Hello guys
I've been looking to buy a quality binoculars for good price for a while.
I already have a pair of Nikon Aculon 16x50, and while these are ok for aircraft spotting and use on airshows, they're not too good for other things.
My budget was "around 400 Euro, 600 Euro top". Though I've been looking at Docter 8x56 ED/OH, which costs considerably more.
Stirred on by positive reviews from bestbinocularreviews, allbinos etc., I ordered a pair of 8x42 Endeavor EDII bins.
Only thing that worried me was the silver mirror coatings and reported warm cast of the image, but I found that it's not an issue. Maybe the Nikon I already own has similar colour rendering so I got used to it or it's just not too bad.
If I had to point out the positive optical qualities, I'd be bringing owls to Athens, because everything has already been said. I can also say that I find the fast focus speed quite good, it's nice to just snap into sharp image with a slight turn. Also the depth of field helps.
So, while not wanting to sound negatively, I need to point out a few things that concern me.
I'll start from the less important things towards the more bothersome:
1. Rubber rainguard and rubber eyecups is not the best combination for quick removal or replacement of the rainguard.
2. the carrying case: There is no separate pocket for cleaning cloth + if you clip the neckstrap to the bins, they dont fit with it too well inside and since the case is closed by zipper, rather than velcro or plastic clip, you can't have the strap around your neck, connected to bins, with the case fully closed.
Not a mission critical feature, but since Vanguard is a specialist in the field when it comes to cases for optical instruments, you'd expect them to know better than this. Also I'm not sure if im forced to snap/unsnap the neckstrap to the case, to the bins, to the case ..., how long will the plastic clips last.
3. As fullsize as they may be, the bins are just too small for my hands. I guess this doesn't get much different with other models in the 8x42 roof configuration, and I wanted something more compact than 50mm objective porro for carrying around on hikes.
I guess the 8x56 ED/OH Docters would fit me better : D but who wants to carry 1.4 kilos of glass around all day?
4. The rolling ball effect is there. When I pan the Nikon, it feels natural. Fast panning the Endeavor EDII messes with my eyes a bit. I guess this is the price to pay for edge-to-edge sharpness provided by the field flattener lens (maybe the last 5% of the field shows a little bit of blur and distortion, but that's usually far away from the thing you actually watch, so not too much of a problem)
5. The thing that has me thinking if I should return these - when at dark I look at a source of bright light (moon, street lamp, ...), there are four distinct beams going from the source of the light (star effect). Each barrel produces two rays, the more bright the source, the more distinct the rays are.
Now I don't know, it is because of the eyepiece design, and it will be present in all field flattened bins, or is it just this model, or is it just my bins and I should claim the warranty that they are defective?
For instance, the Aculon I have displays this abberation a bit, it's not nearly as intensive, while not being that less bright (not saying the 16x50 Aculon is any better - it has other problems like lots of CA, eyecups too big, eye relief too short, lack of multicoatings on all surfaces and while not seeing star effect from a streetlamp, instead I get about thousand and one ghost images of it.
I guess this is not a deal breaker for birdwatching during the day, but I also like to stargaze. While stars of magnitude like -1 do look like dots, bright objects such as Jupiter at max. brightness, or moon do produce these rays (interestingly today morning I watched a crescent moon, it produced only two rays, not four)
Now, isn't that what they call astigmatism? If so, then I can't agree with the allbinos test that it's low (or at least not on the 8x42 model, not the one I have, anyway).
You guys who also have got these 8x42 ED IIs, did you test this?
Because I'm now unsure what to do. If I should return them and buy the Vortex Talon HD I was thinking of, or try the Nikon HG-L 8x42 which one online store over here has on sale for almost unbelieavable 16990 CZK, which is ca. 615 € or 780 $.
Thanks
Martin