I have already published a technical-dry comparison report here:
I live in Germany in a legal so-called „Flora-Fauna-Habitat-Area“ (German official language "FFH-Gebiet"), in a little village, in the middle of a hilly landscape, close to a river and directly at a creek. I have been using binoculars for about 45 years, I bought my first wide-angle porro-bins Jenoptem 10x50 from Carl Zeiss Jena (CZJ)immediately after my apprenticeship. The most impressive because biggest birds here are migrating, flying storks, foraging grey herons, black egrets, buzzards, red kites, different kinds of falcons, spotted woodpecker, black woodpecker and green woodpecker, magpies and my special friends, jaybirds. This birds are speaking with me. ;-)
There are also still unnamed, rare and inconspicuous birds, animals and plants. In autumn I saw a "airfight": 3 buzzards flew around each other, 1 buzzard attacked another one, the attacked buzzard made an impressive loop (salto mortale?) and caught itself right away. I often see the buzzards in the area of a disused factory with a high brick chimney. For the observation of the large birds of prey (raptors) in the air the light Hawke APO 10x42 was purchased in addition to the Nikon MHG 8x42. Also for the observation of the night sky without tripod (hand hold), by means of a deck chair, zero gravity chair.
After some weeks of using the new Hawke APO and comparing both binoculars in nature under different light conditions (days with bright sunshine and days with cloudy but bright sky) I write down what I noticed. On some days I was out and about with both binoculars but also only with the Hawke APO and only with the Nikon MHG, which I have been using for 1 year. I am neither a professional astronomer nor a professional birdwatcher - but an enthusiastic nature observer. There are also bats here in summer, probably they live in the old, empty factory buildings. One clung to the facade of a neighboring house during the day, one I found on our entrance stairs to the house. I didn't know how to help and I put some water in direct near. At some point she was gone, either the water helped her or as live food she helped the far too many house cats of the neighbors. During the vacation of the neighbors I feed their house cat and remove some dead birds on their terrace, in front of the front door, in the hall. An old, nature-experienced man told me, however, that house cats rarely catch healthy birds, he said, the prey of the house cats are mostly birds, which have too few, too late reactions due to symptoms of poisoning by chemicals of the here intensive agriculture in the near. However, I do not know.
Now to experiences with the comparison of the binoculars. On sunny days the Nikon MHG has weaknesses in two places during my regular hiking and observation tours in my home/living area:
In summer, when I scan green fields with some tree cover on the slope of a hill with bright sunshine, I detect veil glare over the entire field of view. Now the fields have been tilled, are currently medium to dark brown when the bright midday sun has defrosted the light ground frost. The Hawke APO 10x42 with a smaller real angle of view than the Nikon MHG 8x42 shows the beginning of veil glare in relation to the angle to the bright midday sun later. The highest position of the sun is about 20 degrees due to the season and geography, the observation angle is much larger, I check against the slope of a hill below and far away from the overlying sun.
On cloudy, grey days with a bright, completely overcast sky as backlight, the Nikon MHG shows me too much lateral chromatic aberration (CA) when searching under bare deciduous trees in autumn and winter. I find the picture unpleasant, the branches at the upper edge of the field of view are violet. The Hawke APO is significantly better at this point. A comparison of binoculars with different magnifications regarding my beloved slow circling foraging buzzards is difficult, at least I recognize less violet edges in the flight image of the birds of prey.
In the close range < 100 m in nature observations the difference in magnification is practically irrelevant, only in wide field observations of surrounding fields and observation of circling birds of prey the 10x42 shows advantages. Also during the observation of moon craters. The light-polluted night sky is darker because of the smaller exit pupil, shows more contrast to observed stars. Due to the good fit of the large eyecups from Hawke APO to my physiognomy (better alignment at the eye sockets) I can hold the Hawke APO 10x42 as steady as the Nikon MHG 8x42 with alignment only under the eyebrows, i.e. with more distance and less contact area to the eye sockets. This may be different for users with deep eye sockets, deep lying eyes. An observation of details concerning the eyes and their surroundings of my neighbors' chickens and horses at distances of 20 to 100 m shows no practically relevant differences in detail.
I could not resist a new "generic" test. Here is a high voltage power line parallel to the road, where swallows gather in autumn and pigeons, blackbirds and other birds sit in summer. In sunshine you can see the stranding of the single wires of the high voltage line very well with bins. On a cloudy, grey day with a bright, completely overcast sky as backlight I placed myself under the wires with both binoculars and compared how far I could see the stranding. The Hawke APO 10x42 shows less lateral CA than the Nikon MHG 8x42 and the stranding of the single wires can be seen some meters further. However, binoculars with different magnification, apples with oranges were compared.
