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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

New Tract TORIC UHD 27-55 x 80mm scope (1 Viewer)

eitanaltman

Well-known member
Just got this email announcement from Tract, they are finally coming out with a spotting scope: https://tractoptics.com/spotting-scopes/toric-uhd-27-55x80-angled-spotting-scope

It should be no surprise that it appears to be yet another of the Kamakura sourced, helical-focusing designs like the new the 80mm Maven S1 and Meopta MeoPro HD, and the 85mm Zeiss Gavia and Vortex Razor HD.

The body appears (other than aesthetics) to be identical to that of the Maven S1 and MeoPro HD, although the eyepieces looks different (not just aesthetically, and obviously they have different magnification ranges).

What interested me most was the price:

Tract TORIC UHD 27-55x80 = $1,394 msrp ($1,254 pre-order price with code)
Meopta MeoPro HD 20-60x80 = $1,999 msrp (street price ~$1,500)
Maven S1.A 25-50x80 = $2,100 (direct to consumer, occasional discounts)

So the TORIC UHD scope is significantly undercutting the Maven S1A and even the MeopPro HD street pricing.

Other specs:

Tract TORIC UHD 27-55x80 = 67 oz, ?? close focus ??, 17-18mm eye relief
Meopta MeoPro HD 20-60x80 = 68 oz, 19.5' close focus, 18.5mm eye relief
Maven S1.A 25-50x80 = 64.5 oz, 5m close focus, 16-17mm eye relief

So weights all basically the same, within 2-3 oz of each other, just under 2kg. And eye relief stats close enough that "real world" factors like the eyecup thickness could even out any minor differences. I couldn't find a close focus spec for Tract, but assume it's also in the 15-20' range like the others.

(I also find it amusing that Maven quotes FOV using ft @ 1000 yds but close focus in meters)

Field of View:

Tract TORIC UHD 27-55x80 = 2.0° at 27x, to 1.4° at 55x, or 105' to 73' @ 1000yds
Meopta MeoPro HD 20-60x80 = 2.0° at 20x to 1.2° at 60x, or 108' to 66' @ 1000yds
Maven S1.A 25-50x80 = 2.2° at 25x, to 1.6° at 50x, or 115' to 84' @ 1000yds

So the Meopta has the more traditional 20-60 mag 3x zoom range with poor AFOV at the low end and fairly wide at the top end. Meopta specs state 40° to 65°.

Maven and Tract both use a 2x zoom range, with the Maven at 25-50x and the Tract at 27-55x. The Tract range feels a bit more practical to me, as IMO the extra mag at the top end (55x instead of 50x) will be marginally more useful than a tiny bit of extra mag at the bottom end.

That said, the Maven on paper was the widest FOV at the low end, that slight drop from 27x to 25x also comes with an extra ~10% wider FOV (2.2° vs 2.0°). Maven claims an AFOV of 55-80°, but that's clearly just using the simple magnification x TFOV formula.

By that same method, the Tract comes out to 54-77°. So the Maven appears to have a tiny advantage in AFOV as well as TFOV, whereas the Tract has a small advantage in max magnification. How much these "on paper" differences matter in the field I won't speculate.

To me, the Tract and Maven are more interesting than the MeoPro, considering I'm a sucker for wide angle views and hate the tube like ~40° AFOV at the low end of typical zooms. The MeoPro on the other hand is backed by a more venerable optics company which is much more likely to be around in 10-20+ years (if you plan to keep the scope that long). All three companies have excellent customer service and warranty support (for now).

HOWEVER - the Maven is 50% more expensive than the Tract. $2100 vs $1400 is a significant difference, when you consider that someone looking at these is likely a "value shopper" who is stretching for a "sub alpha" because they can't afford a full alpha. Or to put it another way, if the $700 gap between these two scopes is meaningless to you, you probably aren't looking at these two scopes.

So friends, why would one choose the Maven S1A over the Tract TORIC UHD?

They are both Kamakura built, they both have all the standard sub-alpha fixings like dielectric coatings, ED glass, scratch resistant and hydrophobic coatings, etc. They only thing I can think of to justify the cost difference is (1) the Maven claims to use "Flourite" glass, so perhaps they do use a higher quality element in the objective for less CA?, and (2) the Maven has better build quality / nicer finish.

Tract claims they will be using the same SchottHT glass and "flat" multicoatings used in the newest TORIC UHD binoculars. Having owned the 10x42 TORIC (both 1st and 2nd gen), that is promising for the optical quality, since I consider the TORIC 2nd gen to be as good optically as anything below the $1500 Swaro SLC level. The coatings/glass give incredibly neutral color, excellent brightness, and extreme sharpness and detail (micro contrast?) at distance. Chromatic aberration control is OK, nothing special for the price point (comparable to the Conquest HD or Monarch HG). If they can translate that to "barely below an alpha" optical quality into a 27-55x wide angle zoom scope for $1400 list price? Consider me interested.
 
The marketing people do write some BS sometimes.
Who needs a "locking diopter system" on a scope (monocular) and why should Argon offer a "higher resistance to teperature changes" than Nitrogen?
I would have thought that Argon purging would result in a higher risk of diffusion than Nitrogen, which constitutes ca. 80% of the surrounding air.

