Viking Kestrel 10x25 opinions? (1 Viewer)

[julay]

I took my 15 year old Opticron 10x25 Asphercals to compare in the shop today... They had Hawke Endurance ED 10x25 which immediately felt poor - blackouts from the eye cups and very stiff focusing and dioptre but image seemed OK. Then I tried Zeiss pocket 10x25 - better eye relief, better focusing but still not great, felt a bit 'plasticky', image good. Then I tried a lightly used pair of Swarowski 10x32 (at £220) - they felt super smooth focusing, good eye relief and good image. Problem was they're too heavy and big

Has anyone tried the new Viking Kestrel 10x25? They got a good review from Northern Optics on YTube. I guess I might have to order one to try it out. The Zeiss are available at £275 online but the shop price was £335 and they refused to price match saying it was a 'winter offer price'. 275 was about my upper limit. Are there any other recent and used Leica 10x25 I might find?

 

[beacon hill]

Cheers for watching my review. Unsure if you saw the Viking only one. But also have a Viking v Hawke 10x25ED comparison if you scroll down the vids

 

[julay]

Cheers for watching my review. Unsure if you saw the Viking only one. But also have a Viking v Hawke 10x25ED comparison if you scroll down the vids

I watched, I think, three vids on the Kestrels of yours including the comparison. With the Kestrel I'd be worried about the focusing, the Hawke I tried was very stiff which put me off it from the start. Perhaps that's just because it's new? Do the focusing rings slacken a bit with use?

 

[beacon hill]

I watched, I think, three vids on the Kestrels of yours including the comparison. With the Kestrel I'd be worried about the focusing, the Hawke I tried was very stiff which put me off it from the start. Perhaps that's just because it's new? Do the focusing rings slacken a bit with use?

Like with many binoculars, there may be slight variations. I find the focus on either OK for me. But that is just one opinion