my 2 hour crash research project on these before adding to cart, the only negative I was seeing was these had worse than normal chromatic abberation. This had me a bit concerned because while the word CA pops up with other makes and models as well in even higher price range, reviews seemed to include that this was an issue very frequently.
I received them on Tuesday, and I've had them out twice now. While the CA is there on occasion depending on the lighting, it's really not that bad. You have to really look for it, and I will say I may not have even noticed it had I not read about it before hand. The only time it was somewhat distracting was looking at a white egret with the sun behind me shining on it. A slight purple hue seemed to outline it on one side. What's even more interesting is I went out again last night at the same time of day, saw the egrets close to the same spot and the purple hue this time was greatly reduced. It was there if I tried looking for it, but not nearly as distracting as it was the previous night. Now to be fair, these birds are WHITE so I'd be curious to see if other brands of binoculars would pick up n this as well.
Sometimes I'll get purple/blue fringing on the perimeter of the view, but it's not that terrible and I really have to be looking for it. If my eyes are straight ahead where they should be, I won't see it at all. Even when I go to look for it, it's not always visible.
As far as crispness, brightness and clarity are concerned, these rival the Nikon Monarch 5. I tried a bunch out at Bass Pro Shops before these arrived, and while I did not care for the short FOV in the M5, the crispness and contrast was out of this world - nothing else came close. I'd really love to test these next to each other side by side. Where I go for viewing is a marshy wetland swamp with a boardwalk running through it off of the Chattahoochee river. Even 300 feet away I can see tiny ripples in the water with bugs skimming across.
I also have no problems holding them steady in spite of the fact they're 10x42 and 26 oz, which is just a tad higher in weight than the others I've tried.
The case and strap are very nice, and I like that the eye cup as well as lens covers both front and back are flexible rubber as opposed to hard plastic. It's much more comfortable and I don't feel like the covers are going to fall off and get lost. I also like that the front covers are attached to also help from getting them lost.
I know it's a toss up for people, but I enjoy the .75 revolution focuser as opposed to the 1.5 revolution focuser that's common on other models. I can get things in focus faster, especially when jumping around. I went from vintage Bushnells with the Instafocus (teeter totter design), so to be fair, anything I'm using is going to be a step above that. The wheel is smooth and steady and don't have any issues going past where I need to be.
I'd say these are superior to pretty much everything else I've tested in the store, which include the Vortex Diamondback, Steiner Predator, Nikon Prostaffs, and Zeiss Terra. I want to say the Monarch 5 holds its own against these, but the FOV is still a huge detractor on that one.
Amazon has these right now for $234, and while I got mine at the steal of $160, I'd still say this is a very fair price. I hope that if you are in the market for these, you've found my review helpful.
I originally wanted these solely for astronomy purposes, but the more I read up on them, the more birding sounded like a fun daytime activity with them and we have all kinds of nature trails where I live where I could use them. That's when I ruled out Porros altogether and decided to stick to the lighter roof design.
I going to wait a couple of weeks after pretty much deciding on the Prostaffs, but then a one day sale from B&H last week on the Vanguard Endeavors at $160 changed that. I had never heard of this brand, but it didn't take a lot of Internet digging to find they were not only a reputable company, but a couple of steps above anything in my current price range with a normal retail of $250-$300. These were meant to compete with Nikon's Monarch line, which I wasn't previously considering due to price.
I hate buying stuff sight unseen but it seemed like I'd be an idiot to pass these up. And of course I could always return them if I didn't like them. So I pulled the trigger.
In my 2 hour crash research project on these before adding to cart, the only negative I was seeing was these had worse than normal chromatic abberation. This had me a bit concerned because while the word CA pops up with other makes and models as well in even higher price range, reviews seemed to include that this was an issue very frequently.
I received them on Tuesday, and I've had them out twice now. While the CA is there on occasion depending on the lighting, it's really not that bad. You have to really look for it, and I will say I may not have even noticed it had I not read about it before hand. The only time it was somewhat distracting was looking at a white egret with the sun behind me shining on it. A slight purple hue seemed to outline it on one side. What's even more interesting is I went out again last night at the same time of day, saw the egrets close to the same spot and the purple hue this time was greatly reduced. It was there if I tried looking for it, but not nearly as distracting as it was the previous night. Now to be fair, these birds are WHITE so I'd be curious to see if other brands of binoculars would pick up n this as well.
Sometimes I'll get purple/blue fringing on the perimeter of the view, but it's not that terrible and I really have to be looking for it. If my eyes are straight ahead where they should be, I won't see it at all. Even when I go to look for it, it's not always visible.
As far as crispness, brightness and clarity are concerned, these rival the Nikon Monarch 5. I tried a bunch out at Bass Pro Shops before these arrived, and while I did not care for the short FOV in the M5, the crispness and contrast was out of this world - nothing else came close. I'd really love to test these next to each other side by side. Where I go for viewing is a marshy wetland swamp with a boardwalk running through it off of the Chattahoochee river. Even 300 feet away I can see tiny ripples in the water with bugs skimming across.
I also have no problems holding them steady in spite of the fact they're 10x42 and 26 oz, which is just a tad higher in weight than the others I've tried.
The case and strap are very nice, and I like that the eye cup as well as lens covers both front and back are flexible rubber as opposed to hard plastic. It's much more comfortable and I don't feel like the covers are going to fall off and get lost. I also like that the front covers are attached to also help from getting them lost.
I know it's a toss up for people, but I enjoy the .75 revolution focuser as opposed to the 1.5 revolution focuser that's common on other models. I can get things in focus faster, especially when jumping around. I went from vintage Bushnells with the Instafocus (teeter totter design), so to be fair, anything I'm using is going to be a step above that. The wheel is smooth and steady and don't have any issues going past where I need to be.
I'd say these are superior to pretty much everything else I've tested in the store, which include the Vortex Diamondback, Steiner Predator, Nikon Prostaffs, and Zeiss Terra. I want to say the Monarch 5 holds its own against these, but the FOV is still a huge detractor on that one.
Amazon has these right now for $234, and while I got mine at the steal of $160, I'd still say this is a very fair price. I hope that if you are in the market for these, you've found my review helpful.
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