irishweather
Member
Hi, I am new to the forum and thank you in advance all for any help you may be able to give me.
I have been an avid photographer for most of my life and have always tried to achieve the best results with the best optics.
I recently purchased a Hawke Endurance ED 8x32 for my wife for her birthday. I bought it based on numerous reviews i had read. It got rave reviews, especially on the ED glass end of things and the wide field of view 388 feet field of view.
I now want to buy a pair of binoculars for myself.
My dilemma is that i found the field of view on the “Endurance” from my point of view, awful. I do wear glasses and with the eye relief of 18 I though that would be more than enough for me. However with the the eyepieces covers set correctly i.e. fully retracted I could only see around 70% of any image i looked at. Yes, if i move my eyes around the eyepieces I can see all of the image, but not 100 % at the same time.
Moving forward to last week, I was recently at a bird sanctuary in Ireland where i live, and I asked one of the workers there could he recommend a good pair of bins for birding. He happened to have a Vortex Diamondback 8x42 with him. I tried them for a short time and immediately noticed a huge difference. The field of view was fantastic. I did not have to move my eyes around the eyepieces and noticed a whole new world. The images of the ducks were very clear. I am not sure if they were clearer than the “Endurance” bins.
My questions are:
The field of view of the Diamondback 8x42 (Old model) is 420 and the eye relief is 18. Does the 420 FOV compared to the 388 FOV of the Hawke make that much of a difference that i experienced?
Could it be the 8x42 compared to the 8x32 be helping with the field of view or is that just a extra light thing?
The latest Diamond back has a 393 FOV and a 17 eye relief so not the same attributes as the old version.
What has caught my eye is the new Vortex Viper HD with an eye relief of 18 and a FOV of 409. Better optics and within my 600 euro budget.
I also have an option of a 2nd hand Meopta Meostar (non HD) 10x42 for 500 euro.
Another option within my budget is the Hawke Frontier ED-X which has similar specs to the Vipers
Any advice would be appreciated.
I have been an avid photographer for most of my life and have always tried to achieve the best results with the best optics.
I recently purchased a Hawke Endurance ED 8x32 for my wife for her birthday. I bought it based on numerous reviews i had read. It got rave reviews, especially on the ED glass end of things and the wide field of view 388 feet field of view.
I now want to buy a pair of binoculars for myself.
My dilemma is that i found the field of view on the “Endurance” from my point of view, awful. I do wear glasses and with the eye relief of 18 I though that would be more than enough for me. However with the the eyepieces covers set correctly i.e. fully retracted I could only see around 70% of any image i looked at. Yes, if i move my eyes around the eyepieces I can see all of the image, but not 100 % at the same time.
Moving forward to last week, I was recently at a bird sanctuary in Ireland where i live, and I asked one of the workers there could he recommend a good pair of bins for birding. He happened to have a Vortex Diamondback 8x42 with him. I tried them for a short time and immediately noticed a huge difference. The field of view was fantastic. I did not have to move my eyes around the eyepieces and noticed a whole new world. The images of the ducks were very clear. I am not sure if they were clearer than the “Endurance” bins.
My questions are:
The field of view of the Diamondback 8x42 (Old model) is 420 and the eye relief is 18. Does the 420 FOV compared to the 388 FOV of the Hawke make that much of a difference that i experienced?
Could it be the 8x42 compared to the 8x32 be helping with the field of view or is that just a extra light thing?
The latest Diamond back has a 393 FOV and a 17 eye relief so not the same attributes as the old version.
What has caught my eye is the new Vortex Viper HD with an eye relief of 18 and a FOV of 409. Better optics and within my 600 euro budget.
I also have an option of a 2nd hand Meopta Meostar (non HD) 10x42 for 500 euro.
Another option within my budget is the Hawke Frontier ED-X which has similar specs to the Vipers
Any advice would be appreciated.