Vanguard Endeavor ED 8.5x45 (1 Viewer)

Just thought I would ask for an opinion on these. The 8x42 model has been reviewed very favorably in the press, and the 8.5x45 model has been reviewed highly by end users at the various e-tailers.

It looks like the design favors edge sharpness over FOV.

I haven't noticed whether the design uses a "dielectric" coating on the prisms, only that they are phase corrected. Yet the Endeavor ED 8x42 model seems to outperform the Vortex Viper 8x42, a much more costly binocular, which (I think) does have dielectric coating.

Even Pentax treats the prisms of one of their line in the $200 range, with silver, rather than dielectric. It has also been reviewed favorably, but I doubt it is up to the performance of most any design using ED glass. I guess it also depends on the particular type of roof prism, as to whether a metallic coating would help, but I could be wrong.

If this post gets a bunch of views and no replies like my other one, then you're all a bunch of stuffed shirts!

Carl:

Welcome to the Birdforum. As far as reviews or users go, it seems not many have tried the
Vanguard line of binoculars. Your best bet is to try them for yourself and compare with others.
As far as stuffed shirts, your attitude does not impress, and so consider that.

Jerry

Carl

I would think the lack of a response to your queries is that most members have no experience with them.

Rather than threatening us with the tag of "stuffed shirts" if we do not respond in whatever manner you deem appropriate, you might want to do a little of the legwork and research with the tools available to you as a member of this forum. If you do an advanced search on the keyword "endeavor" in the binocular forum and filter by "post" it will show you all that has been mentioned and discussed previously. It would appear that very few have much actual experience with these, although some of the recent reviews on the net have generated some buzz. I would also suspect that some of the more experienced members of the forum are a little dubvious of the source and methodology behind some of these reviews.

Since you seem to be a little unclear as to what type of coatings these binos have, I would suspect that with just the tiniest bit of effort on your part, you could visit the Vanguard website and look this up as well as many other sites such as Eagleoptics, which give out this info for free.

And dielectric prism coatings are not an automatic guarantee of performance, as there are many binos with silver coated prisms that will leave others in the dust.

Tom Van Heusen

Tom and Jerry, I love your cartoons! But seriously, thanks for the reply. I knew if I got snarky, suddenly someone would actually post something! As it happens, I have done a bit more than a tiny bit of research effort on my part. That should have been obvious in the first post. I came here hoping to learn more. Was that the wrong thing to do? Does that mean I have an "attitude"? Maybe I'm not the only one. "In whatever manner" I deem appropriate? What's that about?

Their website, and all reviews I have read, say nothing about metallic or dielectric coatings on the prism. They only mention a so-called "P2 phase coating" (and that is from a linked review on their website.)

I never claimed these guaranteed quality or performance, I just was curious if anyone knew whether it had them or not...and perhaps of getting opinions on them.

I never made any threats, only a subtle observation that perhaps newer members might be subject to some kind of initial alienation. Or perhaps it only applies to me and my "attitude".

Indeed I am going to try these for myself, amongst others. But what good is a forum like this, if I can't learn anything at all before trying? Is the purpose of this forum something other than sharing knowledge or enthusiasm about birding and optics?

If no one has experience with this model, that's fine...and I did search on here as well. I just thought I would ask anyway, in case someone had tried them but not reviewed them or something.

There's really no need to take things so personally, or to get persnickety, is there? I apologize if I offended sensibilites somehow. I also apologize for my occasional redundancies, like the use of the phrase "a bunch"...I admit it does look rather crude!

However, I hope this doesn't turn into "well if you expect high quality from anything other than the 'alpha class', you'll always be disappointed". If that is where this is heading, then I might have more honesty to share. Snobbery is something I have difficulty tolerating.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply though.

oops!

vanguard

Hi, i havent got this specific model but i have always owned Vanguard binoculars, I think they are brilliant, they are 100% waterproof and have a lifetime guarentee, well mine do anyway. I bought the ones i use now from Scopes and Skies. I have never had any problem with Vanguard.

Hope this helps

Hello Alison, thanks for replying. It's great to hear from a lady on here :-D! Do you see many species of birds where you are? I have decided to keep the 8.5 x 45 Endeavor ED, and will probably write a review of them. Vanguard do seem to make a quality product with excellent value.

Bump for this thread as there's some renewed interest in 8.5x45 both in Vanguard and Swaro.

Your review, Carl, how are you finding them ?