I don't need celebrity endorsement anymore to convince me what binocular to buy. I haven't tried the Tekoa line but the specifications look pretty good. Tract gives you a lot of value for the money so I am sure the Tekoa's would follow suit.
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Death Of The Alpha? (2 Viewers)
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In the Outdoor Life test they did test the Leica Ultravid HD Plus 8x32 and actually the Tract scored pretty close to it. The Outdoor Life test may appear amateurish in ways but IMO they are right on on their rankings and opinions. Hunters are very discerning. They know if they count the tines or not on their prey. I have tried the Zeiss SF's both the 8x42 and 10x42 and compared them to my SV 10x50. I preferred the SV and them I bought the Maven B.1 9x45 and preferred the Maven over the SV so where does that put the Zeiss SF? My favorite 10x is the Canon 10x42 IS-L. I compared it for a long time to my 10x50 SV and I kept the Canon because with the IS system the resolution is at least 30% higher and the Canon shows less glare than the SV and of course the Canon has a smoother focus. The SV would be good on a tripod but I am not using a tripod birding.Dennis, the 10x42 Tract certainly is closer to the mark AFov wise. I would like to see one, however, a couple of folk on the Tract thread who have seen both 8x and 10x say that the 10x is not as impressive. It's a lot harder to make a 10x than an 8x - things go to p** more rapidly at sub-Alpha level. I won't be in the market for a 10x42 for a few decades yet, preferring a bigger EP which I utilize even in daylight at this stage.
That Outdoor Life test was a bit amateurish - there was too many different formats and magnifications to give meaningful results - I guess HunTers aren't as discerning as birders. One guy said he thought the Tract cost a few hundred dollars more - that would still put it at the performance level of under a grand = mid tier. Also the range of quality bins in that test was limited, with the Leica Trinovid being the highest level there - not the Ultravid.
I've always been underwhelmed by the Conquest HD - I wouldn't even swap my Zen for one. The first time I ever looked through one was as the same time I ever looked through a HT for the first time. I couldn't put the Conquest down quickly enough.
You like it (for now) , which is fine, but you should A/B it against the Zeiss 8x42 SF while you still have the chance to get one of the closeout Grey models for ~$1500 - I'm sure the SF would smoke the Toric side by side in 8x. Everybody already knows the end of the story
Chosun :gh:
Torview
Well-known member
I really feel the Tract and Maven are built just as well as the alpha's. Jgraider had one in Africa where it is HOT and did not have one problem with it. I have used my Tract and Maven now in all kinds of weather without one problem in Colorado.
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Torview
Well-known member
[email protected];3501948Gjraider[/QUOTE said:
My opinions do change when I try new binoculars. The Maven's and Tract's are new on the scene and I am impressed with them so I am voicing my opinion.
CHILL4X4.
james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
That has nothing to do with this thread - it's Dennis pumping [doesn't matter the brand] before the dump. This story has been replicated here about 10 times. All this talk about giving Dennis's opinion his due is silly - it has nothing to do with the binocular in question but everything to do with cashing out successfully.
Exactly. I don't see how people can prejudge a binocular WITHOUT trying it! TRY ONE!
I won`t have that, when it comes to CJ he`s not guessing anything
Ok. I did not realize he had owned the Tract and Maven and actually compared them to the alpha stuff. I must have missed his first hand reviews. Got a link?
Torview
Well-known member
Check out her profile, CJ`s one of the few ladies who expresses compelling arguments on these pages, I put great store in her opinions and projections.
Pinewood
New York correspondent
:clap::clap::clap:
Yes, I own one, the 7x36 ED2, and found my purchase was based on hype.
Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:
Iceberg slim
Fly by night
I'll bet you anything even 1 whole $, that if you put 25 birders who know what there looking for will choose my Noctivids over these Tracts or Mavens, near enough every Serious birder i know uses either Leica, Swaro, Zeiss, cos they want the best image, regardless of cost...maybe lack of other so called "Top Dog" brand advertising has something to do with it, but i can't see Brit birders ditching their Austro-German prizes in the very near future...
Zen-Ray shouldn't be used in the same sentence with Tract or Maven. Zen-Rays were junk.
I am not sure they could tell the difference between your Noctivids and the Maven's or Tract's if you covered up the labels. It would be interesting to see if they could. Maybe based on FOV they could but I would bet that would be the only significant difference. Those other birders haven't had a chance to get their hands on a Tract or Maven.I'll bet you anything even 1 whole $, that if you put 25 birders who know what there looking for will choose my Noctivids over these Tracts or Mavens, near enough every Serious birder i know uses either Leica, Swaro, Zeiss, cos they want the best image, regardless of cost...maybe lack of other so called "Top Dog" brand advertising has something to do with it, but i can't see Brit birders ditching their Austro-German prizes in the very near future...
