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8x42: Verano/Countryman BGA HD vs Eagle Optics Ranger ED / Vortex Talon HD ? (1 Viewer)

Binoseeker

Mostly using spectacles (myopic) with binoculars.
Hello!

I wonder if someone has tested and compared the 8x42 binos Opticron Verano BGA HD and/or Countryman BGA HD vs Eagle Optics Ranger ED and/or Vortex Talon HD and would be kind to share the information, please?

I am in the process of buying another bino and these seems nice and in my budget range...

Regards,

Anders
 
Welcome to the forum Anders,

I've only looked at the Opticron pairs you refer to. I didn't spend a lot of time with either, so I hope others can add more to my impressions.

The Verano HD is essentially the same optics and the same price as the Imagic. It has has a broad sweet spot, with very mild field curvature and only a mild softening at the edges. The colour balance is on the warm side with very good contrast, and the CA is reasonably well controlled for a non-ED bino as I recall. It is a little on the heavy side for my tastes, and I preferred the wider view and lighter weight of the 8x32.

The Countryman HD had a slightly smaller sweet spot and a bit more field curvature which seemed to give a better depth perception to my eyes. I definitely felt at the time the centre sharpness was better than the Verano HD/Imagic, it seemed slightly less warm, reasonable CA control, was lighter and more comfortable in my hands. I think you could justifiably argue the Verano HD is the better pair, I just enjoyed using the Countryman HD more.

There is a curious set of test results on a Norwegian web site that has puzzled many on the forum that not only ranks the Countryman HD above the Verano HD but also the Swarovski EL and Zeiss FL amongst others??? Extraordinary! If by chance you understand Norwegian perhaps you could help with an explanation. ;)
http://www.kikkertspesialisten.no/p...0_8x56_binoculars_review_kikkert_test8x40.pdf

Hope this helps,

David
 
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Hello Typo,

Thank you for your comments. I have also seen the Norwegian test. I hope to get the opportunity to compare the Verono and the Countryman...

Here is an attempt to translate the "text to the right" from the Norwegian test of the 8x 42 Countryman BGA HD:

Brilliant in backlight (no blur). Rubber armouring gives
exceptionally good grip properties. Good to use even with gloves.
Precise, comfortable focus wheel. Centrally integrated diopter setting on the focus wheel
The diopter locks which ensures that the set position never comes out of
place. Adjustable eyecups provides excellent vision for eyeglass carriers.
Lightweight and extremely compact, robust. Sensationally good
optics for the price. Ideal binoculars for general purpose use,
hiking where compactness and light weight are important, and
hunting where one is dependent on reliability and properties that extends viewing slightly into the dusk. A good buy.


The test properties, at the top of each column in the test, are already translated into english, look just after the norwegian text.

Well, the information gathering continues...

Anders
 
Anders,

Thank you for the translation. I presumed there is some 'value for money' element in the ranking, and wondered if there was a hunting bias. Based on my experience and those of others here it seems difficult to account for some of the elements of the evaluation. I'd be interested to see what you think when you get a chance to try them.

David
 
Here is some more translated text, maybe that can give a bit more understanding of the ranking, value of money seems not to be included, only resolution, contrast and brightness:

Rating in the left column is based on resolution, contrast and brightness test.
Do not put any weight on the rating. For example, contrast, brightness and
backlight features more important than the resolution if you use binoculars in the dawn / dusk. Call us for advice! We stock the models at any given time is best in their price ranges. We are not even an importer, but our sister company Optiline AS import Opticron is.
NB: The prices in our online store may have changed since the test was published.


I have not had that much time yet to check out the threads but i found an old thread started by Atomic Chicken and he had made a resolution test chart in pdf-format that can be downloaded and used for bin resolution performance evaluation. Maybe there are other charts made by people on the forum that can be downloaded and used for bin evaluation purposes, at least for more relative than absolute results since the printer quality at our homes differ a lot i guess.. I will do some more searches.. :)

Anders
 
Anders,

Thanks again for the translation.

I usually only do boosted resolution testing using the USAF 1951 on the pairs I own, but I've also learned to recognise where my eyesight or the binocular is limiting what I can see. Judging by the values on that chart, the testers were assigning a value to 'sharpness', not resolution. What 'sharpness'' actually means is pretty vague and very much down to the individual, but usually involves contrast and colour contrast, but very much dependant on the limitations of the tester's eyesight and perception. I'm pretty confident there would be a broader spread in scoring if they had actually measured resolution and the order significantly altered.

Brightness is quite difficult to evaluate by eye. There seems to be a trend on the forum to refer to pairs with a stronger blue balance in the transmission spectrum as brighter. Testing laboratories might report an average between specific wavelengths, peak value or level at 555nm, the peak of optical sensitivity (green). All quite confusing.

I'm not sure what they are referring to by contrast. My guess it's colour contrast, and they are slightly favouring a degree of red bias, but who knows?

This is a constant problem with many test reports, and few go without a high level of criticism on the forum, specially when they add up different aspects of performance to generate a score.

At the end of the day, buy what you like. With experience what you like may change, but at this point in time I liked the Countryman HD more than the Verano HD, but I don't like it as much as the Zeiss FL or the Kowa XD for example, but then I would expect expert testing to go a some way to explaining why? This doesn't do that. On my kind of budget I'd call the Countryman HD a very good choice though.

Good luck with your own evaluation.

David

PS. I sent a personal message earlier.
 
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Anders,

The Eagle Optics Ranger ED was looked at in another comparative test from the beginning of the year.
http://www.birdwatching.com/optics/2011midpricebins/index.html

Again this has been the subject of a lot of criticism here. While they do use a test chart for comparison, and may boost the view 2x, that is still not resolution testing. Like the other test, in the selection of the categories and additive scoring I think most here would agree it distorts the merits of certain binoculars compared to others.

I can't really suggest how to get round this problem other than to trust your own judgement, or as you are doing, ask questions. Unfortunately the pairs you have chosen are relatively new and it seems like few on the forum can offer opinions.

If you do manage to find the pairs in question, it is useful to deliberately look for chromatic aberration, stray light control, colour balance, sharpness (a bank note can be useful) and all the regular stuff' but I've found 'wow factor' to be a useful guide. The two or three pairs I have that I like using most put a big grin on my face as soon as I picked them up. They weren't expensive, I've never seen them rated in a comparative test and would possibly score badly if they had been, but they suited me. I've now tried a large number of binoculars, and there are plenty of technically better (and more expensive) pairs around, but I'm just not prepared to sell those three in order to afford them. Just not enough 'wow factor'. My advice is buy the one that puts a grin on your face. ;)

David
 
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