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brief comparison between Vanguard Endeavor ED 2 / ED4 10x42 (1 Viewer)

jackjack

Well-known member
South Korea
I have done some bino reviews in South Korean bino forum... since I have resistered to bridforum recently, I'm thinking about sharing some bino review I had written.
Not the full review, just briefly....

first one is Vanguard endeavor ed 2/ 4 series. as many knows, Vanguard endeavor ED 10x42 is highly hyped in allbinos review.
as I saw one, the allbinos result seem accurate in the range of imeage flattness, transmission graph and more.
but I don't belive the whole review becase vanguard endv ed2 10x42 falls at the point that allbinos never said 'the center resoultion.'
it is the nost critical part of bino for many people but some reviews don't say a thing about it.
yes, Vanguard endeaver ED's center sharpness and contrast + brightness fells significantly than bussnell nitro / forge, monarch m7, alpen teton. even falls then vortex diamondback and kowa bd2.

end of the prologue,

the Vanguard endeaver ED 4 seems to reinforce ED2's weekness. they say the transmission is up to 92% which ED2 was 80% at allbino result.
to go straight to the point, ed4 is significantly brighter then ED2 but not as 92% light transmission. they are brighter and sharper and more transparent then ED2, but not as bushnell forge or nikon monarch m7.
they still have little bit of yellow hue.
and they also had significant drawbacks then former ED2...
first, if you compare photo 2(ed4) to photo 3(ed2) you will found out ed4's fov is lot smaller then ed2... despite of the sam FOV specs the maker announce.
and you see from the photo 4 the right side of the photo (ed4) has more fuzziness than left side (ed2) and slightly more purple CA at the end of the fov.
In my measure ed2 10x42 has around 96% of flatness and ed4 has 10% or more blurriness then ed2.
both ed2 and ed4 has some eye strain then other average mid range binos.
they are both good to use in mechanical terms but, optically, you can get bit more tired than other widely known binos such as niko monarch m7, kowa bd2, zeiss terra ed.

in conclusion of optics, Vanguard ed4 is very different bino from ed2. it manage to overcome ed2's CONs (brightness, center resoultion) but loose the merits that ed2 have 'the high flatness of big fov' which allbinos hyped about.

+ as you see from 5 / 6 photos, number 5 (ed4) has more daytime light leakage then ed2.
and ED4 has some backlash on focus which ED2 dont have.

(Vanguard had changed their factory location which was i. China to Myanmar... former ed2 was made in china and new ones are mand in Myanmar. and all of the ed4 is made in Myanmar. I compared ed2's came form both nation and figured out Myanmar product has more backlash in focus then China. not only ed2 but also higher model ed4...
you can tell the nation by hinge coloring. one form China has black hinge like one in allbino review. other form Myanmar has grey parts. and lettering on the focul wheel differs too.)


finally, as a result. ed4 is better bino then ed2. It has more clarity and better build. but it is not a whole upgrade of ed2 a
since it has the flaws I mentioned above.
so If you have ed2 and need upgrade, Isuggest you to buy bushnell forge and nitro if you want more clarity.
but if you want your bino to be sharp to the edges, Vanguard ed2 is here for you. one of the best flat midrange bino. more flatter then nikon se and monarch hg :)
 

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