Enough adulation, now to the criticism:
The fast focusing of the Hawke APO needs getting used to, at least when used alternately with other binoculars with slower and reverse focusing binoculars. You have to get used to it, literally forcing yourself to turn the focus roller of the Hawke APO very slowly to avoid overshots. During astronomical observations the focusing is easily misaligned by mistake.
The eyelets for the carrying strap ("elephant ears") are disturbing not only because of their unusual size and edges but also because of the slightly lower height of the mount and less favourable position regarding circumference. People with small hands will probably get along better than people with large hands.
What are my goals with the new binoculars?
I sold my Carl Zeiss Jena (CZJ) Jenoptem 10x50, which was too big and too heavy for me, in order to finance smaller and modern binoculars with it. The CZJ Jenoptem 10x50 was simply too heavy, too bulky for observing nature. After reading enthusiastic reports from astronomers I regretted the sale. I would like to intensify my observations of nature, including the night sky, and further my education. A childhood memory: I grew up next to a small but functioning farm, a cow barn with many flies, under the roof overhang many swallow's nests. The small, old farms were given up, there are only large industrial farmers left. Under the eaves of the old, abandoned farms I search for swallow's nests in vain. I have seen photos in which owls and eagle owls were well camouflaged but looked out of crevices and windows of abandoned, abandoned houses in broad daylight. I have already spoken with older villagers where owls and eagle owls used to be: According to their youthful memories in the attics of dwellings, old farmhouses. When they were young, some of them were probably justifiably afraid to enter certain attics of old, then functioning farmhouses. Childhood memories are often more impressive - and more imaginative than adult experiences.
The English language is not my mother tongue / native language, for questions simply "write as the beak has grown". Then I try to express myself differently, hopefully better, but I can read English much better than I can write. School English, Oxford-English learned in my youth. I hope you enjoy reading and I will use the advantages of 2 different binoculars in different observation situations. I think, also astronomers observe the whole nature and use their small binoculars also for nature observations, therefore the same report in 2 forums - for all nature friends. Photos follow, I need a little break … a little breakfast.
Best regards from Jessie.
Review / Test Hawke Frontier APO 10x42 vs Nikon Monarch HG 8x42 - Binoculars - Cloudy Nights
Review / Test Hawke Frontier APO 10x42 vs Nikon Monarch HG 8x42 - posted in Binoculars: Hello friends, I introduce a new binocular, comparatively I use my existing one. I can only use my existing, well known Nikon Monarch HG 8x42. At places where apples and oranges appear, I point this out...
www.cloudynights.com
Review / Test Hawke Frontier APO 10x42 vs Nikon Monarch HG 8x42
Hello friends of nature and optics, I have been reading the forum, learned a lot and selected my Nikon Monarch HG 8x42 based on your posts about 1 year ago. Now I have purchased a new binocular Hawke Frontier APO 10x42 to complement the Nikon 8x42. I want to give something back to the members...
www.birdforum.net
I live in Germany in a legal so-called „Flora-Fauna-Habitat-Area“ (German official language "FFH-Gebiet"), in a little village, in the middle of a hilly landscape, close to a river and directly at a creek. I have been using binoculars for about 45 years, I bought my first wide-angle porro-bins Jenoptem 10x50 from Carl Zeiss Jena (CZJ)immediately after my apprenticeship. The most impressive because biggest birds here are migrating, flying storks, foraging grey herons, black egrets, buzzards, red kites, different kinds of falcons, spotted woodpecker, black woodpecker and green woodpecker, magpies and my special friends, jaybirds. This birds are speaking with me. ;-)
There are also still unnamed, rare and inconspicuous birds, animals and plants. In autumn I saw a "airfight": 3 buzzards flew around each other, 1 buzzard attacked another one, the attacked buzzard made an impressive loop (salto mortale?) and caught itself right away. I often see the buzzards in the area of a disused factory with a high brick chimney. For the observation of the large birds of prey (raptors) in the air the light Hawke APO 10x42 was purchased in addition to the Nikon MHG 8x42. Also for the observation of the night sky without tripod (hand hold), by means of a deck chair, zero gravity chair.
After some weeks of using the new Hawke APO and comparing both binoculars in nature under different light conditions (days with bright sunshine and days with cloudy but bright sky) I write down what I noticed. On some days I was out and about with both binoculars but also only with the Hawke APO and only with the Nikon MHG, which I have been using for 1 year. I am neither a professional astronomer nor a professional birdwatcher - but an enthusiastic nature observer. There are also bats here in summer, probably they live in the old, empty factory buildings. One clung to the facade of a neighboring house during the day, one I found on our entrance stairs to the house. I didn't know how to help and I put some water in direct near. At some point she was gone, either the water helped her or as live food she helped the far too many house cats of the neighbors. During the vacation of the neighbors I feed their house cat and remove some dead birds on their terrace, in front of the front door, in the hall. An old, nature-experienced man told me, however, that house cats rarely catch healthy birds, he said, the prey of the house cats are mostly birds, which have too few, too late reactions due to symptoms of poisoning by chemicals of the here intensive agriculture in the near. However, I do not know.
