My brief non-technical review of the 7x42 Hawthorne – take these with a grain of salt as I am don’t claim to be any kind of expert and don’t have any $1,000+ optics to compare it too. I also tend to like lower powered binoculars for less shaking. I do have an 8x20 Victory that I love and use for sporting games as they are so compact and easy to carry around.
Accessories:
I opened the package and found a very nice soft case that was stretching “neoprene” and you will need to have the strap attached to it to use it for carrying as it didn't have its own strap. The binocular strap itself is very nice. I like the Leupold straps - very stretchy and soft. It is very similar to the one on the Yosemite I owned but wider. This one came with metal rings to attach to the binocular and had quick disconnect clips on the end. The rain cover fits snugly but not too tight. The objective covers are the ones that fit inside the opening instead of over the objectives. Generally these are fine but a little loose for my tastes. They did not fall out when shaking the binocular. The overall accessories / package are on par with my Vortex Viper in quality and overall I am pleased.
Binocular Appearance / Exterior:
The Hawthornes are very compact for 7x42. They are only slightly larger than my vortex vipers. They have a very pleasant appearance with the leaf design, and are very attractive in my eyes. The ergonomics are very good, with my medium size adult male hands fitting perfectly on them. I had my pointer and middle finger on the top of the binocular on the hinge using my pointer to turn the focus and my ring and pinky fingers fit nicely over the near barrel past the hinge (locking them in very nicely like an open bridge). And my thumb falls right on the indent on the bottom. These are almost perfect ergonomics for me. The armor is one thing I didn’t care for it as it is slightly hard and slippery for my tastes. The leaf design helps with them not being too slippery, but they don’t have that nice soft feel that I like. I wonder if they did have a soft and thicker armor if the whole package would have to get larger throwing off the other near-perfect ergonomics. Fit and finish overall is on par with the Vortex Viper, which I consider excellent.
Operation:
The diopter is on the central hinge and pulls out adjusts very easily and lightly, and then gets pushed back down to lock. The focuser is inside the diopter so when you turn the wheel the writing on the focuser /diopter doesn’t move. I have never had a binocular like this, but I really think it is easier to adjust than a right eye diopter, at least for me. The focus wheel works smoothly with moderate tension, evenly in both directions, and no slack (which I hate). It is lighter than my Sightron BS 8x32, isn’t quite as light at the viper (which I consider excellent), and isn’t buttery light like the Fury I have, but it is fine. Close focus advertised is 10’ but I found it closer to 6’. From 6’ to 20 yards is like a full turn and then from there being 7x everything snaps into focus with very little turning of the wheel (one of the best features of the 6x and 7x power binos). I didn’t measure that is just from me fiddling with them.
Eyecups:
They are very nice eyecups that twist up and lock fully open but don’t have any intermediate stops. They do appear to have enough tension to stay in place when partially opened. With my glasses on, and eyecups fully collapsed I see the entire view. I tend to need 18mm plus and that is just what I got. When I pushed them harder against my face, I would just get a hint of a black out, so they are just right for me.
View
Before I start, it was snowing when I tried these out and only spent ½ hour looking at various things outside and around my house. I was very impressed with the view. It was very relaxing and the binoculars are easy to get a good view. Mine appear to be collimated well and the edges are pretty good. They do get a little soft at the edges but are better than my viper (non-HD 6x32) as far as field curvature and have a larger sweet spot. They are very similar in view to the Sightron Blue Sky in my opinion. I didn’t see much curvature at the edges in my initial testing using telephone poles. I did own a ZRS HD 8x42 for a few months and the view is slightly less crisp in my view (not viewed together), but they didn’t fit my face worth a darn and getting to that great picture was tough so I sold them.
Colors are pretty neutral, in my view, but I am no expert.
With it snowing, I did check for CA. I saw slight color fringing on edges snow covered items, but I would call it slight to moderate CA and are much less than I have seen on some other lower priced binoculars. There were no glare issues when viewing it snowing, but obviously the sun wasn’t out either to try different positions.
I did some informal resolution comparisons in my house between a Viper 6x32, Sightron 8x32 BS and the Hawthorne. I use our game cabinet across the room and try to read all the fine print on the board games. This was done in a moderately lit room. I was able to resolve more than the viper with the Hawthorne, and similarly amount to the Sightron. Keep in mind that this is holding them in my hands and not a tripod or supported.
Overall
I really like the overall package with these binoculars and they are keepers. They present a very nice view, excellent build quality, and good accessories in a very compact full size package. Plus they are from one of the better companies to deal with on standing behind their products.
