Talon revisited (1 Viewer)

Well I'm new to Vortex.

My 1st pair of binoculars were a pair of Mead Safri Pro 8x42. (Still have them!!)

That was about 1987.....stepped up to a pair of Nikon 10x50 in the early 1990's thinking stronger was better for birding. Boy was I wrong 1st time I was tracking a warbler. Field of view so narrow was a nightmare.....also the Nikon's I got (Lower mid grade for the time) were horrible. My buddy had a decent pair of Swift Bino's and I liked em a lot. So I traded off my film camera getup at the time (Just before film went bye bye) 1995 at a local Camera shop for a New pair of Swift Audubon 8.5x44. SUPER Bino's....used em till about 5yrs ago. Took top notch care of them sold em for a decent price. I always wanted the water proof ED version of them but they were $500-$600 at the time and I couldn't afford them. Past 2-3yrs I have been using a pair of Swift Ultra 8x42 like em a lot.

Soooooooo was looking around the other day at Vortex.....which I have heard about past 10yrs but never paid much attention cuz I thought I couldn't afford them. Much to my surprise......HD (same grade as the ED of the past) was actually obtainable for $300!!!!
I've always marveled the Swarvoski EL or the Zeiss Victory but at $2000 -$3000 that was waaaay outta my reach. Always liked the open hinge design of each of them. Was surprised at that cost they didn't have a forever lifetime warranty!! ED Glass.....Unconditional warranty....the open hinge design I'd seen on the $2k-$3k binos.....for $300? ....I was so all over these.

Anyone else here using the Talon HD's?
Whats your take on them after using them for some time?
Anyone compared them to Swarovski EL's or Zeiss Victory?

What size Vortex Talon do you have?

Eagle Optics, which is connected with Vortex, notes on its website that the Vortex 10x42 HD Talon is no longer available. They still list an 8x42 HD Talon for $369.95 but I believe the Talons have been discontinued by Vortex.

Some people here may be able to compare theirs with other brands of the same size.

Bob

ceasar said:

What size Vortex Talon do you have?

Eagle Optics, which is connected with Vortex, notes on its website that the Vortex 10x42 HD Talon is no longer available. They still list an 8x42 HD Talon for $369.95 but I believe the Talons have been discontinued by Vortex.

Bob

Click to expand...

I have the open hinge design 8x42 and yes you are right they have been discontinued. I knew this when I got mine.
They have got EXCELLENT user reviews everywhere as I did my homework before I made my purchase. Got mine NIB for $290
A few places still have stock left to sell.
No idea what one Vortex plans to replace the Talon with in the price range.

Was curious as to who all here had these and what they thought of them.

Well to answer my own question in my OP.......
I was at Cornell's Ornithology Lab today and had the chance to compare the Swarvoski EL 8.5x42 and the Zeiss Victory 8x42 to my Vortex Talon 8x42.
Me personally I saw no difference in clarity or brightness tween mine and the Swarvoski EL.
Both seemed to be just a tad better on both counts against the Zeiss Victory.
They were all about the same weight......Swarovski EL actually weighs in a ounce heavier.

That said I was pretty impressed that Vortex at $400 could run with the big boys that cost $2000 - $3000.