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Hawke ED focus traction? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter matt green
- Start date
Veracocha
Well-known member
Today I had the fortune to get an immediate response from a Director at Hawke when I asked for the purchase price of two spare straps to go with my ED's. They are sending me two gratis in the post tonight. Excellent customer service. :t:
Charltonfan
Well-known member
Matt
Recently tried out some Hawke Frontiers at East Haningfield reservoir in Essex. I agree with everybody else in that the view through them is unbeatable for the money. I compared them to my Swarovski 8.5x42 ELs and I would say they were about 85% as good optically. The biggest problem for me was the focussing being noticeably rougher than I am used to and being that the Hawkes have slow focusing this seems to exagerate the problem. I reckon they could be frustrating to use in woodland for example when it is often necessary to get quick focus before a bird is gone. Marsh/estuary/viewing across water etc should not really be a problem though once you get ued to them.
I actually ended up buying Swift's Audubon 8.5x44 HHS roof prism from Hanningfield instead of the Hawkes(as a present for my wife). They were not as good as the Hawkes optically but at £314 they were notably better than Opticron's imagic bga se roofs and the build quality,weight,focusing etc was perfect plus they have a 25 year warranty.
To sum up then if you want the best optics as well as top build quality and back up service then I reckon the Swarovski Els can't be beaten but they will cost upwards of £1000. If you can overlook or tolerate the focusing issues then the Hawkes are superb for the price optically. If you are happy to compromise on the optics slightly, but still enjoy a view imho better than most at the price and want top build quality ,then check out the Swifts.
Hope this helps
Steve
Recently tried out some Hawke Frontiers at East Haningfield reservoir in Essex. I agree with everybody else in that the view through them is unbeatable for the money. I compared them to my Swarovski 8.5x42 ELs and I would say they were about 85% as good optically. The biggest problem for me was the focussing being noticeably rougher than I am used to and being that the Hawkes have slow focusing this seems to exagerate the problem. I reckon they could be frustrating to use in woodland for example when it is often necessary to get quick focus before a bird is gone. Marsh/estuary/viewing across water etc should not really be a problem though once you get ued to them.
I actually ended up buying Swift's Audubon 8.5x44 HHS roof prism from Hanningfield instead of the Hawkes(as a present for my wife). They were not as good as the Hawkes optically but at £314 they were notably better than Opticron's imagic bga se roofs and the build quality,weight,focusing etc was perfect plus they have a 25 year warranty.
To sum up then if you want the best optics as well as top build quality and back up service then I reckon the Swarovski Els can't be beaten but they will cost upwards of £1000. If you can overlook or tolerate the focusing issues then the Hawkes are superb for the price optically. If you are happy to compromise on the optics slightly, but still enjoy a view imho better than most at the price and want top build quality ,then check out the Swifts.
Hope this helps
Steve
Last edited:
Steve C
Well-known member
Well different strokes for different folks. You must have an absolutely crummy Hawke if you can see that much difference. I doubt most Swaro users could pick the image from the Promaster ELX ED or the ZEN ED from the Swarovski. I know of a couple of Swaro users who couldn't see any difference, let alone 15%. But I have no doubt you see what you see.
falcondude
Well-known member
I wish I could see 15% difference between my Swaro and ZEN.:-C
As a matter of fact, I don't know how to quantitatively compare those high quality binoculars where any difference is very minor, other than saying they are close or one is slightly better than the other (subjectively of course).
Charltonfan
Well-known member
Describing the difference optically between the Swaros and the Hawkes as a percentage was probably the wrong thing to do in hind sight! All I can say is to my eyes there is definitely a difference in that the Swaros are a bit brighter, a bit sharper and the colours are slightly better. What percentage improvement that equates to is a matter for personal opinion I suppose.I spent quite a long time doing comparisons by the way and I am very fussy about image quality which is why I saved up and bought the Swaros in the first place. Even when I bought the Swaros there were differences in image quality between them and the Leicas and Zeiss. I bought the binoculars that gave MY EYES the best view possible.As I have said previously the Hawkes are great bins optically and if I wanted a second back up pair they would probably be the ones even allowing for the flimsy eye cups and rough focusing I found on the ones I tested.
Happy birding
Steve
Happy birding
Steve
Veracocha
Well-known member
These appear local to you. Worcester (LCE) did me a set of 8x43 for £259.00 and 10x43 for £279. Not sure of the comparison with the Nikon's but I recently compared the Hawkes with a lot of Opticron, Steiner and Swaro's and that's why I purchased two.
http://services.postcodeanywhere.co...=http://www.hawkeoptics.com/dealers/index.php
Thanks for that I've just checked with my local LCE - Cheltenham (got the Hawkes but not the Nikon's & apparently no stock on the Nikons in any LCE at the moment)
I'm still trawling the net but really being a bit lazy in the hope that someone had seen a retailer reasonably close to me that had both available to try
Many thanks - but unfortunately not Hawke. I know Cley Spy do but it's a bit of a trek
Birding over there is good though :t:Managed to have a look at some Frontier ED 10x today in London Camera Exchange in The Strand. I compared them to the Swarowski equivalent and was very impressed.
Still looking to try out some 8x but the salesman said the next delivery will have a £30 price rise so if anyone else is thinking of a purchase it may be worth moving sooner rather than later
Still looking to try out some 8x but the salesman said the next delivery will have a £30 price rise so if anyone else is thinking of a purchase it may be worth moving sooner rather than later
Veracocha
Well-known member
I expected this price increase, the success they are having it makes sense. Even so they're still a bargain. I have to admit that my 8x43's have the edge over my 10x43's purely down to target aquisition. Northeastfieldsports are still doing them for £250 !!
NDhunter
Experienced observer
The other thing you could do for those who want to wait, is that the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD, will be starting to ship in April. For those wondering about warranty, etc. it may pay to see how these turn out, image and quality wise. They seem to be priced better than the other Chinese models mentioned here. Bushnell would have a step up on the newbies in many respects.
Veracocha
Well-known member
Hard to determine if they are indeed better priced if no samples are available for comparison. Cheaper does not necessarily mean a better price.
FrankD
Well-known member
ND,
I have a pair on order and hope to comment on them once they arrive. My only concern is whether or not they are designed, physically, to really take advantage of the ED glass in the objective. It should prove interesting considering how truly inexpensive they are selling for.
I have a pair on order and hope to comment on them once they arrive. My only concern is whether or not they are designed, physically, to really take advantage of the ED glass in the objective. It should prove interesting considering how truly inexpensive they are selling for.