I will try to post some pictures in the next few days for comparison as far as size so you can see how compact they are.
Thanks,
Todd
ps Please ignore my poor spelling in the thread name....and poor grammar in the body as well.
Accessories:
I opened the package and found a very nice soft case that was stretching “neoprene” and you will need to have the strap attached to it to use it for carrying as it didn't have its own strap. The binocular strap itself is very nice. I like the Leupold straps - very stretchy and soft. It is very similar to the one on the Yosemite I owned but wider. This one came with metal rings to attach to the binocular and had quick disconnect clips on the end. The rain cover fits snugly but not too tight. The objective covers are the ones that fit inside the opening instead of over the objectives. Generally these are fine but a little loose for my tastes. They did not fall out when shaking the binocular. The overall accessories / package are on par with my Vortex Viper in quality and overall I am pleased.
Binocular Appearance / Exterior:
The Hawthornes are very compact for 7x42. They are only slightly larger than my vortex vipers. They have a very pleasant appearance with the leaf design, and are very attractive in my eyes. The ergonomics are very good, with my medium size adult male hands fitting perfectly on them. I had my pointer and middle finger on the top of the binocular on the hinge using my pointer to turn the focus and my ring and pinky fingers fit nicely over the near barrel past the hinge (locking them in very nicely like an open bridge). And my thumb falls right on the indent on the bottom. These are almost perfect ergonomics for me. The armor is one thing I didn’t care for it as it is slightly hard and slippery for my tastes. The leaf design helps with them not being too slippery, but they don’t have that nice soft feel that I like. I wonder if they did have a soft and thicker armor if the whole package would have to get larger throwing off the other near-perfect ergonomics. Fit and finish overall is on par with the Vortex Viper, which I consider excellent.
Operation:
The diopter is on the central hinge and pulls out adjusts very easily and lightly, and then gets pushed back down to lock. The focuser is inside the diopter so when you turn the wheel the writing on the focuser /diopter doesn’t move. I have never had a binocular like this, but I really think it is easier to adjust than a right eye diopter, at least for me. The focus wheel works smoothly with moderate tension, evenly in both directions, and no slack (which I hate). It is lighter than my Sightron BS 8x32, isn’t quite as light at the viper (which I consider excellent), and isn’t buttery light like the Fury I have, but it is fine. Close focus advertised is 10’ but I found it closer to 6’. From 6’ to 20 yards is like a full turn and then from there being 7x everything snaps into focus with very little turning of the wheel (one of the best features of the 6x and 7x power binos). I didn’t measure that is just from me fiddling with them.
Eyecups:
They are very nice eyecups that twist up and lock fully open but don’t have any intermediate stops. They do appear to have enough tension to stay in place when partially opened. With my glasses on, and eyecups fully collapsed I see the entire view. I tend to need 18mm plus and that is just what I got. When I pushed them harder against my face, I would just get a hint of a black out, so they are just right for me.
View
Before I start, it was snowing when I tried these out and only spent ½ hour looking at various things outside and around my house. I was very impressed with the view. It was very relaxing and the binoculars are easy to get a good view. Mine appear to be collimated well and the edges are pretty good. They do get a little soft at the edges but are better than my viper (non-HD 6x32) as far as field curvature and have a larger sweet spot. They are very similar in view to the Sightron Blue Sky in my opinion. I didn’t see much curvature at the edges in my initial testing using telephone poles. I did own a ZRS HD 8x42 for a few months and the view is slightly less crisp in my view (not viewed together), but they didn’t fit my face worth a darn and getting to that great picture was tough so I sold them.
Colors are pretty neutral, in my view, but I am no expert.
With it snowing, I did check for CA. I saw slight color fringing on edges snow covered items, but I would call it slight to moderate CA and are much less than I have seen on some other lower priced binoculars. There were no glare issues when viewing it snowing, but obviously the sun wasn’t out either to try different positions.
I did some informal resolution comparisons in my house between a Viper 6x32, Sightron 8x32 BS and the Hawthorne. I use our game cabinet across the room and try to read all the fine print on the board games. This was done in a moderately lit room. I was able to resolve more than the viper with the Hawthorne, and similarly amount to the Sightron. Keep in mind that this is holding them in my hands and not a tripod or supported.
Overall
I really like the overall package with these binoculars and they are keepers. They present a very nice view, excellent build quality, and good accessories in a very compact full size package. Plus they are from one of the better companies to deal with on standing behind their products.
I will try to post some pictures in the next few days for comparison as far as size so you can see how compact they are.
Thanks,
Todd
ps Please ignore my poor spelling in the thread name....and poor grammar in the body as well.
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