Alexis Powell
Natural history enthusiast
What I'd say, echoing Chosun Juan in part, is that actual experience is of little relevance in the face of specifications.
For those of us (unlike denco) who know what we want, haven't wavered in many years (or even decades) as to what we are looking for, and who have tried and extensively used everything that has been available that approximates something of what we want, bins like those from Tract and Maven just don't seem very interesting.
[Actually, based on specs, we can be confident that they aren't interesting, except perhaps as a new best "budget" option (Though I wonder, have Tract boosters compared them to (a good unit of) the Bushnell 8x42 Legend Ultra HD? It's pretty damn good, and at $180 or so, much cheaper, and with a much larger FOV to boot). For the price these bins command, I'd expect them to be superb. Much pricing is arbitrary, and it's just too easy to remember when the best from Zeiss and Leica cost under $900, and the best from B&L and Nikon was under $600. Sure, a dollar isn't worth as much now, but my salary hasn't even come close to keeping pace with the shift in bino pricing, so for me the comparison is relevant. Still, my obsessive pursuit of the perfect bin has lead me to spend quite a bit on bins over the years, making the lower price of the Tract over the alphas irrelevant in a practical sense.]
For those of us who use alphas like the Swarovski 8.5x42 ELSV, or Zeiss 8x42 SF, or Leica's best, and we think "Hey, pretty good, but not good enough to match what we've been dreaming for all these years", how can the Tracts or Mavens appear to be in the running as alpha killers? To kill the alphas, they would have to be better, yet the alphas themselves haven't reached perfection. I love the 8.5x42 EL because I'd been wanting flat-field wide-field close-focus optics in a solid and ergonomic roof body for a long time. Still, it doesn't have the variable-ratio focus that I want, so I'm still yearning for my definition of perfection. Am I going to dump that awesome even though still flawed bin for one with lower magnification, curved field, narrower FOV, counter-clockwise to infinity focus..... ha! I don't think so. It's taken a long time, but the alpha roofs are finally very close to perfection. I can't go backwards to anything with lesser specs, no matter how cheap it is.
--AP
For those of us (unlike denco) who know what we want, haven't wavered in many years (or even decades) as to what we are looking for, and who have tried and extensively used everything that has been available that approximates something of what we want, bins like those from Tract and Maven just don't seem very interesting.
[Actually, based on specs, we can be confident that they aren't interesting, except perhaps as a new best "budget" option (Though I wonder, have Tract boosters compared them to (a good unit of) the Bushnell 8x42 Legend Ultra HD? It's pretty damn good, and at $180 or so, much cheaper, and with a much larger FOV to boot). For the price these bins command, I'd expect them to be superb. Much pricing is arbitrary, and it's just too easy to remember when the best from Zeiss and Leica cost under $900, and the best from B&L and Nikon was under $600. Sure, a dollar isn't worth as much now, but my salary hasn't even come close to keeping pace with the shift in bino pricing, so for me the comparison is relevant. Still, my obsessive pursuit of the perfect bin has lead me to spend quite a bit on bins over the years, making the lower price of the Tract over the alphas irrelevant in a practical sense.]
For those of us who use alphas like the Swarovski 8.5x42 ELSV, or Zeiss 8x42 SF, or Leica's best, and we think "Hey, pretty good, but not good enough to match what we've been dreaming for all these years", how can the Tracts or Mavens appear to be in the running as alpha killers? To kill the alphas, they would have to be better, yet the alphas themselves haven't reached perfection. I love the 8.5x42 EL because I'd been wanting flat-field wide-field close-focus optics in a solid and ergonomic roof body for a long time. Still, it doesn't have the variable-ratio focus that I want, so I'm still yearning for my definition of perfection. Am I going to dump that awesome even though still flawed bin for one with lower magnification, curved field, narrower FOV, counter-clockwise to infinity focus..... ha! I don't think so. It's taken a long time, but the alpha roofs are finally very close to perfection. I can't go backwards to anything with lesser specs, no matter how cheap it is.
--AP
Iceberg slim
Fly by night
I'll bet you anything even 1 whole $, that if you put 25 birders who know what there looking for will choose my Noctivids over these Tracts or Mavens, near enough every Serious birder i know uses either Leica, Swaro, Zeiss, cos they want the best image, regardless of cost...maybe lack of other so called "Top Dog" brand advertising has something to do with it, but i can't see Brit birders ditching their Austro-German prizes in the very near future...
committed Leica holic me. 7x42 HD Think I have finely found the view :smoke:
