6 replies to this topic

[Guessologist]

Hi all, has anyone had any exposure to the Vanguard Vesta range of binoculars? They appear to be a new range on the low end of things and I'm trying to decide on a set of long eye relief 8x32-42 binoculars. Specs-wise, the Vesta 8x42s offer 19mm of eye relief which is somewhat more than my other choices at the same price:
- Bushnell Trophy 8x32
- Nikon Action EX 7x35
- Bushnell H20 8x42
- Bushnell Prime 8x32

My personal pick would perhaps have been the Nikon 7x35s but at 800g+ they are going to be a struggle for the young kids to hold so unless all the others have fatal flaws it's probably at the bottom of the list. I'm probably going to use these mostly for general use than astronomy, I developed a central serous retinopathy in one eye last year that's currently trashing the night vision in my dominant eye, I suspect as some kind of karmic equilibration for buying a Baader Morpheus eyepiece shortly before!

I expect that the answer may be that there's not actually much difference at this price range but there's almost no information out there about the Vestas. Are they a rebadge of an earlier product line?

[DeanD]

I have a pair of Endeavour 10.5x45. They are excellent for the money, and I understand the cheaper Vanguard binos are equally good for their money. I see that Vanguard have the Spirit's on special at the moment too: https://www.vanguard.../spirit-xf-8420

Just a thought though: if you are wanting them for young children, the IPD of the Vesta's goes down to 56mm, which is probably a bit big for kids, who often need around 52mm. (The same goes for most medium size binos).

 

If you want something specifically for children, then the smaller "compact" style binos work better, eg: https://www.vanguard...-8x21-rose-gold

 

All the best,

 

Dean

[Guessologist]

 the IPD of the Vesta's goes down to 56mm, which is probably a bit big for kids, who often need around 52mm

Good point, I might have to spring for their own set at some point, I'm not sure I'd be happy with a very small set myself.

 

Those Spirit XFs look nice, but might be pushing my budget slightly, I might end up having to sacrifice a telescope to buy myself enough good will to get it past the Finance department!

[Guessologist]

Hi all, just to follow up, I ended up pulling the trigger on the Bushnell Prime 8x32s over the Vesta. I tabulated the vital stats of all the listed binoculars to try and come up with some differentiating factors and found that the Vesta had the smallest real and apparent FOV of all those listed (6.25 angular/50 degrees AFOV by the simple method), the Prime and Trophy both were up around 59. Already have some generic 11x70s that are a bit of a drainpipe to look through, any AFOV I can claw back is a factor for me. Feel a bit dirty giving up the aperture though... 

[DeanD]

I hope they do the job for you: I am sure you will be pleased with them. My 8x30's are a great size for daytime, and do surprisingly well at night.

 

All the best,

 

Dean

[Guessologist]

Arrived in the post a couple of days ago, the Prime 8x32s are perfectly good for what I was looking for. Can't really fault the optics, most notable issue is fairly strong CA on very bright things but I guess I've got to fork for ED to fix that! Otherwise the limiting factor of the optical path is my eyeballs. First pair of binos I've owned that I can use glasses with, which has made a massive difference at night - much clearer views than my 11x70s since my astigmatism is corrected despite half the aperture... No regrets!

[Guessologist]

However, the provided strap and eyepiece cap suck hard. It came with little snap release clips that are incompatible with the cap if the binos are worn around the neck, and the flat strap is pretty flimsy. No matter I'll probably get a better one off eBay.