Now to experiences with the comparison of the binoculars. On sunny days the Nikon MHG has weaknesses in two places during my regular hiking and observation tours in my home/living area:
In summer, when I scan green fields with some tree cover on the slope of a hill with bright sunshine, I detect veil glare over the entire field of view. Now the fields have been tilled, are currently medium to dark brown when the bright midday sun has defrosted the light ground frost. The Hawke APO 10x42 with a smaller real angle of view than the Nikon MHG 8x42 shows the beginning of veil glare in relation to the angle to the bright midday sun later. The highest position of the sun is about 20 degrees due to the season and geography, the observation angle is much larger, I check against the slope of a hill below and far away from the overlying sun.
On cloudy, grey days with a bright, completely overcast sky as backlight, the Nikon MHG shows me too much lateral chromatic aberration (CA) when searching under bare deciduous trees in autumn and winter. I find the picture unpleasant, the branches at the upper edge of the field of view are violet. The Hawke APO is significantly better at this point. A comparison of binoculars with different magnifications regarding my beloved slow circling foraging buzzards is difficult, at least I recognize less violet edges in the flight image of the birds of prey.
In the close range < 100 m in nature observations the difference in magnification is practically irrelevant, only in wide field observations of surrounding fields and observation of circling birds of prey the 10x42 shows advantages. Also during the observation of moon craters. The light-polluted night sky is darker because of the smaller exit pupil, shows more contrast to observed stars. Due to the good fit of the large eyecups from Hawke APO to my physiognomy (better alignment at the eye sockets) I can hold the Hawke APO 10x42 as steady as the Nikon MHG 8x42 with alignment only under the eyebrows, i.e. with more distance and less contact area to the eye sockets. This may be different for users with deep eye sockets, deep lying eyes. An observation of details concerning the eyes and their surroundings of my neighbors' chickens and horses at distances of 20 to 100 m shows no practically relevant differences in detail.
I could not resist a new "generic" test. Here is a high voltage power line parallel to the road, where swallows gather in autumn and pigeons, blackbirds and other birds sit in summer. In sunshine you can see the stranding of the single wires of the high voltage line very well with bins. On a cloudy, grey day with a bright, completely overcast sky as backlight I placed myself under the wires with both binoculars and compared how far I could see the stranding. The Hawke APO 10x42 shows less lateral CA than the Nikon MHG 8x42 and the stranding of the single wires can be seen some meters further. However, binoculars with different magnification, apples with oranges were compared.
Enough adulation, now to the criticism:
The fast focusing of the Hawke APO needs getting used to, at least when used alternately with other binoculars with slower and reverse focusing binoculars. You have to get used to it, literally forcing yourself to turn the focus roller of the Hawke APO very slowly to avoid overshots. During astronomical observations the focusing is easily misaligned by mistake.
The eyelets for the carrying strap ("elephant ears") are disturbing not only because of their unusual size and edges but also because of the slightly lower height of the mount and less favourable position regarding circumference. People with small hands will probably get along better than people with large hands.
What are my goals with the new binoculars?
I sold my Carl Zeiss Jena (CZJ) Jenoptem 10x50, which was too big and too heavy for me, in order to finance smaller and modern binoculars with it. The CZJ Jenoptem 10x50 was simply too heavy, too bulky for observing nature. After reading enthusiastic reports from astronomers I regretted the sale. I would like to intensify my observations of nature, including the night sky, and further my education. A childhood memory: I grew up next to a small but functioning farm, a cow barn with many flies, under the roof overhang many swallow's nests. The small, old farms were given up, there are only large industrial farmers left. Under the eaves of the old, abandoned farms I search for swallow's nests in vain. I have seen photos in which owls and eagle owls were well camouflaged but looked out of crevices and windows of abandoned, abandoned houses in broad daylight. I have already spoken with older villagers where owls and eagle owls used to be: According to their youthful memories in the attics of dwellings, old farmhouses. When they were young, some of them were probably justifiably afraid to enter certain attics of old, then functioning farmhouses. Childhood memories are often more impressive - and more imaginative than adult experiences.
The English language is not my mother tongue / native language, for questions simply "write as the beak has grown". Then I try to express myself differently, hopefully better, but I can read English much better than I can write. School English, Oxford-English learned in my youth. I hope you enjoy reading and I will use the advantages of 2 different binoculars in different observation situations. I think, also astronomers observe the whole nature and use their small binoculars also for nature observations, therefore the same report in 2 forums - for all nature friends. Photos follow, I need a little break … a little breakfast.
Best regards from Jessie.