BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="DutchSparrow" data-source="post: 3478680" data-attributes="member: 140069">I ordered one from Feathers Optics sunday and it arrived in the Netherlands yesterday, great service.I had compared a few different bins before. I really liked the Eden XP 8x42 for its brightness and sharpness, but not its build quality, so I went for a more sturdy one. At the end the Zeiss Terra 8x42 or Vanguard Endeavor EDII 8x42 where the remaining ones. What I really liked about the Vanguard was its amazing sharpness right to the edges in comparison with other bins in the same or higher price class, the magnesium, very solid build and its open bridge design for a better grip. Both the Zeiss and Vanguard have fast focus wheels (1 turn for the Zeiss, 3/4 of a turn for the Vanguard) which I really like for following little birds going through trees and bushes. I sometimes found the Vanguard a little bit too fast (or maybe the depth of view is too narrow), making it sometimes a bit harder to focus exactly to the milimeter, giving sometimes a tad sharper impression with the Zeiss, but maybe the Vanguard focus wheel is just something you have to learn and get used too. Other than that, there weren't explicit advantages on the Zeiss, although the Vanguard doesn't have dielectric coatings, so room for improvement there.That's when I heard about the Vanguard Endeavor IV being almost released. This one did have dielectric coatings, would be priced higher and considered more of a higher class then being the successor of the EDII and I found out that the EDIV was cheaper in the UK than the EDII was in the Netherlands. So it looked like a no-brainer and I ordered it. I really have to check it out some more outside in daylight, because yesterday it was already dark and I could only test it inside. What was a disappointment is that its focus wheel is much slower now, needing almost 1.5 turn between both ends. The wheel also feels a bit too stiff, but maybe it will loosen up after using it for a while. The focus wheel is nice and big and the whole bin is very well designed, although being a bit heavy. But you really get the feel of a high quality product, being able to withstand rough weather and a bump or 2. I checked it a little bit yesterday inside and while comparing it with the Eden XP I got the same feeling from when I compared the EDII with the Zeiss, even though the focus wheel of the Vanguard IV is much slower. I was turning the focus wheel more back and forward to find the sweetspot of the sharpness, the Eden felt spot on faster an seemed a little bit sharper because of it. But I have to test it more to really make a judgment about this. Maybe the depth of view is very narrow with the Vanguard which makes it harder to really get the focus point at the right milimeter or maybe it's just a thing of personal taste, leading into experiencing a better control with one focuswheel than the other.</blockquote>

Verification