John
 
op, what did you end up with and how do you like it?
Just got this email announcement from Tract, they are finally coming out with a spotting scope: https://tractoptics.com/spotting-scopes/toric-uhd-27-55x80-angled-spotting-scope

It should be no surprise that it appears to be yet another of the Kamakura sourced, helical-focusing designs like the new the 80mm Maven S1 and Meopta MeoPro HD, and the 85mm Zeiss Gavia and Vortex Razor HD.

The body appears (other than aesthetics) to be identical to that of the Maven S1 and MeoPro HD, although the eyepieces looks different (not just aesthetically, and obviously they have different magnification ranges).

What interested me most was the price:

Tract TORIC UHD 27-55x80 = $1,394 msrp ($1,254 pre-order price with code)
Meopta MeoPro HD 20-60x80 = $1,999 msrp (street price ~$1,500)
Maven S1.A 25-50x80 = $2,100 (direct to consumer, occasional discounts)

So the TORIC UHD scope is significantly undercutting the Maven S1A and even the MeopPro HD street pricing.

Other specs:

Tract TORIC UHD 27-55x80 = 67 oz, ?? close focus ??, 17-18mm eye relief
Meopta MeoPro HD 20-60x80 = 68 oz, 19.5' close focus, 18.5mm eye relief
Maven S1.A 25-50x80 = 64.5 oz, 5m close focus, 16-17mm eye relief

So weights all basically the same, within 2-3 oz of each other, just under 2kg. And eye relief stats close enough that "real world" factors like the eyecup thickness could even out any minor differences. I couldn't find a close focus spec for Tract, but assume it's also in the 15-20' range like the others.

(I also find it amusing that Maven quotes FOV using ft @ 1000 yds but close focus in meters)

Field of View:

Tract TORIC UHD 27-55x80 = 2.0° at 27x, to 1.4° at 55x, or 105' to 73' @ 1000yds
Meopta MeoPro HD 20-60x80 = 2.0° at 20x to 1.2° at 60x, or 108' to 66' @ 1000yds
Maven S1.A 25-50x80 = 2.2° at 25x, to 1.6° at 50x, or 115' to 84' @ 1000yds

So the Meopta has the more traditional 20-60 mag 3x zoom range with poor AFOV at the low end and fairly wide at the top end. Meopta specs state 40° to 65°.

Maven and Tract both use a 2x zoom range, with the Maven at 25-50x and the Tract at 27-55x. The Tract range feels a bit more practical to me, as IMO the extra mag at the top end (55x instead of 50x) will be marginally more useful than a tiny bit of extra mag at the bottom end.

That said, the Maven on paper was the widest FOV at the low end, that slight drop from 27x to 25x also comes with an extra ~10% wider FOV (2.2° vs 2.0°). Maven claims an AFOV of 55-80°, but that's clearly just using the simple magnification x TFOV formula.

By that same method, the Tract comes out to 54-77°. So the Maven appears to have a tiny advantage in AFOV as well as TFOV, whereas the Tract has a small advantage in max magnification. How much these "on paper" differences matter in the field I won't speculate.

To me, the Tract and Maven are more interesting than the MeoPro, considering I'm a sucker for wide angle views and hate the tube like ~40° AFOV at the low end of typical zooms. The MeoPro on the other hand is backed by a more venerable optics company which is much more likely to be around in 10-20+ years (if you plan to keep the scope that long). All three companies have excellent customer service and warranty support (for now).

HOWEVER - the Maven is 50% more expensive than the Tract. $2100 vs $1400 is a significant difference, when you consider that someone looking at these is likely a "value shopper" who is stretching for a "sub alpha" because they can't afford a full alpha. Or to put it another way, if the $700 gap between these two scopes is meaningless to you, you probably aren't looking at these two scopes.

So friends, why would one choose the Maven S1A over the Tract TORIC UHD?

They are both Kamakura built, they both have all the standard sub-alpha fixings like dielectric coatings, ED glass, scratch resistant and hydrophobic coatings, etc. They only thing I can think of to justify the cost difference is (1) the Maven claims to use "Flourite" glass, so perhaps they do use a higher quality element in the objective for less CA?, and (2) the Maven has better build quality / nicer finish.

Tract claims they will be using the same SchottHT glass and "flat" multicoatings used in the newest TORIC UHD binoculars. Having owned the 10x42 TORIC (both 1st and 2nd gen), that is promising for the optical quality, since I consider the TORIC 2nd gen to be as good optically as anything below the $1500 Swaro SLC level. The coatings/glass give incredibly neutral color, excellent brightness, and extreme sharpness and detail (micro contrast?) at distance. Chromatic aberration control is OK, nothing special for the price point (comparable to the Conquest HD or Monarch HG). If they can translate that to "barely below an alpha" optical quality into a 27-55x wide angle zoom scope for $1400 list price? Consider me interested.
 
None of the above haha! I had been swirling the drain for months trying to decide what scope I wanted, and then B&H had a one day flash sale on the Kowa 883 that was too good to pass up (only slightly more than the Maven!). I didn't want to spend over $3K so I wasn't really considering the 883 (the 773 was in the mix) but when the 883 was almost the same price as the 773, I couldn't not take advantage of that deal.
 
None of the above haha! I had been swirling the drain for months trying to decide what scope I wanted, and then B&H had a one day flash sale on the Kowa 883 that was too good to pass up (only slightly more than the Maven!). I didn't want to spend over $3K so I wasn't really considering the 883 (the 773 was in the mix) but when the 883 was almost the same price as the 773, I couldn't not take advantage of that deal.
A most wise choice!! Forget the rest you bought the best.
 
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